In a perfect world, the runtimes are backward compatible, but it's not that simple. The download links provided there download directly from Microsoft, who typically post the runtimes before they appear in Windows Updates.Ģ: You Need an Older Version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtimes If there isn't an updated version, download the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable Package. Your first step would be to check Windows Updates.

We've seen many errors appear that have two causes:ġ: Your Microsoft Visual C++ Runtimes Need Updating Because this is Windows, nothing is ever that simple.

As you can tell by the name, the package includes all of the runtimes from 2015-2019 and should be backward compatible with all apps and games created with Microsoft Visual C++. The goal of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable Package is to download all of the runtimes in one package. The Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package is included with Windows 10 and updated with Windows Updates.Īlso confusing is which version of the Visual C++ Redistributable Package do you need? Microsoft has made it a bit easier by including all the 2015-2019 runtimes in one package called the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable Package. If you bought an app or game on CD, then the runtimes were always included.įast forward to today, and not much has changed. Additionally, it was assumed, and often correctly, that you had installed the runtimes at some point in time. These libraries have been in use since 1993 and are the core files used by any app or game developed in C++.īack in the dialup days, the runtimes weren't included because they could be as large as the application or game you were installing. Sometimes the package is referred to as the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtimes or Microsoft Visual C++ runtime libraries. If you use any software developed with Microsoft Visual C++, you need to have installed the Visual C++ Redistributable Package. MSVC is proprietary software it was originally a standalone product but later became a part of Visual Studio and made available in both trialware and freeware forms.'

'Microsoft Visual C++ is an integrated development environment product from Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages. Let's start by giving you a long explanation from Wikipedia: TIP: Hard to fix Windows Problems? Repair/Restore Missing Windows OS Files Damaged by Malware with a few clicks

What is microsoft vc redist package