title: Redistributables for deploying C++ exe developed with Visual Studio 2015 on Windows 7
body: <p>I have developed a 32-bit C++ application using Visual Studio 2015 (on Windows 10). I want to deploy it onto machines running Windows 7 and later.</p>
  
  <p>I put together a WiX installer and included the VC++ redistributable merge module as described <a href="http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/howtos/redistributables_and_install_checks/install_vcredist.html">here</a>. The merge module I included was <code>C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Merge Modules\Microsoft_VC140_CRT_x86.msm</code>.</p>
  
  <p>This installer appears to work fine but on Windows 7 the installed program will not run, complaining about missing <code>api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll</code>. </p>
  
  <p>From searching I suspect that there may be extra files in the redistributable package <code>vc_redist.x86.exe</code> from <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145">here</a>, but the WiX docs tell me to use an msm rather than an exe. </p>
  
  <p>It's also possible that the merge module failed to install. I didn't see any errors but I haven't re-run it with logs enabled to check that possibility.</p>
  
  <p>Another option may be to use <code>burn</code> but I am not familiar with this tool; I will go that route if it's the correct one but I'd prefer to stick with MSI if possible.</p>