Missing windows.inc file in asm code

Missing windows.inc file in asm code - Printable Version

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Missing windows.inc file in asm code - code_g33k - Jan 28, 2026

Does anyone know how I can find

Code 
include \masm32\include\windows.inc

include \masm32\include\kernel32.inc

include \lib\masm32\lib\kernel32.lib

Quote:1>src\myshellcode.asm(15): fatal error A1000: cannot open file : windows.inc
1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\BuildCustomizations\masm.targets(70,5): error MSB3721: The command "ml.exe /c /nologo /Zi /Fo"RxBot\Debug\myshellcode.obj" /W3 /errorReport:prompt /Tasrc\myshellcode.asm" exited with code 1.

I can't find this file anywhere. Visual Studio 2022 has a assembler in it but i need to find this missing file windows.inc. Anyone know where I can locate it?

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - LiNixx - Jan 28, 2026

Those files are included in the MASM32 SDK.

The problem is that you’re compiling with ML, which is Microsoft’s macro assembler from Visual Studio.
ML doesn’t come with any of the MASM32 include files, so it can’t find things like windows.inc.

You need to install MASM32 toolchain and either compile inside the MASM32 environment or point Visual Studio’s include and library paths to the MASM32 include and lib folders. Otherwise ML will keep throwing that error because those files aren’t part of the Visual Studio toolchain.

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - newQuery - Jan 29, 2026

windows.inc isn't part of Visual Studio. It belongs to the MASM32 SDK.

Download: Grab the kit at masm32.com.
Install: Deploy to C:\masm32 (don't use Program Files).
Link: Add C:\masm32\include to your Visual Studio Project Properties -> Microsoft Macro Assembler -> Include Paths.

Target x86 only. Happy coding.

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - HFDone - Jan 29, 2026

MASM is old and outdate use NASM or FASM

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - code_g33k - Jan 29, 2026

(Jan 29, 2026 06:39 AM)HFDone Wrote: MASM is old and outdate use NASM or FASM

I actually put nasm back in C:\

Code 
C:\Users\rooth>nasm --version

NASM version 3.01rc9 compiled on Oct 10 2025

I plan on learning asm fullest, i bought a book from amazon.

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - Terry A. Davis - Jan 29, 2026

(Jan 29, 2026 04:03 PM)code_g33k Wrote: I actually put nasm back in C:\

Code
C:\Users\rooth>nasm --version NASM version 3.01rc9 compiled on Oct 10 2025

I plan on learning asm fullest, i bought a book from amazon.

If you're specifically doing ASM but calling Win32 stuff, why not skip the middleman and just learn C++ through the eyes of Win32?

RE: Missing windows.inc file in asm code - code_g33k - Jan 30, 2026

(Jan 29, 2026 04:21 PM)Terry A. Davis Wrote: If you're specifically doing ASM but calling Win32 stuff, why not skip the middleman and just learn C++ through the eyes of Win32?

i'm interesting in hardware coding. C++ didn't start from nowhere I believe. assembly deals directly with hardware and memory management that is crucial to learn when low level programming.