VC++ 2017 Could not find VC++ tools version "14.16.27023" - visual-c++

Question

I've installed Visual 2017 C++ build tools. I am attempting to run vsdevcmd to prepare the environment. But, I am getting an error stating VC++ tools are not installed when they infact are.
Below is the error I am getting:
[DEBUG:vcvars.bat] Could not find VC++ tools version "14.16.27023" under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\".
[DEBUG:ext\vcvars.bat] init:COMPLETE
[DEBUG:core\vsdevcmd_end] initializing with arguments ''
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] *** VsDevCmd.bat encountered errors. Environment may be incomplete and/or incorrect. ***
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] In an uninitialized command prompt, please 'set VSCMD_DEBUG=[value]' and then re-run
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] vsdevcmd.bat [args] for additional details.
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] Where [value] is:
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] 1 : basic debug logging
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] 2 : detailed debug logging
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] 3 : trace level logging. Redirection of output to a file when using this level is recommended.
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] Example: set VSCMD_DEBUG=3
[ERROR:VsDevCmd.bat] vsdevcmd.bat > vsdevcmd.trace.txt 2>&1
[DEBUG:VsDevCmd] Writing post-execution environment to C:\Users\KRAFTW~1\AppData\Local\Temp\dd_vsdevcmd15_env.log
[DEBUG:VsDevCmd.bat] --------------------- VS Developer Command Prompt Environment [post-init] ---------------------
Here's the level 3 error reporting of that specific error:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC>if exist "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.16.27023\" (
set "VCToolsInstallDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.16.27023\"
set "VCToolsVersion=14.16.27023"
) else (
set VCToolsInstallDir=
if "3" GEQ "2"
goto :end
)
[DEBUG:vcvars.bat] Could not find VC++ tools version "14.16.27023" under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\".
That directory exists because I copied and pasted the path and was able to change into that directory. Using explorer I can also see that exact version does exist, and within it all the expected tools (as can be seen in the image below)
Any ideas what the problem could be?
Edit
As Hans pointed out in the comment there is wild character at the beginning of the filename 14.16.27023.
According to the output it's loading the path from here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC>set "__VCVARS_DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Auxiliary\Build\Microsoft.VCToolsVersion.default.txt"
I've inspected this file and it contains the following (no odd character):
Also viewed with a hex editor and there's nothing there:
I inspected the vcdevcmd.bat file and it's failing at this:
#REM *****************************************************************
#REM This section executes all .bat files found in vsdevcmd\ext.
#REM Any "leaf node" script should be placed in this directory.
#REM A few notes:
#REM * For determinism sake, the scripts are called in alphabetical
#REM order.
#REM * This section does NOT recursively look in sub-directories
#REM under vsdevcmd\ext. Sub-directories may be used for
#REM "implementation detail" scripts called by .bat files in the
#REM vsdevcmd\ext folder.
#REM *****************************************************************
#REM Iterate through ext scripts
if NOT EXIST "%VS150COMNTOOLS%vsdevcmd\ext\" (
#echo [ERROR:%~nx0] Cannot find 'ext' folder "%VS150COMNTOOLS%vsdevcmd\ext\"
set /A __vscmd_vsdevcmd_errcount=__vscmd_vsdevcmd_errcount+1
goto :ext_end
)
for /F %%a in ( 'dir "%VS150COMNTOOLS%vsdevcmd\ext\*.bat" /b /a-d-h /on' ) do (
call :call_script_helper ext\%%a
)
:ext_end
set __vscmd_dir_cmd_opt=
exit /B 0
with the error:
'"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\Common7\Tools\vsdevcmd\ext\"' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
[ERROR:ext\] init:FAILED code:1
Now I'm not even sure if these 2 errors are related but both appear in the logs. I have attempted complete removed of VS and all of it's products. I've reinstalled with a fresh installer, to no avail.
Thing is, I had this working initially.
Edit 2
Ok, here is the problem with being unable to load VC++ tools (from vcvars.bat):
:export_env_vctoolsinstalldir
if exist "%VCINSTALLDIR%Tools\MSVC\%__VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION%\" (
set "VCToolsInstallDir=%VCINSTALLDIR%Tools\MSVC\%__VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION%\"
set "VCToolsVersion=%__VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION%"
) else (
set VCToolsInstallDir=
if "%VSCMD_DEBUG%" GEQ "2" #echo [DEBUG:%~nx0] Could not find VC++ tools version "%__VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION%" under "%VCINSTALLDIR%Tools\MSVC\".
goto :end
)
I can't find any env. variables set for __VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION or VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION. If I could set that, maybe I can get it to work.
Found this at the head of the same file:
if "%__VCVARS_VERSION%" NEQ "" (
set __VCVARS_TOOLS_VERSION=%__VCVARS_VERSION%
goto :export_env_vctoolsinstalldir
)
I attempted to set that variable and rerun vcdevcmd but it still failed:
set __VCVARS_VERSION=14.16.27023
Also tried:
vsdevcmd -arch=amd64 -host_arch=amd64 -vcvars_ver=14.16.27023
That produces the error:
[DEBUG:vcvars.bat] Checking architecture { host , tgt } : { x86 , x86 }
[DEBUG:vcvars.bat] Could not add directory to PATH: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\Common7\IDE\VC\VCPackages"
[DEBUG:vcvars.bat] Could not find VC++ tools version "14.16.27023" under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\".
[DEBUG:ext\vcvars.bat] init:COMPLETE