Solution: Remove or redirect MSBuild path.
Discussion: After reviewing my user and system path environment variables, I determined that the MSBuild path was causing the problem. In my
user environment variable settings, I found an MSBuild variable defined and being used in the
user path environment variable (%MSBuild%\v4.0.30319 => C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319). I removed this path, launched SE, and I was able to build and execute the vs-test program.
MSBuild is now installed as part of Visual Studio rather than as part of the .NET Framework. . .MSBuild is now installed directly under %ProgramFiles%—for example, in C:\Program Files\MSBuild\. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/what-s-new-in-msbuild-12-0?view=vs-2015&viewFallbackFrom=vs-2017 for further information.
After removing the path, I located my MSBuild path at C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild
[Note: I also found a C:\Program Files\MSBuild but it contains only Windows Workflow Foundation files]. I changed my MSBuild path to C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\15.0, launched SE, and again I was able to successfully build and execute vs-test.
I do have other Visual Studio programs installed but only the Visual Studio Community 2017 IDE. The other VS programs shown in Programs and Features are:
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code
- Microsoft Visual Studio Installer
- Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2015
- and Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2015 Language Support
Conclusion: In my case, an older MSBuild path was generating the error message Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props not found. The above Visual Studio programs have no effect on SE's build and execution functionality.
Thanks, Lee for your help and troubleshooting suggestions!!