[msbuild] Why does MSBuild look in C:\ for Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props instead of c:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild? ( error MSB4019)

The registry entries for MSBuild key worked fine to me. It's important to remember that it must be done for 64-bit or 32-bit branches depending on which version of MSBuild you run. I wouldn't recommend to use environment variables as it may cause problems in different versions of MSBuild.

This registry file fixes that for both cases:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\10.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\11.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\12.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\10.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\11.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\12.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSBuild\ToolsVersions\14.0\14.0]
"VCTargetsPath"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath10"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath10)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath11"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath11)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V110\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath12"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath12)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V120\\'))"
"VCTargetsPath14"="$([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(VCTargetsPath14)','$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\V140\\'))"