I am looking at the MS web page for downloading VS 2017 Enterprise. It has a dropdown for x64 or x86? Since VS itself is an x86 application, what are the differences in the other tools that are going to be installed x64 and x86?
Is it versions of SQL, IIS Express or other build tools? Looking for a list of what versions each installer installs. Or is to do with just which type of Windows you install to (32 vs. 64 bit)?
There is no difference, they will give you the same setup bootstrapper, which in turn will install the same packages. Because VS includes tooling for 64-bit development, it's offered as x86 or x64, but that's an internal classification detail which causes the dropdown to offer both.
Related
Currently I'm working with Visual Studio 2015 on a 32-Bit computer and create 32-bit applications in C++/CLI.
As far as I remember one could choose between creating 32 and 64-Bit applications in previous Visual Studio versions, if one has installed the 64-Bit compiler too.
Today I was trying to get the same functionality out of the 2015's version of Visual Studio, but I'm not able to find any option to install the 64-Bit compiler.
In the compiler-settings I can only choose between ARM and 32-Bit (no 64-Bit, no "any platform"). Running the Visual Studio Setup from the Windows system preferences also shows no possibility to install the 64-Bit compiler (or maybe i just don't know what to install).
QUESTION: How can I install the 64-Bit C++ compiler for Visual Studio 2015 on a 32-Bit computer?
#GSerg gave the aswer I needed in his first comment - thank you for your help!
The compiler seems to be installed by default. I just wasn't able to find the way to set the platform.
I develop a large open source C++ program. On Windows, we typically build our downloadable releases with Visual Studio Express. In the past, I've tried to use an old version of Windows and an old version of Visual Studio to try to maintain compatibility with as many user's machines as possible -- and to also keep the development environment as accessible as possible to contributors.
We do use some C++11. We currently use VS 2010 Express on Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 (64 bit). We target Win32. We do not use any .Net stuff.
Unfortunately, as built, our program crashes on Windows 8.1 -- it starts to load, but crashes with a non helpful error message 'myprogram.exe Has stopped working.' I can't yet tell if this 'should work', or if it is a bug in our program that only Win8 triggers (it works fine on earlier Windows as well as OSX and Linux).
I'm finding it very difficult to figure out the target compatibility matrix for Windows & Visual Studio. Assume that all versions of Windows and Visual Studio are available.
So, what version of Visual Studio and/or Windows SDK 'should work' to produce a single executable that will work on the widest range of Windows versions?
Or, what is the minimum number of builds (and how) we could do to target the widest array of Windows versions?
Alternatively, would MinGW provide a substantially better result for us? If so, which version & platform should we use?
We currently only build 32-bit versions, but how would going 64-bit change this discussion?
Is there a simple way to compile a 64 bit app with the 32-bit edition of Visual C++ 2010 Express? What configurations, if any, are necessary?
Here are step by step instructions:
Download and install the Windows Software Development Kit version 7.1. Visual C++ 2010 Express does not include a 64 bit compiler, but the SDK does. A link to the SDK: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb980924.aspx
Change your project configuration. Go to Properties of your project. On the top of the dialog box there will be a "Configuration" drop-down menu. Make sure that selects "All Configurations." There will also be a "Platform" drop-down that will read "Win32." Finally on the right there is a "Configuration Manager" button - press it. In the dialog that comes up, find your project, hit the Platform drop-down, select New, then select x64. Now change the "Active solution platform" drop-down menu to "x64." When you return to the Properties dialog box, the "Platform" drop-down should now read "x64."
Finally, change your toolset. In the Properties menu of your project, under Configuration Properties | General, change Platform Toolset from "v100" to "Windows7.1SDK".
These steps have worked for me, anyway. Some more details on step 2 can be found in a reference from Microsoft that a previous poster mentioned: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx.
64-bit tools are not available on
Visual C++ Express by default. To
enable 64-bit tools on Visual C++
Express, install the Windows Software
Development Kit (SDK) in addition to
Visual C++ Express. Otherwise, an
error occurs when you attempt to
configure a project to target a 64-bit
platform using Visual C++ Express.
How to: Configure Visual C++ Projects to Target 64-Bit Platforms
Ref:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx
And make sure you download the Windows7.1 SDK, not just the Windows 7 one. That caused me a lot of head pounding.
I found an important step to add to this - after you've installed the SDK, go to your project properties and change Configuration Properties->General->Platform Toolset from v100 or whatever it is to Windows7.1SDK. This changes $(WindowsSdkDir) to the proper place and seemed to solve some other difficulties I was encountering as well.
Note that Visual C++ compilers are removed when you upgrade Visual Studio 2010 Professional or Visual Studio 2010 Express to Visual Studio 2010 SP1 if Windows SDK v7.1 is installed.
For instructions on resolving this, see KB2519277 on the Microsoft Support site.
Download the Windows SDK and then go to View->Properties->Configuration Manager->Active Solution Platform->New->x64.
Programming in a 64-bit environment is quite different than 32-bit environment.
Code generated has totally different assembly constitution in 32 & 64-bit code, even the protocols of communicating with functions change. So you can't generate 64-bit code using 32-bit compiler.
You might want to see an article on Microsoft's web site about targeting a 64-bit target but using a 32-bit development machine.
As what Jakob said: windows sdk 7.1 cannot be installed if MS VC++ x64 and x86 runtimes and redisrtibutables of version 10.0.40219 are present. after removing them win sdk install is okay, VS C++ SP1 can be installed fine again.
Kind regards
Last week I inherited a legacy unmanaged C++ application.
Unfortunately the project settings are not 100% reliable, and there is no documentation. What I do know is that the product was deployed with Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86.
My question is: what combination of IDE, SDK, and Platform ToolSet would you recommend using?
Unfortunately I haven't worked with the Windows SDK before, and the Platform ToolSet option is new to me. To make matters worse, I haven't written a line of C++ code in eight years! So... any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated :D
KNOWNS
Client Operating System
Windows 2008 R2
C++ Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86 is deployed in production
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
I would prefer to use Visual Studio 2012 (we also have: Visual Studio 2008, 2010, 2012)
UNKNOWNS
Platform ToolSet
Can I use VS2012 and target the v90 platform, or is it more stable to simply use VS2008?
Windows SDK
Which version of the Windows SDK should I install on the development machine if the client is using Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86 in production?
I would start by trying to get the project to compile successfully in Visual Studio 2008, since you mentioned you already have that available.
I wouldn't bother trying to install another version of the Windows SDK (one comes bundled with VS 2008) unless you can't get the project to compile successfully in an out-of-the-box install of VS 2008. If not and you do want to try installing another version of the SDK, I would opt for version 7.1, the one that targets Windows 7.
There is unlikely to be any advantage in using version 6.1 of the SDK; new versions might add new features, but they generally retain backwards compatibility with the old versions. I would not, however, install any version of the Windows 8 SDK because that might end up confusing you as the developer.
Once you get everything up and going on VS 2008, you could try switching over to VS 2012 if you'd prefer to use it. (I still can't get used to the UI, but apparently someone likes it.) As you point out in the question, the easiest way of making this work correctly would be to target "v90", which is VS 2008 (set using the Platform Toolset option). That will basically allow you to use the VS 2012 shell for editing purposes, but the VS 2008 compiler and headers for builds. You won't get any of the C++11 features introduced with VS 2012, however, because you're not using the new version of the compiler; you'll be stuck with what was supported back in VS 2008.
Is there a simple way to compile a 64 bit app with the 32-bit edition of Visual C++ 2010 Express? What configurations, if any, are necessary?
Here are step by step instructions:
Download and install the Windows Software Development Kit version 7.1. Visual C++ 2010 Express does not include a 64 bit compiler, but the SDK does. A link to the SDK: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb980924.aspx
Change your project configuration. Go to Properties of your project. On the top of the dialog box there will be a "Configuration" drop-down menu. Make sure that selects "All Configurations." There will also be a "Platform" drop-down that will read "Win32." Finally on the right there is a "Configuration Manager" button - press it. In the dialog that comes up, find your project, hit the Platform drop-down, select New, then select x64. Now change the "Active solution platform" drop-down menu to "x64." When you return to the Properties dialog box, the "Platform" drop-down should now read "x64."
Finally, change your toolset. In the Properties menu of your project, under Configuration Properties | General, change Platform Toolset from "v100" to "Windows7.1SDK".
These steps have worked for me, anyway. Some more details on step 2 can be found in a reference from Microsoft that a previous poster mentioned: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx.
64-bit tools are not available on
Visual C++ Express by default. To
enable 64-bit tools on Visual C++
Express, install the Windows Software
Development Kit (SDK) in addition to
Visual C++ Express. Otherwise, an
error occurs when you attempt to
configure a project to target a 64-bit
platform using Visual C++ Express.
How to: Configure Visual C++ Projects to Target 64-Bit Platforms
Ref:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9yb4317s.aspx
And make sure you download the Windows7.1 SDK, not just the Windows 7 one. That caused me a lot of head pounding.
I found an important step to add to this - after you've installed the SDK, go to your project properties and change Configuration Properties->General->Platform Toolset from v100 or whatever it is to Windows7.1SDK. This changes $(WindowsSdkDir) to the proper place and seemed to solve some other difficulties I was encountering as well.
Note that Visual C++ compilers are removed when you upgrade Visual Studio 2010 Professional or Visual Studio 2010 Express to Visual Studio 2010 SP1 if Windows SDK v7.1 is installed.
For instructions on resolving this, see KB2519277 on the Microsoft Support site.
Download the Windows SDK and then go to View->Properties->Configuration Manager->Active Solution Platform->New->x64.
Programming in a 64-bit environment is quite different than 32-bit environment.
Code generated has totally different assembly constitution in 32 & 64-bit code, even the protocols of communicating with functions change. So you can't generate 64-bit code using 32-bit compiler.
You might want to see an article on Microsoft's web site about targeting a 64-bit target but using a 32-bit development machine.
As what Jakob said: windows sdk 7.1 cannot be installed if MS VC++ x64 and x86 runtimes and redisrtibutables of version 10.0.40219 are present. after removing them win sdk install is okay, VS C++ SP1 can be installed fine again.
Kind regards