The myriad Microsoft Visual C++ Resdistributables - Can any be deleted?

[britechguy]

This is something I've wondered for many years, but am frustrated now because winget is constantly barfing with an exit code of 1603 on one of the 2008 versions. Here's a part of the Control Panel, Programs and Features on the machine I'm typing from:



I have to believe that all of these are just not necessary, but Microsoft never seems to delete earlier versions when a replacement comes along. If I can safely nuke all prior to the 2013 version and newer, I'll just do that. But I want to make certain this won't cause an immense conflagration before doing so.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Just one rat here, but I routinely do this on my own machines (and used to occasionally on client's machines) and never saw a problem. Microsoft's position has always been that you only need the latest but (edited to agree slightly with @Sky-Knight) that doesn't guarantee that some badly-written niche application isn't tightly bound to an old version.

I'd give it a try and see what happens. System Restore A reliable image backup is your friend.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Doesn't really matter, only problem is patches if necessary. And you can do that with winget upgrade --all now.

IF you decide to remove one, remove them ALL. Then reinstall whatever application complains, that's the hard part. And yes, the apps will need specific versions.

 

[Computer Bloke]

So there you go: two diametrically opposed opinions, both backed up by years of experience.

Do let us know how it turns out...

 

[GTP]

So there you go: two diametrically opposed opinions, both backed up by years of experience.

Make that 3 opinions.