title: Visual C++ Redistributables without using VCRedist_x86.exe
body: <p>I'm developing in an environment that is severely constrained, but the developers also have tight control over.  </p>
  
  <p>VCRedist_x86.exe - A 4Mb redistributable - is no fun (four hours to transfer).  I'd really prefer to just redistribute MFC90.dll, msvcm90.dll, msvcp90.dll and msvcr90.dll - that's more like 2Mb.  However, <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235299.aspx" rel="noreferrer">Redistributing Visual C++ Files</a> says:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>It is not supported to redistribute C/C++ applications that are built without a manifest. Visual C++ libraries cannot be used by C/C++ applications without a manifest binding the application to these libraries. For more information, see <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235316.aspx" rel="noreferrer">Choosing a Deployment Method</a>. </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>My original plan of copying the DLLs into the program's working directory doesn't seem to 
  work in this brave new world of manifests.</p>
  
  <p>My next guess is to bodge up the registry entries required to populate the files into the WinSxS directory and populate it myself (rather than using the 4 meg program).</p>
  
  <p>[edit] The software is frequently updated, so DLLs are strongly preferred to static linking. [/edit] </p>
  
  <p><strong>How can I sucessfully distribute the necessary files but keep the overhead down?</strong></p>