diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5632907ad..6ac14e0f7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+2014-10-23  David Weiß  <David.Weiss@ptvgroup.com>
+
+	[build] Improve property file for vc2010.
+
+	User-defined properties should be empty by default to prevent linker
+	failures.
+
+	* builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.user.props,
+	builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.vcxproj:
+	s/OptionsDirectory/UserOptionDirectory/.
+	Comment out all user options.
+
 2014-10-23  Werner Lemberg  <wl@gnu.org>
 
 	[cff] Work around bug in preprocessor of MSVC 2010.
diff --git a/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.user.props b/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.user.props
index 0e4e87ce4..008765015 100644
--- a/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.user.props
+++ b/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.user.props
@@ -21,29 +21,33 @@
     <UserDefines></UserDefines>
     
     <!--
-     * path where your custom `ftoptions.h' lives;
+     * path where your custom `ftoption.h' lives;
      * this is searched BEFORE any other path
      -->
-    <OptionsDirectory>..\..\..\devel</OptionsDirectory>
+    <!-- <UserOptionDirectory>..\..\..\devel</UserOptionDirectory> -->
+    <UserOptionDirectory></UserOptionDirectory>
     
     <!--
      * `;'-separated list of paths to additional include directories,
      * e.g., where to find zlib.h, png.h, etc.;
      * this is searched AFTER any other path
      -->
-    <UserIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\..\zlib-1.2.8;..\..\..\..\libpng-1.6.12</UserIncludeDirectories>
+    <!-- <UserIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\..\zlib-1.2.8;..\..\..\..\libpng-1.6.12</UserIncludeDirectories> -->
+    <UserIncludeDirectories></UserIncludeDirectories>
     
     <!--
      * `;'-separated list of paths to additional library directories,
      * e.g., where to find zlib.lib, libpng.lib, etc.
      -->
-    <UserLibraryDirectories>..\..\..\..\zlib-1.2.8;..\..\..\..\libpng-1.6.12</UserLibraryDirectories>
+    <!-- <UserLibraryDirectories>..\..\..\..\zlib-1.2.8;..\..\..\..\libpng-1.6.12</UserLibraryDirectories> -->
+    <UserLibraryDirectories></UserLibraryDirectories>
     
     <!--
      * `;'-separated list of additional linker dependencies,
      * e.g., zlib.lib, libpng.lib, etc.
      -->
-    <UserDependencies>zlib.lib;libpng16.lib</UserDependencies>
+    <!-- <UserDependencies>zlib.lib;libpng16.lib</UserDependencies> -->
+    <UserDependencies></UserDependencies>
     
   </PropertyGroup>
   
@@ -55,7 +59,7 @@
     <PropertyGroup Label="DebugProperties"
                    Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
       <UserDefines>ENABLE_DEBUG_HELPER;ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING</UserDefines>
-      <OptionsDirectory>config\debug</OptionsDirectory>
+      <UserOptionDirectory>config\debug</UserOptionDirectory>
       <UserIncludeDirectories>C:\mydebughelp\include</UserIncludeDirectories>
       <UserLibraryDirectories>C:\mydebughelp\lib</UserLibraryDirectories>
       <UserDependencies>dhelper64.lib</UserDependencies>
diff --git a/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.vcxproj b/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.vcxproj
index 4e921080b..cf12ded97 100644
--- a/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.vcxproj
+++ b/builds/windows/vc2010/freetype.vcxproj
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug Multithreaded|Win32'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <PreprocessToFile>false</PreprocessToFile>
       <PreprocessSuppressLineNumbers>false</PreprocessSuppressLineNumbers>
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug Multithreaded|x64'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <PreprocessToFile>false</PreprocessToFile>
       <PreprocessSuppressLineNumbers>false</PreprocessSuppressLineNumbers>
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug Singlethreaded|Win32'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug Singlethreaded|x64'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR;FT_DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Full</Optimization>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(OptionsDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(UserOptionDirectory);..\..\..\include;$(UserIncludeDirectories);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;WIN32;_LIB;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;FT2_BUILD_LIBRARY;$(UserDefines);%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>