Create a the missing x64 solution platform in VS project

Question

I have a c++ shell extension VS 2008 project that I want to migrate from Win32 to x64 bits since I have switched to a windows 7 x64 version.

I go to Configuration manager, I click Active solution platform, then New and i get the New Solution Platform window with the followings:

and

In this tutorial it says that that I Should do:

• In the Active Solution Platform drop-down list, select the option to open the New Solution Platform dialog box. (Which I have)
• In the Type or select the new platform drop-down list, select a 64-bit platform. (Which I don't have).

Q1. How do I cope with this? Q2. What is the relation between Solution Platform and Project Platform ?

Answer 1

To target x64 targets with VS2008 you must install the x64 compilers, they are not installed by default. Other options would be using VS2010 or newer.