Application has failed to start … application configuration is incorrect - VC++ 2005 Runtime Problem

Question

We moved our Visual C++ 2003 solution to Visual 2005 and now we have problems deploying to clean XP machines.

Our solution has a DLL project and a command line executabl

Answer 1

I had this problem as well. I was appalled at Microsoft for doing this to us.
(I used VC6 to build a particular project and then when I also installed 2003 and 2005 on the build machine it caused my VC6 build to have issues. (I was not checking installs on a pristine machine) Apparently the linker/compiler had no idea what it was doing so it caused problems with my distributable. I then had to add a HUGE redist install file to my 120k exe app. Freakin' microsoft.

MS has screwed this up a few times in the past.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=200B2FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D-389C36F85647&displaylang=en

Answer 2

Copying the CRT dlls around is not recommended. As Vinay says you should use the correct merge modules.

You can also use the redist install exe's if merge modules don't work with your installer technology:

• VS2005 CRT
• VS2005 SP1 CRT

As a last resort try copying the entire 'Microsoft.VC80.CRT' directory to your programs exe directory (not the contents, the actual directory).

Answer 3

You don't really need the Microsoft's VC80 C Run-Time Library. It's a mess.

Instead, relink your program with /MT option, which static links the c run-time library(libcmt.lib) or C++ Standard Library. To set this via the project properties, go to

C/C++ -> Code Generation -> Runtime Library: Multi-threaded (/MT)

If it doesn't compile, you may want to add this option as well (/NODEFAULTLIB:)

Linker -> Input -> Ignore Specific Library: msvcrt.lib

See the link options from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/abx4dbyh(VS.80).aspx

Answer 4

Select Visual Studio 2005 Merge modules in the installer. This can also occur if you have built the exe/dll using visual studio which has service pack installed.