Why do I get errors with compiling even after I have installed the supported compilers Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express and Windows SDK 7.1?

I have a 64-bit MATLAB 7.13 (R2011b) and would like to use commands like MEX, MCC and MBUILD which require a supported compiler. I have the officially supported compilers for this release, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Express and Windows SDK 7.1. However, I cannot compile as I get various errors during either the

mex -setup
mbuild -setup

processes or when trying to compile the code. The MEX errors are:

ERROR: "... error using mex (line 206), unable to complete successfully..."

and the MBUILD errors are:

ERROR: Could not find the compiler "cl" on the DOS path. 
Use mbuild -setup to configure your environment properly. 
 
 
C:\PROGRA~1\MATLAB\R2011B\BIN\MEX.PL: Error: Unable to locate compiler. 
 
Error using mbuild (line 189)
Unable to complete successfully.

What is going on?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

There is a known bug with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 (both Express and Professional versions) and Windows SDK 7.1. When the SDK is installed after the Visual Studio 2010 is updated to SP1, the installation removes the core compilers from the system. Microsoft has a bug report on the issue and has released a patch.

Bug details from Microsoft:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2519277/fix-visual-c-compilers-are-removed-when-you-upgrade-visual-studio-2010

Patch download page:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4422