Problems with running EXE file built with Visual Studio on another computer

Question

I created a client server application in C++ using Visual Studio.

Now I want to run the client EXE file on another computer (which doesn\'t have Visual Studio instal

Answer 1

Background:

• C++ applications need run-time assemblies (DLL files) to run in any Windows computer.
• Normally these run-time assemblies are located at C:\Windows\Winsxs directory.
• All the Windows operating systems by default comes with several run time assemblies.
• But if your application is developed in a newer version of the run-time assembly environment, the target computer also needs the same version of the run time to exist there.
• When you're installing Visual Studio, most newer versions of the run-time assemblies comes to your computer.

Solution:

Finally by anyway the target computer should have the exact run time assemblies. There are a few ways to do this (for more details search each in Google).

1. Statically link run-time assemblies with your application (troublesome for large application).
2. Install the C++ redistribution environment on the target computer (the easiest way).
3. Creating a setup project to deploy the run-time on the target computer when installing the application (not bad).
4. For deploying run-time assemblies as private assemblies (professional), see here for more details

Conditions:

• You must not use .NET framework in your application.
• You must not use the common language run-time support for your application