Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable is one of those packages without which most games will not run on your computer. It contains libraries that allow programs to run that were developed using the Microsoft Visual C++ environment, also known as MSVC. Such applications include most games on Windows, so the presence of this package is necessary.
Games typically download the required files when installation is complete, but Microsoft Visual C++ may experience problems with pirated software installations or activity. malware. In this case, you need to download Microcoft Visual C++ Redistributable from the official website, following the instructions from this article.
Do you need older versions of Visual C++?
People often ask on the Internet whether all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ libraries are needed on a computer, or why they are not updated to the latest, removing all previous ones. The answer is that you shouldn’t delete them, especially if you don’t want to face the problem of being unable to launch one of the previously installed games after removal old version Visual C++.
If you see a similar picture in the list of installed programs, then the best solution would be to simply scroll through this list and not touch it.
Do not rush to remove 32-bit versions of packages (marked x86), even if you are using 64-bit Windows (x64). They can be used installed programs and games!
How to download Microsoft Visual C++
Like other components developed by Microsoft, client part product (that is, Redistributable Package or Redistributable Packages), can be downloaded for free from the official website. Use third-party sites to download them not recommended.
To install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package, you need to decide on the version and download the distribution kits. On at the moment The most common versions are 2010 and 2012, and newer applications may require version 2015. Since these libraries do not take up too much space, it is recommended to have Microsoft Visual C++ versions 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015, regardless of whether programs requiring them are installed.
It is worth considering that early Windows versions 7 and Windows XP do not support Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 and higher.
Files Microsoft installations You can download Visual C++ for Windows from the following links:
The 2015 version is not yet final, but is already in use for a number of latest games and programs.
Distributions designed for Windows x64 incompatible with 32-bit systems.
Reinstalling Visual C++ libraries
Reinstallation may be necessary if problems arise (for example) with the integrity and proper work libraries. If there is a problem with the required version of the Microsoft Visual C++ package, the game or program will not launch and display an error message.
If all the necessary packages are installed on your computer, but the game still does not start, you must:
- Remove the version with problems. You can use either the Add or Remove Programs tab in the Toolbar or third-party software.
- Restart your computer.
- Download the Visual C++ distribution from one of the links listed above.
- Install the package following the installation program instructions.
- Restart your computer.
Having a majority Microsoft versions Visual C++ Redistributable and their timely updating is necessary for correct operation games and applications. If all the necessary versions are installed, but the game still does not start, the problem may lie in the need for an update, or PhysX.
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In the list of installed programs on your computer, you can easily notice many different copies of Microsoft Visual C++. Different years different versions, different bit depths. This phenomenon affects virtually every Windows computer owner, so this article will explain to you Why are there many copies of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable installed on my computer?.
What is Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ is an integrated development environment (abbreviated as “IDE”) that is used for writing Windows applications in C, C++, C++/CLI. It used to be a standalone product, but over time it was included in the Microsoft Visual Studio suite - a single place for writing, editing, debugging and testing code. The development environment provides access to a large number of so-called “shared libraries”. This is ready-made code that a developer can use as a component of his application. This approach eliminates the need to rewrite individual parts of the application from scratch.
When it comes to distributing games or applications, the developer must decide whether to include dynamic link libraries (DLLs) as part of the application installation process, or use a standard redistributable set of shared code from which the necessary components will already be taken. Often developers decide to use the second option. This is where Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable comes into play ( Redistributable– distributed, English). Therefore, after installing some toy, you see the installation of several copies of Visual C++ Redistributable.
There are many reasons why using a ready-made package is more profitable and better for the developer and for the user. The kits are prepared by Microsoft, which also tests, corrects and supplements them. In addition, Redistributable is installed in one package, after which several applications can use it without having to download the necessary libraries each separately.
Why are there so many copies of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable?
Take a look at the screenshot below. At the time of its creation, the system was only a couple of days old. clean install", but it already has 12 copies of Microsoft Visual C++ installed. On another computer there may be even more of them, and on a third there may be fewer. Question: why is this so?
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable. Thousands of them.
Some of these packages are installed with Windows. It all depends on which version operating system you use and in what bit capacity. On 64-bit versions, both x86 and x64 will be installed. These are already two copies of just one version. On 32-bit ones, in turn, only x86 libraries are used.
Each copy of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable was installed by a separate program, which required certain plug-in libraries to operate. If a required package is already installed, the application does not install it again. It all depends on which version of Visual C++ the developer used to create his crutches. If the application was created using Visual Studio 2005, then the Visual C++ 2005 library will be installed when the application is installed.
There is a high chance that your computer may have several versions Visual C++ one year. Although they may seem like they are all the same, the packages are actually different from each other. One has something that the other doesn't (even if it's one year old), which is why the app downloaded it. If the required DLLs were already present in Microsoft Visual C++ kits, then the program would not install a separate copy. Microsoft should be given a good kick for such chaos. As is the case with. NET Framework, the company has never combined all existing Visual C++ Redistributable suites into one rollup package. It's a pity.
The moral is this: all Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable suites are installed on your computer for a reason. For their existence, you can thank some game or program that you installed earlier. Without them, the apps you downloaded simply wouldn't work. Such things.
Is it possible to remove Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
In short, yes, you can. But it's not necessary.
You probably won't be able to tell which applications will need which version of Visual C++. When you uninstall a program, the sets it installed remain on the system because other applications may need them. Yes, a piece of Visual C++ Redistributable can hang on the system as a monument to an application that once existed. Such sets may never be needed by other programs. However, there is no way to know which Visual C++ packages are used and which are not (if so, please tell us in the comments). If you remove the package you are using, some of the installed software may fall off or begin to work incorrectly.
Of course, a perfectionist may be bothered by such an abundance of “identical” components on the list installed applications. Still, you have to come to terms with them. These packages do not cause any harm to the system (if installed from reliable sources), do not load it and do not take up too much space. In particularly advanced cases, the total size of the Microsoft Visual C++ libraries will take up only a few hundred megabytes. If you are looking for ways to save some space on drive C, then use the appropriately provided mechanisms (read the article ""). They will allow you to free up much more space than two or three hundred megabytes from the Visual C++ Redistributable.
It may seem that the system only needs the newest Visual C++ packages, so the old ones (2012, 2008, etc.) can be removed. In fact, this is not always true. It all depends on the specifics of the software on your computer. If it doesn't need the old libraries, then you can remove them, but again, you can only find out through trial and error. As mentioned above, Microsoft does not offer cumulative sets, so in 2017 Visual C++ Redistributable 2005, 2008, 2010, and so on are still downloaded to users’ computers. Especially if latest versions These applications date back to the same years.
Where to download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
If you encounter an application error and it tells you that you need to download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable of a certain year or version, then your path lies straight to the Microsoft support site. Just keep in mind that if you have 64-bit Windows, then you need to download both the 64-bit package and the 32-bit one. For 32-bit systems, you need to download only x86 libraries.
We hope this article has at least explained to you a little about the reasons why you have a lot of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable installed on your computer.
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable is one of those packages without which most games will not run on your computer. It contains libraries that allow programs to run that were developed using the Microsoft Visual C++ environment, also known as MSVC. Such applications include most games on Windows, so the presence of this package is necessary.
Games typically download the required files when installation is complete, but Microsoft Visual C++ may experience problems due to pirated software or malware activity. In this case, you need to download Microcoft Visual C++ Redistributable from the official website, following the instructions from this article.
Do you need older versions of Visual C++?
People often ask on the Internet whether all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ libraries are needed on a computer, or why they are not updated to the latest, removing all previous ones. The answer is that you shouldn’t delete them, especially if you don’t want to face the problem of not being able to launch one of your previously installed games after uninstalling the old version of Visual C++. If you see a similar picture in the list of installed programs, then the best solution would be to simply scroll through this list and not touch it.
Do not rush to remove 32-bit versions of packages (marked x86), even if you are using 64-bit Windows (x64). They can be used by installed programs and games!
How to download Microsoft Visual C++
Like other components developed by Microsoft, the client part of the product (that is, the Redistributable Package or Redistributable Packages) can be downloaded for free from the official website. It is not recommended to use third-party sites to download them.
To install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package, you need to decide on the version and download the distribution kits. Currently, the most common versions are 2010 and 2012, in addition, newer applications may require version 2015. Since these libraries do not take up too much space, it is recommended to have Microsoft Visual C++ versions 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015, regardless depending on whether programs that require them are installed.
It is worth considering that earlier versions of Windows 7 and Windows XP do not support Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 and higher. You can download Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows installation files from the following links:
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 x86 (for 32-bit systems)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x64 (for 64-bit systems)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 (for 32-bit systems)
The 2015 version is not yet final, but is already used for a number of the latest games and programs. Distributions designed for Windows x64 are not compatible with 32-bit systems.
Hello people) Today we will find out what Microsoft Visual C++ is and why it is needed, and whether it can be removed. I think that you have at least ten programs installed on your computer, or even more, some of them are very important to you, others not so much, and others you haven’t installed at all, and this happens)
Not all programs are ready to work, well, that’s me in the sense that after installation in Windows there should also be additional components that are used by several programs. It is for this reason that they should not come with every program, but since often these components are not on the computer, they are included in the program as a separate component)
However, I will show you with an example. There is such a program as the Outpost firewall; when you install it, not only Outpost itself is installed, but also Microsoft components Visual C++, which he needs to work. That is, it is clear, yes, that if you remove these components later, some of your programs may stop working, so take this into account)
For example, I also have several of them, you may have more or less:
Well, have you concluded what Microsoft Visual C++ is? If you see this in the list of installed software, then you should not delete it! If they are there, it means they are needed by some program or several, so if you delete them, there will be trouble) By the way, when you install games, these Microsoft Visual C++ are also installed, in addition to DirectX.
But there is a second answer to the question of what Microsoft Visual C++ is - this is a studio. An IDE or studio for developing programs in the C++ programming language, that is, it is a kind of editor, where programmers write code and then check how it works. In general, they write programs, functions, libraries.
Well, it’s quite logical that the studio is owned by the programmers. So if you are a great programmer, then there is simply no point in demolishing this studio, well, I think that’s understandable)
This is roughly what a development studio (IDE) looks like, roughly because there are different versions and they still look a little different:
But I think that what you most likely need is not a development studio, but additional components for the normal operation of programs.
I can also say that in some cases there is a downside - you install the program, and it says this and that, you don’t have Microsoft Visual C++, so install it, otherwise I won’t install it (in this case you’ll have to look for them on the Microsoft website ). But this rarely happens, as I already wrote, programs usually already have Microsoft Visual C++ components and install them during installation.
I hope I explained everything clearly, good luck to you)
01.05.2016Microsoft Visual C Redistributable is an essential library for running most modern games. Let's figure out what it's for? Where to download? And finally, how to install!
Almost any active gamer who prefers to run more or less modern games has been faced with the need to install Microsoft Visual C Redistributable. This software package is very important, since most of the games of recent years will simply refuse to launch without it.
What is Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable?
So what is this "Redistributable" package? What is it for? This is a library of components that programmer developers (including games) used when developing in Visual studio. Yes, MS Visual Studio is the most common AAA game development environment.
Redistributable package out of the box
As a rule, there are no problems with installation. All major digital game distribution services, be it Steam, Origin, Uplay and their analogues, always care about supporting players. For example, in Steam DirectX, Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and other software necessary to run a particular game are installed automatically when you first launch the product, and Origin prompts you to select at the beginning of the installation whether you want to install the program (you need to check the box).
However, my friend, if you are used to downloading pirated content from torrents, the game will not always come with a set of necessary libraries. Sometimes you have to go to the official Microsoft website and manually download the latest distribution from there.
About older versions of C++. Should they be removed?
If you go to Start - Control Panel - Add or Remove Programs, you can find a dozen items in the list different versions Microsoft Visual C++. Versions x86 and x64, versions 2005, 2008, 2010, 2017, various numerical numbers, etc. Users quite logically believe that the existing 2017 version is the newest, and the rest can be safely deleted, as well as versions for x86 systems if they are currently running a 64-bit version of the operating system.
So - shish! You cannot delete them :) However, you can, but some of your programs or games will stop running :) And you don’t know which one in advance. Cool, right?
You should not delete different versions - some random programs will stop workingIn general, it doesn't work like that; you can't count on a more recent version being backwards compatible. Older games use outdated versions Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable, so the system does not have the required version software package will make it impossible to start. The same applies to different bit depths (x86, x64) - they can also be used by programs and games.
How to manually download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
Almost the entire list of software packages and client products developed by Microsoft is available on their official website. It is highly undesirable to go to third-party resources by clicking on the first link you come across in search engine, since in this case you cannot be sure that some virus, spyware or cryptocurrency miner was not disguised as the installer.
There are many links available for download with different bit depths and versions of the C++ software package. Their total weight is small - a lot disk space they won't require it on a hard drive. Therefore, it makes sense to list the entire list at once (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017). Some will be needed for relatively old games and programs, others – for modern new products. The installation itself is intuitive.
How to reinstall Visual C++ libraries
The user may need to reinstall Visual C++, for example, if he encounters an error about some missing .dll file. It often happens that the installer that comes with the game is not entirely working or the installation fails. Then the game cannot be launched, which leads to the need to reinstall. This should be done as follows:
- Remove the problematic distribution using the “Add or Remove Programs” item in the Panel Windows management or specialized software to clean the system, which has the corresponding functionality, for example, CCleaner.
- Reboot.
- Download to your computer the distribution kit/distribution kits of the necessary versions of Microsoft Visual C++ for your operating system.
- Run the installer and carry out the installation according to the instructions.
- Reboot again so that everything is installed correctly.
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable versions by year and architecture
| Package version (year) | 32 bit | 64 bit | for ARM |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2005 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2005 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2005 (64bit) | |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2008 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2008 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2008 (64bit) | |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2010 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2010 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2010 (64bit) | |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 (64bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2012 (ARM) |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 (64bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 (ARM) |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 (64bit) | |
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017 | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017 (32bit) | Download Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2017 (64bit) |
If everything is done correctly, nothing will stop you from launching the game you like. The exception is situations when some other components are required to run, for example, a recent version of the DirectX, NET Framework or PhysX libraries. You can understand the need to install/update additional software by the error messages that appear. Just enter the error code in Google or in a search on the relevant forum to find instructions for solving the problem. It's very simple.
