csproj file containing "&" in a PreBuildEvent step fails to parse

[joes]

I'm not sure VS does encode multiple lines correctly:

PreBuildEvent = 'cd $(ProjectDir) {amp pound xd; amp pound xa;}* "$(DevEnvDir)\..\..\Vc7\Bin\nmake"'

is what I get when I specifiy the commands on multiple lines in the VS GUI.

I tried replacing the original "&" using the VBPro command "replace in file" right before I build the VS solution. However, it looks like VBPro doesn't use the modified file as the step to build the solution fails.

(*the actual characters wouldn't show up in this message so I had to use the full words. Sorry if this is confusing)