Targeting Windows XP in MFC application using Visual Studio 2013/2015 onward

Question

I've created a simple MFC application through visual studio 2013 32-bit.
Then when tested on Windows XP I find it does not work, and display an error message the application is not a valid win32 application .

Note that the application works fine in Windows 7.

What's wrong ?

Answer 1

For everyone who wants a direct solution, try to apply the following steps.

Steps:

1. Right-click on the project and select properties.
2. General.
3. Platform Toolset.
4. Select Visual Studio 2013 - Windows XP (v120_xp).

Also, you can see this MSDN article, Windows XP Targeting with C++ in Visual Studio 2012 for more help.