Error: The Side-by-Side configuration information in “BLAH.EXE” contains errors

Question

This is the error Dependency Walker gives me on an executable that I am building with VC++ 2005 Express Edition. When trying to run the .exe, I get:

This app         


        

Answer 1

I have had the same issue with VS 2008-built debug binaries on other winxp sp3 machines.

1. I first tried installing the client machine with vc redist package,as it seemed sensible. Annoyingly, it didn't work.
2. I tried copying all the dependent dlls to the application's directory - still didn't work
3. After being struck over this issue for hours, I found that the latest VS builds require manifests and policies to link with the dlls. After copying them into their respective "C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\" folders, I got it working.

The problem was caused due to the fact that the vc redist package did not install debug versions of dlls, they somehow thought its up to the programmer to figure out.