Which Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Required Out Of These Four Versions

Question

I'm in need of installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 runtime (x86) but when I searched google and looked into the matter I came to know Microsoft is providing 4 different versions of Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 runtime

1. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) Date published: 11/29/2007

2. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) Date published: 9/16/2008

3. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package ATL Security Update Date published: 9/29/2010

4. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update Date published: 6/7/2011

Now which binary should I download, if I download the 4th one should I be able to run the application which was built using 1st runtime (mentioned above :- 1. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) -- Date published: 11/29/2007).

OR should I install all of them one by one in sequential manner, Could you please guide me?

FYI: 1. I already searched stackoverflow before posting and didn't find the answer. 2. I searched this term in google:- VC++ 2008

Answer 1

I'd recommend all of them in the chronological order. Some poorly written installers (yup.. InstallShield) use binary custom actions and those can have hard-coded dependencies in manifests. It's lightweightand non-conflicting with each other.

Answer 2

The intuitive choice is the correct one, install the latest version. These installers also deploy a publisher policy file that redirects a program that asks for any old version to the new version. Which is the basic mechanism by which they can get critical bug fixes or security updates to be activated.

Or to put it a bit more bluntly, publisher policies are a counter-measure against DLL Hell countermeasures. They work well, I never heard anybody ever complain about a versioning problem with these DLLs. The more typical DLL Hell problem is overwriting a DLL with an older version, that cannot happen with these side-by-side DLLs. Deploying an old version when your program asks for a new one (look in the .manifest file) is a fail-whale.