I was doing some Windows maintenance on this rainy day. In my Apps I have 20 instances of Microsoft C++. During installs of Carbide Create and Carbide Motion this MS application gets installed.
Can I safely remove all but the most current instance of this software?
Version 14.29.30139 X86 and X64 seem the latest versions. I would leave both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions if deemed safe to remove the previous versions.
I am running the most current versions of both CC and CM.
It is possible other applications rely on specific versions of these libraries (they are just libraries even though they are presented as apps).
Usually the dependency is only on a major release and it might be possible to remove older sub-releases, but it is possible another application requires it.
That said, if they are causing you concern or you just don’t want them, you can delete all but the latest and be prepared to find and install the older versions if you have problems.
I’d change the file extensions to something like deleteme, see if the application still runs, then delete the file when I’m happy it’s not needed.
Personally, I’d leave them. Windows has gotten much better over the years, but there’s still a lot of voodoo in how/why those get installed and whether a compatible version can be found and installed again. It should be possible but I wouldn’t count on it.
Speaking from my IT job perspective. Don’t worry about them and don’t remove them manually.
This is the fastest way to go from a functioning computer to one that randomly crashes.
If you are concerned about what is installed on your machine, use the built in “Refresh Windows” functionality and just reinstall the programs that it removes (which is pretty much all of them).
If you aren’t comfortable doing that, then don’t screw around removing libraries because you think they are a mess.
Just ignore them. They don’t take a ton of space and there’s no harm having older versions. There is almost certainly a program that is set to use a very specific version. Also, it will most likely never be updated to use a newer version so it will always need that specific release or version.
I will leave them. Dont remember any other app installing them but some installers do not let you know what they are doing.
I have been removing bloatware lately. I found a lot of junk I never use and removing junk lessens the exploits some apps have builtin. Windows has a lot of junk that does nothing for me. Plus it is an HP and they install a lot of junk.
Thanks
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