What Is This VC_Red File On My PC?!
Written by Alan Monday, 29 November 2010 08:00
If you have a computer then you are used to the occasional hiccup. A Windows update that doesn’t go right, hackers that try to install unwanted files, and even the unrecognizable file that you sometimes stumble across. VC_Red is the latter. It cropped up over the past few months at different times for different people. It’s fairly prominent since it usually appears right on the C: drive – not always though and I’ll get to that later. So, what is it and should you worry? Here’s what I have found.
When certain programs are installed they require Microsoft Visual C++. Specifically this is Visual C++Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2008 RTM. The installation generates the following temporary files:
install.exe
install.res.1028.dll
install.res.1031.dll
install.res.1033.dll
install.res.1036.dll
install.res.1040.dll
install.res.1041.dll
install.res.1042.dll
install.res.2052.dll
install.res.3082.dll
vcredist.bmp
globdata.ini
install.ini
eula.1028.txt
eula.1031.txt
eula.1033.txt
eula.1036.txt
eula.1040.txt
eula.1041.txt
eula.1042.txt
eula.2052.txt
eula.3082.txt
vc_redist.msi
vc_redist.cab
Ordinarily these files would be stored in the temp directory, but a bug is causing them to be generated to the root directory – usually the C drive. However, on my HTPC they are in the root of the E drive, which is an external USB drive. I can only guess they went there because it had more space available.
The Solution
This has the simplest of all solutions for any PC problem. Delete all of those files. That’s it. Plain and simple. None of these files are necessary and they can all be removed from your PC.
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Thanks! Now I know I can delete these safely!
thanks,congatulations !!
I have been saving these for 2 months looking for answers and didn’t want to risk deleting them. Their so gone now thanks.
Thanks a lot for your clarification!
Thanks.
This “bug” has been a problem since 2008. Weird. But thank you very much for the info and the fix. Honestly if you check other MS forums they cant figure it out. and as I pointed out since 2008. So double BROVO!
[...] http://makingwindowseasy.com/2010/11…file-on-my-pc/ I sometimes have those show up on my external HDD. I delete them. __________________ Last.fm [...]
The problem I have is it is on my external hard drive and when I click on it delete is not an option that shows up. SO how do I get this off my backup drive?
You should still be able to delete, even on an external drive. If right-clicking doesn’t work then try highlighting the files and hitting the Delete button on the keyboard.
When I installed liveusb-creator-3.10.0-setup from the fedora web site, It also installed the C++ redistributable. I am using Windows 7. When I installed the fedora program, These files were all created in my c: root instead of the temp dir. Thanks.
Whew! Thanks a lot!
Mine is ful of .RTM files. Ok to delete those? Thanks, man!
Wow, an easy to find, clear and simple explaination with immeditae resolution on the internet, who’d have thought?
Thanks one-million!
great, no more worries with these files anymore…cheers
Bug is obviously still there somewhere – thanks for the plainand simple advice
That was incredibly helpfull
I have deleted these files on more than one occassion and they show back up again. While deleted may resolve the “issue” temporarily, it is not a true fix. Microsoft needs to get off their collective apathetic asses and fix these issues.
At this point I don’t think they will fix it. The files come back sporadically and just have to be deleted again. The only fix is a script which will do it automatically.
I was within an 1/8″ of hitting delete when I thought I better check for more info. Thanks for the peace of mind. Gone they are.
Thanks. Cleaned up MS mess..
vc_red sebaiknya di uninstal apa dihapus ?
Succinct. Thanks.
Thanks for the info! I deleted them all and hoped for the best, everything was running ok after a reboot but now I can go ahead and empty my recycle bin too. I’ll be sure to check your site if I run into anything else like this again!
Thnx!!
Like everyone else, I was worried about deleting these files, but they’re so gone! 
Yeah. Had these on an external drive. The drive ran very poorly for music with them on it. Now that they are removed everything is back to normal.
Good work Alan.
Interesting that these files were on my 2gig Western Digital Drive – right out of the box… unused. Seems to point to a problem with there manufacturing?
mf
Thanks Alan!
Thank you very much, sir.
I’ve just found my entire D erased except for the VD_RED files :’(
Awesome!! This was my first web site in my search for an answer, and the answer was so simple! I figured that i would be searching forever and that i would be lucky to find out what these files were. Thanks my friend!
So that’s what all the files cluttering up my D drive are. Or rather were, as I have taken your advice and deleted the lot. Thanks so much.
Thank you for the information, I know can delete these files on my C drive with no more worries .
I still have the two VC_Red files you show in the pic above. Can they be deleted or must they remain? Thanks.
Thank you very much!
I have the same problem as Belinda – I opened my external drive today to do backups & it was completely empty except for these files. I have no idea what to do! Can my data files be recovered? And why were they deleted anyway? (I never paid attention to whether these files were there right from the manufacturer or not.) This is a Western Digital external drive.
Alan,
Thanks a lot! Seeing VC_RED in D drive of my PC was very unpleasant.
VC_RED라는 파일이 D드라이브에 생겨난 것을 보고 무척 찜찜했는데, 참고가 되네요!
용산에서 OS CD를 하나 사서 설치했었는데, 그것이 원인이 아닌가 생각합니다.