Compiling VS2015 project with VS2010 Compiler - c++

Question

Ok so I am using VS2015 and upgraded an old VC++ 2010 project to run and compile just fine with VS2015. The project is a windows form project using CLR.
I recently discovered that the project will now not run on a vista machine which until recently was what I was doing the development on. I'm guessing the main culprit is the lack of .NET 4.5 on the vista machine. So I decided to try and compile it with VS 2010 toolset and compilers to see if it would work on this machine.
I downloaded and installed all the tool chains SDK 7.1 and the 7.1 update so now when I go into the
project properties > platform toolset
I have multiple options to compile for VS 2015 v140, VS 2013 v120, SDK7.1 etc and VS 2010 v100.
The problem I have is that when attempting to compile I get the following errors.
1>C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(297,5): warning MSB8003: Could not find WindowsSDKDir variable from the registry. TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformToolset may be set to an invalid version number.
1>C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Platforms\Win32\Microsoft.Cpp.Win32.Targets(62,5): error : Required file "" is missing.
A secondary problem I came across is that I switch between managed String^ and regular std::string. To do this, I am using marshalling. When selecting the VS2010 toolset, the following code generates errors.
#include <windows.h>
#include <msclr/marshal.h>
#include <msclr/marshal_cppstd.h>
using namespace msclr::interop;
This obviously has knock on effects for parts of my code where I wish to marshal strings between managed and std.
Anyone got any suggestions on how to fix either of these problems? Thanks

Answer 1

Ok, so just going to go ahead an post my solution for this. There is no need to use the VS2010 V100 toolset.
First, I updated the target machine to .NET 4.6. I think the latest is 4.6.2.
I then created a Setup Project for my Solution and called it 'Prog Setup'. I included "primary output" and "resource satellite DLLs" within the setup projects' 'Detected Dependencies'. The wizard was helpful in setting this up.
Next, Right Click on the Setup Project, select 'View > Launch Conditions', Right Click on .NET Framework, select 'Properties'
Now check 'version' is set to the same version as main project. In my case 4.5.2.
Finally, right click on the setup project and select 'Properties', Now select 'Configuration dropdown > Release', Click 'Prerequisites' and select .NET 4.6, VC++ 14 Runtime Libraries (x86 / x64), Windows Installer 4.5.
Ok, now from the menu bar 'Build > configuration manager', ensure both the setup project and main project are checked under the 'Build' column to ensure both projects are built.
Run the build / re-build project. Using the standard VS2015 v140 Toolset.
In the project solution folder, locate the following
VS2015 > Projects > Project Name > Prog Setup > Release
this folder contains an application titled 'Setup' and my 'Prog Setup' Windows Installer Package.
Having done all the above, I copied both packages to a USB stick and then on the target machine, ran the Application 'Setup'.
This then went and downloaded and installed the VC++ 14 Runtime Libraries on the target machine. Following this, it then automatically ran Prog Setup which installed the actual program software and voila... it now runs on the target machine.