Why is Visual Studio constantly trying to create a 'dummy/empty' file?

Answer 1

It is not trying to create a file, if you look at the detail column it is doing "read data/list directory". Probably, it is doing some kind of FindFirstFile, FindNextFile loop, in order to resolve header file includes.

Answer 2

The CreateFile function is not just for creating files, but also for opening existing files and directories for reading.