Are all Visual C++ Redistributable versions needed on the servers? (4378345)

There are several Visual C++ Redistributable versions installed on the systems that appear to have been installed by GPOAdmin

We see:

• Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (32bit and 64bit) 
• Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable (32bit and 64bit)
• Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (32bit)
• Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (64bit)
• Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (32bit and 64bit)
• Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (32bit and 64bit)

Are all those necessary?

GPOADmin currently does not rely on any of the Visual C++ Redistributable packages. We have tested GPOADmin installations on machines where none of these packages are present.

 The GPOADmin installation does include a merge module containing some Microsoft .dlls in the module "Microsoft_VC142_CRT_x64.msm" This is a redistributable merge module included in Microsoft Visual Studio which is shippable with products developed using the .dlls within the merge module.

You can consult the Visual Studio documentation about redistributable merge modules for more information on the module. Note that this is installed with GPOADmin, and is removed upon GPOADmin uninstallation.

Microsoft Information:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/redistributing-components-by-using-merge-modules?view=msvc-170