Microsoft Visual C++

[LeRoxas]

I was wondering is it normal to have so many Microsoft Visual C++ installed? Can they cause some performance issue? I have been having some problems with my PC lately and it's acting slow randomly or when i just boot it, right clicking "window" can take up to 10 seconds to open up...

 

[torchwood]

Hi LeRoxas,

Those programs are required ONLY IF a 3rd party program you have installed needs them, ie games/photo/video etc.
(note not all versions of them)

You can safely UNinstall them, then when or if a 3rd party game etc needs one of them it will tell you.

Roy

in your other thread tick the HIDE microsoft products box repost whats left, post here

 

[Alejandro85]

It's pretty normal and most system have such a thing. The "problem" with those runtimes is that software requires a particular version of it, and different versions don't replace each other. Therefore you end up with all of them.
Besides, they exist on your system solely as helpers of other software and do absolute nothing on their own. This for sure is not the root cause of slowness. Not even contribute to it.

Those programs are required ONLY IF a 3rd party program you have installed needs them, ie games/photo/video etc.
(note not all versions of them)

You can safely UNinstall them, then when or if a 3rd party game etc needs one of them it will tell you.

True, but how to know for sure what requires what? Uninstall until something cries works, but...... who likes programs failing all over the place?
Having them all installed is the usual practice, there is no harm in having them (it's just a .dll file on system32/syswow64).

 

[torchwood]

the 3rd party program on install will specify the level of C++ or Netframework required in a pop-up

or just keep the latest version of each.


Roy

 

[Alejandro85]

Some just install the required dependencies together with the software (great).
Most just assume it's there and refuse to run with some crazy messages if it's missing.
A few clearly points out what they require and close gracefully.

I wouldn't count on software to point me in the right direction, experience told me the hard way. That's why I suggest to just install them all and forget about the problem. Of course, the last version of each edition, in 32 and 64 bits flavors.

 

[LMiller7]

I agree with Alejandro85

I would like to address the situation of multiple versions of the runtimes. In most cases the newer version will be fully compatible with the older and should, in theory, be the only one needed. But things aren't always that simple in the real world.

The reality is that there are differences in the versions, such as may arise when new features are added or are needed for compatibility with a newer OS. Usually these differences are minor and of no serious consequence. But that isn't always the case. In many cases the developer will decide to play it safe and require the version the software was designed for and tested with. The developer may provide an informative error message if the files are not present and even offer to download the required version. But you can't assume either will be true. Often all you will get is some obscure error message. Anyone who has used computers as long as I have is all to familiar with obscure error messages.

For the user the safest thing to do is to leave all versions installed. They are not programs and they are not running. They are just files that are not even accessed unless needed. All they do is consume what is usually a trivial amount of disk space.