error PRJ0019: A tool returned an error code from "Copying DLL..."

Question

Visual studio is giving the error PRJ0019: A tool returned an error code from "Copying DLL...". The console window includes the output: 'CopyDLL.cmd' is not recognized as an internal or external command.

Here is some background as to why I don't know about the tool which is copying. Someone left the company a year ago and forgot to check in their latest version of code for a MS Visual Studio 2008 project using C# and C+_. Now we need to fix the program, but can't find the code and I've been assigned with trying to clean the mess up.

Answer 1

Turn up the build output with Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> Build and Run

Set MSBuild project build output verbosity to something higher than the default. I'd step it up one level at a time because the highest level is pathologically verbose.

Answer 2

You should check the Custom Build Step (Project Properties->Configuration Properties->Custom Build Step) for all of the projects and all of the files.

It may be easier to open the *.vcproj files in a text editor and check the tags under individual files in the project. Look for any tags that have a non-empty CommandLine attribute.

Answer 3

Go to Tools->Options->Directories and add this… C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE

That should do the trick...