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Visual Studio and Windows SDK Command Prompts

The Visual Studio Command Prompt and the Windows SDK Command Prompt automatically set the environment variables that enable you to easily use .NET Framework tools.

The tools are automatically installed with Visual Studio and with the Windows SDK. To run the tools, we recommend that you use the Visual Studio Command Prompt or the Windows SDK Command Prompt (also known as the CMD Shell). These utilities enable you to run the tool easily, without navigating to the installation folder.

To open the Visual Studio Command Prompt window

If you have Visual Studio 2005 or later installed on your computer, you can use the Visual Studio Command Prompt to run the tools:

  • Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Visual Studio, point to Visual Studio Tools, and then click Visual Studio Command Prompt.

Starting with the Visual Studio 2010, the 64-bit versions of Visual Studio provide two command prompts: the Visual Studio Command Prompt for 32-bit tools, and the Visual Studio x64 Win64 Command Prompt for 64-bit tools. The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of most tools are identical; however, a few tools make changes specific to 32-bit and 64-bit environments. Check the documentation for the individual tools to determine whether you should run both versions of the tool.

To open the Windows SDK Command Prompt window

If you have the Windows SDK version 6.1 or later installed on your computer, you can use the Windows SDK Command Prompt (or CMD Shell) to run the tools:

  • Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Windows SDK <version>, and then click SDK Command Prompt or CMD Shell.

See Also

Other Resources

.NET Framework Tools