Redistributing Visual C++ Files

When you deploy an application, you must also deploy the files that are required to support it. If any of these files are provided by Microsoft, check whether you are permitted to redistribute them. To review the Microsoft Software License Terms, see License.htm on the Visual Studio 2012 installation media. To view the "REDIST list" that is referenced in the "Distributable Code" section of the Microsoft Software License Terms for certain editions of Visual Studio 2012, see License Extensions for Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2012 SDK on the Microsoft website. For more information about redistributable files, see Determining Which DLLs to Redistribute and Deployment Examples.

To deploy Visual C++ redistributable files, you can use the Visual C++ Redistributable Package (VCRedist_x86.exe, VCRedist_x64.exe, or VCRedist_arm.exe) that is included in Visual Studio, or use Redistributable Merge Modules, or you can directly install specific Visual C++ DLLs to the application local folder. An application local folder is a folder that contains an executable application file. DLLs must be deployed to the application local folder.

The Visual C++ Redistributable Package installs and registers all Visual C++ libraries. If you use it, you must set it to run on the target system as a prerequisite to installation of the application. We recommend that you use this package to redistribute Visual C++ libraries for applications that you build. For an example about how to use this package, see Walkthrough: Deploying a Visual C++ Application By Using the Visual C++ Redistributable Package.

If you use a merge module that contains a Visual C++ DLL, you must include it in the Windows Installer package (or similar installation package) that you are using to deploy the application. For more information, see Redistributing By Using Merge Modules. For an example, see Walkthrough: Deploying a Visual C++ Application By Using a Setup Project, which illustrates using InstallShield Limited Edition to create an installation package.

Potential Run-Time Errors

If a Visual C++ library DLL is not reachable and Windows cannot load it for your application, this message may be displayed: This application has failed to start because MSVCR<version number>.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

To resolve this kind of error, make sure that your application is built correctly and that Visual C++ libraries are correctly deployed on the target system.

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