Too many versions of Microsoft Visual C++ installed on my system

[peter7277]

These are the microsoft visual c++ version installed on my Windows 7 x64 system which i didn't installed, i guess they were installed during installation of other programs. Do i need them all?

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.4148
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.4148
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.6161
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.40649
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x86) - 12.0.21005
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x86) - 12.0.40649
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable (x64) - 14.0.24215
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable (x86) - 14.0.24215

 

[torchwood]

Hi Peter,

They are "called" and installed by OTHER programs on your system.

Allthough maybe all of them are not or no longer required.

You can uninstall them, and YOU WILL be notified if they are required by another program when you use it next.

Roy

 

[Alejandro85]

There is no way we can know what one do you actually need and what don't. It depends, as you say, on what other programs do you have, as those runtimes do nothing by themselves, but rather are there only to "help" other software.

You can uninstall them, and YOU WILL be notified if they are required by another program when you use it next.

More often than not, programs requiring the missing dependencies crash in crazy ways rather than giving a clear description. One shouldn't expect software using those runtimes to notify what do they need, as frequently the error messages they show are either generic or misleading. I recommend against uninstalling them, unless you're sure.

I would even go farther as saying that OP is missing some other versions
Those runtimes are the things I first install when doing a clean install, then forget about them.

 

[Quintus Arius]

So all part of Microsoft bloatware, no use but there maybe ?

 

[townsbg]

Application programmers sometimes don't write all of the code needed to run a program. Sometimes they use preinstalled packages to ease how much code they have to write. Visual C++ is one such package. If the user is running a program that is using Visual C++ then it'll likely crash when he tries to run if after it is removed.

 

[Alejandro85]

All of those aren't bloatware, those are Runtime Libraries possibly used by other software. There is no harm in leaving them installed or even in installing them all. But uninstalling one that's in use results in problems.