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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Hello. I have an odd situation (and a number of questions) about Visual C++ Redistributables. I am a systems administrator (not a developer) and have always been somewhat
mystified about the function, use, and purpose of the Visual C++ Redistributables. I now have a bit of a quandary due to an improperly packaged software installation and would like to know how to proceed. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated from the Visual C++ gurus!
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Heres the scoop...
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small We were given the wrong set of binaries by our backup vendor and installed them on our 2008 R2 SQL 2008 cluster.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small They gave us the 32-bit version instead of the x64, incorrectly packaged in an "x64" folder - accompanied by forceful reassurances that it was indeed x64 code. Not so.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small The app installs the Visual C++ 2005 and 2008 redistributables prior to the installation of the application.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small My first concern then is if the application installed the 32-bit version of the Visual C++ package instead of x64.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small We have removed the 32-bit backup software and I would like to proceed with the installation of the 64-bit.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Should I remove the 32-bit Visual C++ Redistributable first?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Is it problematic to have the 32-bit Visual C++ redistributable on a 64-bit server?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Must an application call the x64 libraries explicitly? If the x86 version exists will it be called by accident by a 64-bit app? Or will the 64-bit Visual C++ be
called automatically if not requested specifically by the application?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: How are the Visual C++ 2005 and 2008 redistributables used by SQL 2008 Server itself? Is it used by core services or only by management tools? Or not at all?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: If it is indeed used by SQL Server, what is the uninstallation impact of removing only the 32-bit version? If we wished to uninstall (32-bit), uninstall/reinstall,
or overinstall, how self-contained are these redistributables? Is this a benign operation or is there a level of risk involved? Is it safer to simply leave them installed?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Bonus Questions:
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small I see that the âInstalled Dateâ for the Redistributables reported by the servers in our cluster donât match (off by almost a year in some cases, though
apps were not added to one server without adding to the others, and the servers have not had any âapplicationâ installs since deployment other than the recent backup software installation. Changes have been limited to Windows Updates only).
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: It appears that at some point perhaps an "overinstall" was performed, though the dates are suspect since we are not in the habit of installing anything on our cluster!
Regardless, are âOverinstallsâ of this package ok?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Has anyone seen false "Installed Date" values? Im finding them hard to believe.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: What is an "ATL update"? There are âATL updateâ packages installed with dates different than the main redistributable â PRIOR dates in some cases,
which doesnt make sense to me as I would expect an update to come after the Redistributable. Would a prior date on such an update be an issue? Note that it does not qualify for any additional updates for these components. Could the ATL update
have been installed separately based on the existence of some other component?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Thanks in advance, I know that this is a LOT of questions.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
View the full article
mystified about the function, use, and purpose of the Visual C++ Redistributables. I now have a bit of a quandary due to an improperly packaged software installation and would like to know how to proceed. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated from the Visual C++ gurus!
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Heres the scoop...
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small We were given the wrong set of binaries by our backup vendor and installed them on our 2008 R2 SQL 2008 cluster.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small They gave us the 32-bit version instead of the x64, incorrectly packaged in an "x64" folder - accompanied by forceful reassurances that it was indeed x64 code. Not so.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small The app installs the Visual C++ 2005 and 2008 redistributables prior to the installation of the application.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small My first concern then is if the application installed the 32-bit version of the Visual C++ package instead of x64.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small We have removed the 32-bit backup software and I would like to proceed with the installation of the 64-bit.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Should I remove the 32-bit Visual C++ Redistributable first?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Is it problematic to have the 32-bit Visual C++ redistributable on a 64-bit server?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Must an application call the x64 libraries explicitly? If the x86 version exists will it be called by accident by a 64-bit app? Or will the 64-bit Visual C++ be
called automatically if not requested specifically by the application?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: How are the Visual C++ 2005 and 2008 redistributables used by SQL 2008 Server itself? Is it used by core services or only by management tools? Or not at all?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: If it is indeed used by SQL Server, what is the uninstallation impact of removing only the 32-bit version? If we wished to uninstall (32-bit), uninstall/reinstall,
or overinstall, how self-contained are these redistributables? Is this a benign operation or is there a level of risk involved? Is it safer to simply leave them installed?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Bonus Questions:
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small I see that the âInstalled Dateâ for the Redistributables reported by the servers in our cluster donât match (off by almost a year in some cases, though
apps were not added to one server without adding to the others, and the servers have not had any âapplicationâ installs since deployment other than the recent backup software installation. Changes have been limited to Windows Updates only).
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: It appears that at some point perhaps an "overinstall" was performed, though the dates are suspect since we are not in the habit of installing anything on our cluster!
Regardless, are âOverinstallsâ of this package ok?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: Has anyone seen false "Installed Date" values? Im finding them hard to believe.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Q: What is an "ATL update"? There are âATL updateâ packages installed with dates different than the main redistributable â PRIOR dates in some cases,
which doesnt make sense to me as I would expect an update to come after the Redistributable. Would a prior date on such an update be an issue? Note that it does not qualify for any additional updates for these components. Could the ATL update
have been installed separately based on the existence of some other component?
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small Thanks in advance, I know that this is a LOT of questions.
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt <span style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:small
View the full article