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Asked: 2026-05-14T14:12:06+00:00

Guys that is code copied from a book (Programming Windows 5th edition): #include <windows.h>

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Guys that is code copied from a book (Programming Windows 5th edition):

#include <windows.h>

int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                    PSTR szCmdLine, int iCmdShow)
{
     MessageBox (NULL, TEXT ("Hello, Windows 98!"), TEXT ("HelloMsg"), 0) ;

     return 0 ;
}

Link to the topic in which this book is recommended.
Can’t compile it with VS2010. What am I doing wrong? 

Error   1   error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _WinMainCRTStartup

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    It will depend on how you set up the project. In VS2010, if I create a new project via File->New->Project, Visual C++, Empty Project, then add a new C++ file, and copy your code in, it compiles and runs just fine.

    If you’ve created a different type of project, it may be using different link libraries. Try right-clicking on your project in Solution Explorer, going to Properties->Linker->System, and setting SubSystem to “Windows (/SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS)

    The Win32 APIs are old, but for the most part are perfectly usable if you want to do native Windows programming. Windows has done a great deal of work to ensure that as long as you’ve followed the documentation, old APIs will not change. You can still compile 16-bit Windows 3.1 code from 1992 and run it on 32-bit Windows 7.

    Edit:
    It could also be that in Properties->C/C++->Advanced, you have Omit Default Library Name set to “Yes”, you probably want it set to “No”

    Or also Properties->Linker->Input->Ignore Default Libs should be set to No.

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