What VS does have (and GCC does not) is auto-linking, which merely allows you to avoid having to explicitly specify the names of the Boost libraries to link with. But this is just the names, not the paths.
There are many places that library paths can hide, however; they can include: * the project settings * property sheets imported by the project * the LIBPATH environment variable * Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> VC++ Directories (on older versions of VS) or the Microsoft.Win32.Cpp.user.props sheet (on newer versions of VS) All I know is where the settings have been moved to, ostensibly, and as they make sense. At some level, they should land in the project settings, not environment settings, not even VS settings.
Hmm, this goes against my hypothesis that BOOST_ROOT and Windows have a special relationship.
Whatever project management plumbing you're using, look forward to seeing your contributions.
I will let you know what I am able to figure out. At this point I think it is worth the time to start from scratch and see where things land. I don't know when I will be able to find the time to do it, though.