error MSB3411: Could not l oad the Visual C++ component "VCBuild.exe" - visual-studio-2010

Question

I have Visual Studio 2010 with SP1 and Windows sdk 7.1.
I also have VS2012 and Windows kit 8.
when i run Windows SDK 7.1 Command Prompt and run node-gyp build --msvs_version=2010 it gives me error:
error MSB3411: Could not load the Visual C++ component "VCBuild.exe".
If the component is not installed,
either 1) install the Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Fr
amework 3.5, or 2) install Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.
Is it trying to find VCBuild.exe.
I found that vcbuild has been replaced with msbuild.
Is it a valid error ?
I also found that in Windows 7, for .NET 3.5, you just need to turn it on from Control Panel. I have looked at other questions on stackoverflow like here and this.
But issue is that since vcbuild.exe does not exist in system with vs2010 then why does node-gyp is searching for it ? Or am i missing something ?
How do i resolve this error ?

Answer 1

The following has worked for me (as of June 2014), as described in here.
Install free Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows (not VS Express 2013 for Web)
npm install --msvs_version=2013
Otherwise, I have spent a lot of time installing old Microsoft packages and patches, and it wasn't helpful.

Answer 2

Setting up the VS2010 and other applications as listed at node-gyp wiki solved the problems.
On Windows XP/Vista/7, node-gyp requires Python 2.7 and Visual Studio 2010
According to the readme file in Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1, to ensure that your system has a supported configuration,
uninstall the following products first (if you want to save tons of time)
and then reinstall them in the order listed: (you can uninstall in any order :P)
Visual Studio 2010
Windows SDK 7.1
Visual Studio 2010 SP1
Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1
On x64 environments, the last update in the list fixes errors about missing compilers and
error MSB4019: The imported project "C:\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" was not found.

Answer 3

The answer to all your question lies here. Struggled a lot to find this. Finally got it working. =)
Just to save you time visiting the link here is what's useful in that link.
INSTRUCTIONS:
You can install with npm:
$ npm install -g node-gyp
You will also need to install:
On Unix:
python (v2.7 recommended, v3.x.x is not supported)
make A proper C/C++ compiler toolchain, like GCC
On Windows:
Python (v2.7.3 recommended, v3.x.x is not supported)
Windows XP/Vista/7: Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2010 (Express version
works well)
For 64-bit builds of node and native modules you will also need the Windows > 7
64-bit SDK
If the install fails,
try uninstalling any C++ 2010 x64&x86 Redistributable that you have
installed first.
If you get errors that the 64-bit compilers are not installed you may
also need the compiler update for the Windows SDK 7.1
Windows 7/8:
Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2012/13 for Windows Desktop (Express
version works well)
If you have multiple Python versions installed,
you can identify which Python version node-gyp uses by setting the
'--python' variable:
$ node-gyp --python /path/to/python2.7
If node-gyp is called by way of npm and you have multiple versions of
Python installed, then you can set npm's 'python' config key to the
appropriate value:
$ npm config set python /path/to/executable/python2.7

Answer 4

This can be fixed by installing all the required tools and configurations using Microsoft's windows-build-tools using npm install --global --production windows-build-tools from an elevated cmd (run as administrator).