dumpbin /dependents MyApp.exe Look for VCRUNTIME140.dll . That tells you your app requires the VS 2015+ runtime. | Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix | |--------|--------------|-----| | Error on customer’s PC, works on yours | Missing redist | Install VC++ redist on target PC | | Error after Windows update | Runtime got uninstalled by cleanup | Reinstall redist | | Error with Python/node native module | Module built with newer VS | Install matching VS Build Tools | | Portable app won’t run on fresh Windows | No runtime installed | Use static linking or app-local DLLs | One Weird Trick for CI/CD If you’re building on a fresh build agent (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins), don’t assume the runtime is present . Always install the redistributable as part of your build setup:
If you’ve ever double-clicked a freshly built .exe only to be greeted by “The code execution cannot proceed because VCRUNTIME140.dll was not found” — you’ve met the Visual Studio Runtime. visual studio runtime
# GitHub Actions example - name: Install VC++ Redist run: | curl -L -o vc_redist.exe https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe .\vc_redist.exe /install /quiet /norestart Or use the pre-installed Visual Studio image that already has runtimes. The Visual Studio Runtime isn’t magic or mysterious. It’s just a system DLL that Microsoft expects you to redistribute. dumpbin /dependents MyApp
End users don’t have Visual Studio. So you have to ship the runtime. 1. Ship the Redistributable (Most Common) Microsoft provides official redistributable packages. Bundle them with your installer. Always install the redistributable as part of your
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Redist\MSVC\v143\ This works well for portable apps. Use Dependency Walker or the built-in dumpbin tool:
It’s frustrating. But once you understand what this runtime actually is , that error becomes easy to prevent and fix. In simple terms: when you write C++ code (or use libraries written in C++), your program relies on standard functions like printf , malloc , or memcpy . The Visual C++ Runtime is the DLL that provides those functions at runtime.