How do I create a Win32 DLL without a dependency on the C runtime

Question

Using Visual Studio 2008 and its C/C++ compiler, how do I create a Win32 DLL that is dependent only on other Windows DLLs, and has no dependency on the Microsoft C runtime?

I have some C code I want to place in a DLL that is entirely computation, and makes almost no use of C library functions.

For those it does use (eg memcpy), I'm happy to rework the code to use the Win32 API equivalents (eg CopyMemory).

Answer 1

You'd have to make sure none of the Win32 DLLs you use need the C runtime as well or else you back at square one. Compiling your DLL statically won't matter if one of the Win32 DLLs depends on the C runtime.

The only way I can see this working is to statically link ALL your dependent DLLs (if that is even feasible) into your DLL. This of course means you would have to recompile to take advantage of any DLL updates.