Error: the system can not find the path specified

When I download a demo project for "rotated mem device context" from cp.com, I compiled it , run and get an error:

Error: the system can not find the path specified.

.exe file is not created under Debug or Release folder. I did research and collected the similar answer here:

after I changed Tools->Options->Projects and Solutions->Build and Run ->MS Build project log file verbosity -> Detailed, then I got this message, which is not displayed before:

1>------ Skipped Rebuild All: Project: TestRotDC, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
1>Project not selected to build for this solution configuration

follwing this message, I noticed I pressed Build->Build Solution or Rebuild Solution. so I switched to Build this project (testRotDC) or Rebuuild this project (testRotDC), then I see more error detailed messages

1. Flicker Free Drawing In MFC
2. Rotate Your Graphics - Advanced Memory Device Context

when I compile this project and run, then got error message:

3. Dynamic child window positioning
4. A bevelline with horizontal and vertical text
5. Buffered Canvas for Memory DC with Rotation, Clipping, Transparency
6. Device Context Utilities
7. Saving Drawing Contexts

very good trick to use in my project!

8. Fast Memory Allocation and Pooling for Constrained Environments
9. CAutoPen Class - A CPen that IS Correctly Destroyed
10. CBitmapDC - An automatic memory DC wrapper
11. CGDI - Simple GDI Set And Reset
12. Elliptical Rotating Picture Tray and Editor

good trick to rotate Elliptical

13. Perspective Projection of a Rectangle (Homography)
14. Fast stepwise rotation
15. Simple Text Rotation
16. High quality image rotation (rotate by shear)
17. Anti Aliased Image Transformation (Aaform)
18. Anti Aliased Image Rotation
19. Using SetWorldTransform() to Rotate Basic Shapes by Any Angle
20. Resize and Rotate Shapes in GDI+
21. C# Line Control with Rotate Option
22. Further discussions on flicker free drawing

Standard Checking

23. Unable to start program... The system cannot find specified path

If I were troubleshooting this, here's how I'd go about it.

First of all, what kind of project are you making?

I'll assume you are building and debugging a Visual C++ project. i.e. vcxproj.

1. Go to Project > Properties > Configuration Properties > Debugging
2. Check the value of Command, which is normally $(TargetPath). If not, then make sure it is something reasonable.
3. The target path is specified in Configuration Properties > Linker > General > Output File, and is usually $(OutDir)$(TargetName)$(TargetExt) If it's not, then make sure it is something reasonable.
4. Back in Configuration Properties > Debugging > Command, edit the command (click drop-down and choose "Edit...")
5. Click the Macros>> button and type $(TargetPath) in the lower edit box to search for $(TargetPath) (or just scroll down to $(TargetPath). Examine the value and make sure it is something reasonable and that the file exists on disk.
6. Did your build succeed? Clean and Rebuild your solution and check for build errors. The final output must build correctly before you can debug the exe.

If everything seems to be in order, then

1. check to see what your exe depends on. Make sure that any dependent dlls are present in the working folder.
2. You can double check that the working working directory is the same as the one the target is in by specifying Configuration Properties > Debugging > Working Directory to $(TargetDir).
3. "Depends" will show you what dlls you depend on. Make sure you have the right debug/release and 32-bit vs 64-bit versions of everything installed.
4. If all else fails, then you can run ProcessMonitor and see what file the process is trying to open just before it fails. This will tip you off as to the name of a missing dll or something.

another check would be

If you click 'Next' after File>New Project and select "Create Empty Project" then there are no files in the beginning, and you add them manually. It will build fine, but won't run. You need to add it to the source files list in the pane at right.

If you have already created and saved the file, then in the "Solution Explorer" pane at right, right click on "Source Files" and choose "Add existing". Then add the file. You'll find it displayed in the list below afterwards. Now it will link and run. If you have just created the empty project and have no files yet, then it's better to rightaway right-click on Source Files, and choose "Add new", and then begin writing your code.

This is especially confusing since this issue did not arise in old versions of VC++, and a person who is simply following a standard Windows programming book (Such as Charles Petzold's classic work) will find the instructions in the book apparently broken, even though the book is published by Microsoft Press itself, and is considered a VC++ coding Bible.

24. vs2017 add existing folder to project

VS2017 add existing folder to project, how to do it? If the folder is in the project, we could add existing folder to project via visual studio.

1. click the button named Show All files in solution explorer.
2. you could see the folder name in solution explorer. right click the folder -> Include In Project.
like this:
3. If the folder out of the project, please copy it into the project.

Standard Project Settings

25. Mariusz Bartosik's website
26. Project Setup in Visual Studio
27. File Structure of a Demo
28. Directory Structure for a C++ Project
29. Anatomy of a Demo Framework

Solutions and Proposals

30. “The system cannot find the file specified” when running C++ program
31. unable to start “program.exe” the system cannot find the file specified vs2008

Does your application really build correctly? To get more control in VS 2010 C++ Express, you can check menu item "Expert Settings" under Tools>Settings to get a Build' menu. After clicking Build->Build Solution (or Rebuild), you may verify in Output window (View->Outout), if your application is compiling and linking correctly.

In addition to ReturnVoid's answer which suggested the change:

1. Project Properties -> Linker -> Output file -> $(OutDir)$(TargetName)$(TargetExt)
I needed to changed
2. Project Properties -> C/C++ -> Debug Information Format -> /Zi
This field was blank for me, changing the contents to /Zi (or /Z7 or /ZI if those are the formats you want to use) allowed me to debug

Basically all I did is this:

Project Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker (General) -> Enable Incremental Linking -> "No (/INCREMENTAL:NO)"

32. Unable to start program: The system cannot find the file specified
33. Not creating exe file

First of all, please follow WayneAKing's suggestion. Check if your code has errors when building.

Then please check your project configuration:

1. project property->Configuration Propertie-> General->Output Directory which places all final output files that are created during the build process ,for exmple, $(SolutionDir)$(Configuration)\
   
2. Target Name which specifies the file name this project generates, for exmple, $(ProjectName) and
   
3. Target Extension , for example, .exe, which specifies the file name extension this project generates to see if they have been set correctly.
34. Visual Studio isn't creating .exe file???

To do this, follow these steps: "Configuration Properties" -> "C/C++" -> "Code Generation"->"Runtime Library"->"Multi-threaded Debug DLL"

Right click on the project, follow these steps: Configuration properties ->Linker ->Sub System->Windows(/Subsystem:WINDOWS)

Right click on the project, follow these steps: Configuration properties ->General ->Configuration Type-> Application(.exe)

35. Video: Visual C++: Creating an Executable (.exe) File
36. Chapter 1. Solutions and Projects
37. VS 2013 isn't creating .exe-files in empty project (Solved)

I Think I found the culprit. At least I can run empty console Projects now. VS 2013 seems to demand that the cpp file is inserted manually in the Project inspector Before they can be used. Which was not the case in older version.

38. Unable to start program 'c:\..........exe'. The system cannot find the file specified.
39. SFML and Visual studio:create and configure a SMFL project

The first thing to do is choose what kind of project to create: you must select "Win32 application". The wizard offers a few options to customize the project: select "Console application" if you need the console, or "Windows application" if you don't want it. Check the "Empty project" box if you don't want to be annoyed with auto-generated code. For the purpose of this tutorial, you should create a main.cpp file and add it to the project, so that we have access to the C++ settings (otherwise Visual Studio doesn't know which language you're going to use for this project). We'll explain what to put inside later.

Now we need to tell the compiler where to find the SFML headers (.hpp files), and the linker where to find the SFML libraries (.lib files).

In the project's properties, add:

The path to the SFML headers (/include) to C/C++ » General » Additional Include Directories The path to the SFML libraries (/lib) to Linker » General » Additional Library Directories These paths are the same in both Debug and Release configuration, so you can set them globally for your project ("All configurations").

40. a google doc to show how to install SMFL framework