VS 2013 : Add Existing Project does not physically copy files. How do you do that?

Question

I have created a new Class Library where I add a lot of existing projects so that I can create one .dll which I reference to use these classes in multiple solutions. I added all the projects using as Add Existing Project and created my Class Library Solution. Now I see that the files have not actually been copied to the new Class Library location but as present as links.

How to I trigger a copy?

Answer 1

The following steps should work:

1. Copy the existing project into your new solution using Windows Explorer.

2. Use the "Add Existing Project" menu command from VS2013 and select the project inside the directory of your current solution.

Since your solution file is essentially just a text file; you could do a find and replace in it to bulk amend the project locations.