@ I went ahead and re-installed VS 2017 with all relevant modules included. I also updated my windows 7 with the latest update which it did need.
But never the less after all that it still will not create the project files I need and with the same error message as before.
I am currently installing VS 2019 with all modules included. Hoping that will fix it but I am beginning to suspect that this is due to me running on Windows 7. Has anyone out there had any success setting up the project on Windowns 7?
Thanks again! 