OK since nobody else replied for several days, it seems I have to:
First, Dark GDK releases before the latest update do not support Visual Studio 2010. We have an "October 26 update" which contains libraries compiled for VS 2010 here:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=177126&b=22
This release is very new (meaning that problems cannot be excluded), but you can try if it works for you.
Second, the Dark GDK official release does not support newer DirectX SDK so don't even try, it won't work without major tweaking. For your info, there is no problem with installing the old SDK on a brand new laptop. I installed it on 64-bit Windows 7 version and it works normally.
If you insist on the VS 2010 + new SDK combination, you can try the tricks posted by forum members. N3wton recently posted installation instructions and even recompiled Dark GDK libraries for this combo, which you could have found with some forum search:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=176637&b=22
There were earlier threads about tweaking Dark GDK to work together with newer SDKs but I think you should refer to the latest solution.