This started happening a few days ago, about when Benjamin forward
ported r69560 .  There is an #ifdef in fileobject.h that makes a header
for int _PyVerify_fd(int fd) but does not define it.  It is likely
related to r69495 .

_fileio.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __PyVerify_fd
referenced in function _check_fd
C:\py31\PC\VS8.0\\python31_d.dll : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved
externals

I don't feel responsible for VS2005 support. Unassigning myself.

Kristan, I think this is yours.

I think change for posixmodule.c is missing from r69495. (I confirmed
other merges don't include posixmodule.c modification)

Attached patch will fix this. (I don't have VS2005 or later, so I cannot
test this on my machine)

And I think r69268 should be merged too.

Benjamin, please use this patch to complete the merge.

Ah, I just saw this.  Yes, looks like a missing file during porting.  
That should affect VS2008 as well.  Cheers!

Could one of the Windows experts do the port? I can't properly resolve
the conflicts or test the changes here.

I merged the change manually, and came to the same patch as ocean-city;

Then I noticed that os.device_encoding() (new in python 3.0) needs the 
same check as well.