Download the official package from Microsoft’s website (not a third-party site). Run both x86 and x64 installers as Administrator. 2. Installation fails with “Another version of this product is already installed” Cause: A mismatched or partially installed older version.
These files are installed to C:\Windows\System32 (64-bit) and C:\Windows\SysWOW64 (32-bit on 64-bit Windows). A common point of confusion: even if your Windows is 64-bit, a 32-bit app requires the 32-bit version of the redistributable. Therefore, you often need to install both vc_redist.x86.exe and vc_redist.x64.exe . Many modern installers do this automatically, but if you’re troubleshooting, check both. Common Errors and How to Fix Them Here are the top problems users encounter with VC++ 2015 Redist: 1. “The program can’t start because VCRUNTIME140.dll is missing” Cause: The redistributable is not installed, or the installation is corrupted. visual c++ redistributable 2015
If you’ve ever installed a PC game, a creative application like Adobe software, or even certain utilities from smaller developers, you’ve likely seen this popup: “Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable.” Most users click “Next” without a second thought. But what is this package, why do so many apps need it, and why does it sometimes cause errors? Installation fails with “Another version of this product
| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | vcruntime140.dll | Core C runtime functions (e.g., exception handling, startup/shutdown) | | vcruntime140_1.dll | Additional security and compatibility features | | msvcp140.dll | Standard C++ library (containers, algorithms, iostream) | | concrt140.dll | Concurrency Runtime (parallel programming support) | | vcamp140.dll | C++ AMP (accelerated massive parallelism) | Therefore, you often need to install both vc_redist
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (latest)
Have you encountered a strange VC++ runtime error? Let me know in the comments below. This post was last updated: March 2025 – reflecting the unified 2015-2022 redistributable and current best practices for Windows 10/11.