Thompson Posted April 17, 2011 It seems that everytime I want to use some program I am required to download and install a different version of the C++ Redistributable, however, this surely is not healthy. Is it possible to clean this up without breaking every program I have? It's worth noting i'm on a 64-bit version of Windows 7. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted April 18, 2011 Is it possible to clean this up without breaking every program I have? Nope. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thompson Posted April 18, 2011 Nope. That was the answer I expected, sigh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted April 18, 2011 It's fine that games that need different versions of these actually bundle the different versions but why the fuck couldn't they just be files in the game's bin folder without the need to remind me that they exist... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vimes Posted April 18, 2011 It's fine that games that need different versions of these actually bundle the different versions but why the fuck couldn't they just be files in the game's bin folder without the need to remind me that they exist... I don't understand your wrath : it's like 20meg in your "windows/system" folder that allow several gigs worth of games to run on you PC... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayel Posted April 18, 2011 It's fine that games that need different versions of these actually bundle the different versions but why the fuck couldn't they just be files in the game's bin folder without the need to remind me that they exist... Actually the older versions of visual c++ let you statically link c runtimes to the binaries (meaning the users never had to install runtime redistributables because essentially every game/program's exe contained the runtime inside it), but for various reasons they decided to make them separate. It's actually an improvement, believe it or not. They're pretty harmless and don't bog down the system, so ignore them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted April 18, 2011 Um... I think the point was I can't ignore them because they pop up in places like the uninstall panel, alongside stuff I do care about. Witness the screenshot At least windows 7 doesn't try to put every security update into that list, or at least I haven't noticed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayel Posted April 19, 2011 Yeah it's pretty ugly to look at. My guess is that MS treat redistributables as regular programs because they didn't want to put people through windows update/genuine advantage bullshit whenever installing new programs. It'd be nice to have some options to hide or delete stuff from this list without touching the registry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites