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how many versions of Microsoft Visual C++ do I need?

Bill Aldrich 20 Reputation points
2026-01-07T22:18:25.3666667+00:00

I have five versions of Microsoft Visual C++ (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 x64, and 2015 x86). Which of these is necessary?

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Developer technologies | C++
Developer technologies | C++
A high-level, general-purpose programming language, created as an extension of the C programming language, that has object-oriented, generic, and functional features in addition to facilities for low-level memory manipulation.
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-01-07T22:18:33.9833333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    You may not need all five versions of Microsoft Visual C++ installed. The necessity of each version depends on the applications you are using. Here’s a brief overview:

    • Visual C++ 2008, 2012, and 2013: These versions are older and may be required for legacy applications that were specifically built with these versions.
    • Visual C++ 2015 x64 and 2015 x86: Starting from Visual Studio 2015, the runtime libraries are binary-compatible across the versions 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. This means that if you have applications built with these versions, you can use the same redistributable package for all of them.

    If you are not using applications that depend on the older versions (2008, 2012, 2013), you might only need the 2015 versions. However, if you have specific applications that require the older versions, you should keep them installed.

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