Take the 2-minute tour ×  I'm in the process of learning VC++
but I wonder why do end-users also need MSVC++?  As far as I can
see in MSDN most if not all of the libraries that my programs
use (the actual DLL files) already come with the system itself
(user32.dll, kernel32.dll, etc).  But how come Paint and Notepad
do not need MSVC++, but my software, which is way more simple
than Notepad requires this runtime? What does the runtime do?
How does it work? Is there a way to make my software work
without MSVC++?  share|improve this question Notepad and Paint
actually do use the MSVC runtime DLL. But it is one that
Microsoft deploys as part of the Windows install and is specific
to Windows programs, c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll. You'll need
to deploy your own when you compile with /MD, the version that's
specific to the VS version you use. –  Hans Passant Jul 10 '12
at 1:48 Also beware that msvcrt.dll is not compatible across
Windows versions. While the WDK can be used to link against
msvcrt.dll (i.e. VS6 runti