What is Microsoft Visual Studio for?

[fohat.digs]

I seem to be getting a lot of errors recently that seem to come from Microsoft Visual Studio.

Whatever that is.

I do not use it, unless it is some sort of background thing that needs to be there.

Also, I have no intention of ever putting anything into "a cloud" that Microsoft controls, so if this is something that piggybacked in on a Windows update in hopes of luring me into it, I would prefer to uninstall it and forget about it completely.

Is there any hazard in getting rid of it?

Google searches do not seem to address this question.

Thanks!

[Novus]

The paranoia is strong in here.
VS is a development environment and code editor.
You can un-install it.

[tp4tissue]

It's easier to reformat than it is to solve this problem.

[Snowdog993]

Visual Studio is a runtime for programs that require it for them to run.  I guess you could remove it completely, but some of your programs won't work properly or run at all.  Up to you.

[nathanrosspowell]

Its pretty complex.

[tbc]

visual studio is a rather large umbrella term.


vs generally means the IDE.  think of an ide as a specialized text editor with directory management support for programmers to write programs in.  it's a tool much like you have a hammer.

vs also includes a bunch of support programs that aren't EXEs.  you can't open them, only other programs can use them.


go to your start menu and start typing visual studio.  do you see an exact match pop up?  if not, DO NOT uninstall or delete any visual studio related folders and files on your computer.  if you do, you risk breaking some programs; either they won't start up or they will crash randomly


NOTE:

yes guys, i know i'm not being technically correct here. but let's keep it simple yes?

note2:

i really honestly can't remember anything that explicitly says visual studio that can't be removed, but i'm not going to suggest you start deleting files from program files.

[Snowdog993]

i really honestly can't remember anything that explicitly says visual studio that can't be removed, but i'm not going to suggest you start deleting files from program files.

Well, no doubt!  The redist packages usually contain the dynamic libraries for most programs to run properly.  Then you get into VM, and things really get complicated.  It would be a suprise to see any external application that requires Visual Studio runtimes actually work without the libraries.
Then there are updates for versions of Visual Studio.  Then there are OS-specific versions, etc etc....
What you could do is just uninstall VS and install the redist package and see if everything works.

If something doesn't work, it will usually point out what version and file you require for that specific application to work.  Or you will blue screen.  (Even with that it will point out which file is required.)
I would back up everything first.  Then note what redists are installed, and just install the latest redist and try it.  9 times out of 10, everything will work flawlessly.  It's not a sure-fire solution, but it might be one for some people.

[fohat.digs]

Its pretty complex.

I posted the question here because reading Microsoft's gobbledegook rarely answers simple direct questions.

The answer seems to be that I need to leave it because it might be doing something important in the background.

[nathanrosspowell]

Its pretty complex.

I posted the question here because reading Microsoft's gobbledegook rarely answers simple direct questions.

The answer seems to be that I need to leave it because it might be doing something important in the background.

Sorry, I was just yanking your chain.

It is extremely rare to be in your situation as A) you have to install visual studio yourself and B) the pro versions cost an arm and a leg.

If you are not doing development then I would feel fine to uninstall it. There is a small possibility that something will stop working, but Windows have redistributable packages for that.

[tp4tissue]

Tellin ya..  Reformat..  DONE..   "thinking about the problem" "googling it" "testing solutions" 

All that takes more time, than to reformat..

I'm assuming you know how to reformat via USB flash drive..  if you're doing it from a DVD drive, it takes 4fkin'ev3r..

[Snowdog993]

Tellin ya..  Reformat..  DONE..   "thinking about the problem" "googling it" "testing solutions" 

All that takes more time, than to reformat..

I'm assuming you know how to reformat via USB flash drive..  if you're doing it from a DVD drive, it takes 4fkin'ev3r..

Yeah perfect solution TP4.  If you have no important data on your computer or have the time to reinstall a bajillion programs again.  Have at it!

[Novus]

i really honestly can't remember anything that explicitly says visual studio that can't be removed, but i'm not going to suggest you start deleting files from program files.

Well, no doubt!  The redist packages usually contain the dynamic libraries for most programs to run properly.  Then you get into VM, and things really get complicated.  It would be a suprise to see any external application that requires Visual Studio runtimes actually work without the libraries.
Then there are updates for versions of Visual Studio.  Then there are OS-specific versions, etc etc....
What you could do is just uninstall VS and install the redist package and see if everything works.

If something doesn't work, it will usually point out what version and file you require for that specific application to work.  Or you will blue screen.  (Even with that it will point out which file is required.)
I would back up everything first.  Then note what redists are installed, and just install the latest redist and try it.  9 times out of 10, everything will work flawlessly.  It's not a sure-fire solution, but it might be one for some people.

Those run times and necessary dependencies are often installed separately of Visual Studio itself.
Like the other guy said it's rare to have to install visual studio yourself and not know what it is.

[fohat.digs]

Sorry, I was just yanking your chain.

It is extremely rare to be in your situation as A) you have to install visual studio yourself and B) the pro versions cost an arm and a leg.

If you are not doing development then I would feel fine to uninstall it. There is a small possibility that something will stop working, but Windows have redistributable packages for that.

Thank you very much. I uninstalled that crap and re-booted and everything seems to be working fine.

For one thing, for several days Microsoft Security Essentials has been telling me that I may be at risk because I have not scanned my computer (not true, I update MSE and scan once a week) even immediately after its scan has completed.

I do not know how it got on there in the first place, unless I inadvertently selected it during a Windows update.
 

[Snowdog993]

Those run times and necessary dependencies are often installed separately of Visual Studio itself.
Like the other guy said it's rare to have to install visual studio yourself and not know what it is.

Agreed.  I didn't disagree at all.  The redist may be required after uninstalling it, however.  It depends on what actual programs are on that machine. 

[tp4tissue]

Tellin ya..  Reformat..  DONE..   "thinking about the problem" "googling it" "testing solutions" 

All that takes more time, than to reformat..

I'm assuming you know how to reformat via USB flash drive..  if you're doing it from a DVD drive, it takes 4fkin'ev3r..

Yeah perfect solution TP4.  If you have no important data on your computer or have the time to reinstall a bajillion programs again.  Have at it!

This is why I have 30 day image backups..  I can restore to any day in the past month, I also keep backup images from every 6 months.

This saves so much time..  Problem ? click click.. restore drive @ 600MB/s 

[Snowdog993]

Tellin ya..  Reformat..  DONE..   "thinking about the problem" "googling it" "testing solutions" 

All that takes more time, than to reformat..

I'm assuming you know how to reformat via USB flash drive..  if you're doing it from a DVD drive, it takes 4fkin'ev3r..

Yeah perfect solution TP4.  If you have no important data on your computer or have the time to reinstall a bajillion programs again.  Have at it!

This is why I have 30 day image backups..  I can restore to any day in the past month, I also keep backup images from every 6 months.

This saves so much time..  Problem ? click click.. restore drive @ 600MB/s

You didn't say that.  A lot of people are lazy about backing up data.  There are the few that actually do.  Personally I do backup the computers I do use.  Unfortunately a lot of people don't even have an external hard drive!  *How can they not?* 
It is always after the fact that they wish they did.

[tp4tissue]

Tellin ya..  Reformat..  DONE..   "thinking about the problem" "googling it" "testing solutions" 

All that takes more time, than to reformat..

I'm assuming you know how to reformat via USB flash drive..  if you're doing it from a DVD drive, it takes 4fkin'ev3r..

Yeah perfect solution TP4.  If you have no important data on your computer or have the time to reinstall a bajillion programs again.  Have at it!

This is why I have 30 day image backups..  I can restore to any day in the past month, I also keep backup images from every 6 months.

This saves so much time..  Problem ? click click.. restore drive @ 600MB/s

You didn't say that.  A lot of people are lazy about backing up data.  There are the few that actually do.  Personally I do backup the computers I do use.  Unfortunately a lot of people don't even have an external hard drive!  *How can they not?* 
It is always after the fact that they wish they did.

I impulse-bought all these 1TB ssds.. LOL.. gotta put them to use..

If feels kinda cool that I'm one of the few people around writing the allotted 40GB to the drive every day.. 

I actually look forward to burning these drives out..