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Converting VS2010 Solution to VS2008

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4.86/5 (53 votes)
9 Feb 2012CPOL 226.7K   39   35
Converting VS2010 Solution to VS2008
If you are working with VS 2010 (any edition) and cannot open your 2010 solution on VS 2008, then just follow these 3 steps:

For <PROJECT_NAME>.sln:

  1. Open the solution file in your favorite text editor (example: Notepad++).
  2. Find the following:
    Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 11.00.
    # Visual Studio 2010.
    Replace with:
    Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 10.00. (I)
    # Visual Studio 2008. (II, optional)


For <Project_name >.csproj/vbproj:

  1. Open project file in your favorite text editor (example: Notepad++).
  2. Find the following:
    <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">.
    Replace with:
    <Project ToolsVersion="3.5" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">. (III)

That's it.
Now you can open your solution file on VS2008.
Reverse of this will enable VS2008 solution to open in VS2010.

EDIT


After these changes, you may receive the below error:
---------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio
---------------------------
Unable to read the project file 'XXX.csproj'. 

C:\Project path\XXX.csproj(89,11): The imported project "C:\Program Files\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" was not found. Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.
---------------------------
OK   Cancel   
---------------------------

To fix this error, just change the VS version(v10.0 to v9.0) in your <Project_name >.csproj/vbproj file, that's all.

Good luck with it.

Regards,
ABHISHEK DEY

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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http://gputoaster.wordpress.com/about

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
srilekhamenon13-Mar-15 23:00
professionalsrilekhamenon13-Mar-15 23:00 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Dinesh9217-Dec-13 17:47
professionalDinesh9217-Dec-13 17:47 
GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
Member 1017917429-Jul-13 23:07
Member 1017917429-Jul-13 23:07 
QuestionIt's helpful but... Pin
Member 1017917429-Jul-13 23:06
Member 1017917429-Jul-13 23:06 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
NaVeN Kumar7-May-13 23:14
NaVeN Kumar7-May-13 23:14 
GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
mohammad sharegh18-Apr-13 1:55
mohammad sharegh18-Apr-13 1:55 
GeneralRe: I agree that many have appreciated it. Don't know why. My po... Pin
pietvredeveld10-Feb-12 21:18
pietvredeveld10-Feb-12 21:18 
GeneralRe: I agree that many have appreciated it. Don't know why. My po... Pin
rakesh19889-Oct-12 2:32
rakesh19889-Oct-12 2:32 
GeneralRe: I agree that many have appreciated it. Don't know why. My po... Pin
GPUToaster™6-Nov-12 19:42
GPUToaster™6-Nov-12 19:42 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 good one. Pin
Nikhil_S27-Feb-12 18:45
professionalNikhil_S27-Feb-12 18:45 
GeneralSince Visual Studio 2010 works much better than 2008 (assumi... Pin
Philippe Mori10-Feb-12 13:23
Philippe Mori10-Feb-12 13:23 
GeneralRe: Since Visual Studio 2010 works much better than 2008 (assumi... Pin
Brook Monroe21-Jan-13 4:11
professionalBrook Monroe21-Jan-13 4:11 
GeneralReason for my vote of 2 Nice to know but seems useless to me... Pin
pietvredeveld9-Feb-12 10:23
pietvredeveld9-Feb-12 10:23 
GeneralRe: Hi pietvredeveld, I appreciate what you think. FYI This tric... Pin
GPUToaster™10-Feb-12 5:37
GPUToaster™10-Feb-12 5:37 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 nice one.I was really searching for ... Pin
Nikhil_S8-Feb-12 23:11
professionalNikhil_S8-Feb-12 23:11 
GeneralAdded a fix in your Tip/Trick, do further changes if you wan... Pin
thatraja24-Jan-12 19:20
professionalthatraja24-Jan-12 19:20 
GeneralRe: Thanks thatraja. Pin
GPUToaster™24-Jan-12 20:07
GPUToaster™24-Jan-12 20:07 
Thanks thatraja.
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 Excellent !!! Pin
Member 189751120-Dec-11 23:43
Member 189751120-Dec-11 23:43 
GeneralRe: You might want to change your vote to 4/5. I am guessing its... Pin
GPUToaster™24-Jan-12 20:08
GPUToaster™24-Jan-12 20:08 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Reason for vote of 5 Nice tips. Like... Pin
RaviRanjanKr15-Dec-11 10:20
professionalRaviRanjanKr15-Dec-11 10:20 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Nice! Pin
normsall14-Dec-11 3:21
normsall14-Dec-11 3:21 
Generalhi i tried this .. and my solution file which was unrecognis... Pin
gayathri 216-Nov-11 0:45
gayathri 216-Nov-11 0:45 
Generalsuperb Pin
SanjeevSingh15-Nov-11 0:22
SanjeevSingh15-Nov-11 0:22 
GeneralCan you be more specific? That would help us in figuring out... Pin
GPUToaster™6-Nov-11 18:27
GPUToaster™6-Nov-11 18:27 
Generalhi friends i tried this but i could not convert from vs2010... Pin
MalarGayu3-Nov-11 15:15
MalarGayu3-Nov-11 15:15 

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