Understandingvcredist.msi–TheRedistributablePackage
Ifyouareawindowsuser,youmayhavecomeacrossafilenamedvcredist.msi.Inbrief,vcredist.msiisaredistributablepackageprovidedbyMicrosoftthatcontainsVisualC++LibrariesrequiredtorunapplicationsdevelopedusingMicrosoftVisualStudio.Inthisarticle,wewillexplorehowthispackageworksanditssignificanceforsoftwaredevelopersandend-users.
Whatisvcredist.msiandWhyitisImportant?
DeveloperswhouseVisualStudiotocreateWindowsapplicationsfrequentlyuseC++language.VariousapplicationswhichdependontheMicrosoftVisualC++runtimewouldnotrunwithoutVC++Libraries,sothevcredist.msipackageservesasadependencypackageforthoseprograms.ItprovidestheVisualC++runtimeneededtorunawiderangeofapplications,includinggamesandothersoftwareproducts.
vcredist.msicomesinvariousforms,eachforaspecificVisualStudioversion(2005,2008,2010,2012,etc.).TheredistributablepackageisrequiredonanysystemwhereapplicationshavebeenbuiltwiththespecificVisualStudioversion.Therefore,manysoftwareprogramsbundlethevcredist.msipackagewithintheirinstallationpackage.
Howvcredist.msiWorks?
Thevcredist.msipackageinstallstheVisualC++Librariesonyourcomputer,includingtherequiredDLLfilessuchasmspdbXX.dll,msvcrXX.dll,etc.Withoutthesefiles,programswoulddisplayanerrororfailtorunaltogether.Thevcredist.msipackagewillautomaticallydetectifyourcomputerhastherequiredVisualC++Librariesandinstallthemiftheyaremissing.Additionally,italsochecksforthelatestupdatesavailableonlineandinstallsthemifnecessarytohelpkeeptheinstalledlibrariesup-to-date.
Thevcredist.msipackageinstallationprocessisrelativelystraightforwardanddoesnotrequireanyuserintervention.Itisusuallylaunchedfromwithinanothersetupprogramandcanbeinstalledsilently,withoutanygraphicinterface.
Conclusion
Thevcredist.msipackageisanessentialdependencypackageforthesmoothrunningofVisualStudioapplications.Itisvitaltokeepitupdatedtoensureoptimumperformanceandtopreventanycompatibilityissueswithotherlibraries.Softwaredevelopersareencouragedtobundletheredistributablepackagewiththeirinstallationpackage,whileend-usersshouldnothesitatetoinstallthepackageifpromptedtodoso.Asalways,keepingyoursoftwareandsystemup-to-dateishighlyrecommendedforbetterperformanceandenhancedsecurity.
