How to avoid precompiled headers

The .cpp file is configured to use precompiled header, therefore it must be included first (before iostream). For Visual Studio, it's name is usually "stdafx.h".

If there are no stdafx* files in your project, you need to go to this file's options and set it as “Not using precompiled headers”.

You can always disable the use of pre-compiled headers in the project settings.

Instructions for VS 2010 (should be similar for other versions of VS):

Select your project, use the "Project -> Properties" menu and go to the "Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> Precompiled Headers" section, then change the "Precompiled Header" setting to "Not Using Precompiled Headers" option.

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If you are only trying to setup a minimal Visual Studio project for simple C++ command-line programs (such as those developed in introductory C++ programming classes), you can create an empty C++ project.

You can create an empty project by selecting the "Empty Project" from the "General" group of Visual C++ projects (maybe that project template isn't included in Express?).

To fix the problem in the project you already have, open the project properties and navigate to:

Configuration Properties | C/C++ | Precompiled Headers

And choose "Not using Precompiled Headers" for the "Precompiled Header" option.