Fix side-by-side configuration error in MFC application w/o installing VS Redistributables

Question

I'm making a very small MFC application TestEnumProcs.exe that does not come with many dependencies. Here's the screenshot from "Dependency Walker":

I obtained Microsoft's MFC redistributable files mfc90u.dll and msvcr90.dll and placed them into the same folder as my TestEnumProcs.exe , but when I try to run it on one of my older computers I get this error:

The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect...

The Event Log gave me three error messages like this:

Activation context generation failed for "J:\\TestEnumProcs.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

I then tried running the trace with sxstrace.exe and next is the outcome it gave me:

=================
Begin Activation Context Generation.
Input Parameter:
    Flags = 0
    ProcessorArchitecture = x86
    CultureFallBacks = en-US;en
    ManifestPath = J:\TestEnumProcs.exe
    AssemblyDirectory = J:\
    Application Config File = 
-----------------
INFO: Parsing Manifest File J:\TestEnumProcs.exe.
    INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is (null).
    INFO: Reference: Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8"
    INFO: Reference: Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8"
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: Find publisher policy at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_policy.9.0.microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_f47c47b2f658b4a8.manifest
                INFO: Publisher Policy redirected assembly version.
                INFO: Post policy assembly identity is Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.30729.4926".
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_508ed732bcbc0e5a.manifest.
                INFO: Manifest found at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_508ed732bcbc0e5a.manifest.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui,language="*",processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.30729.4926".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture en-US.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui\9.0.30729.4926_en-US_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui.DLL.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture en-US.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture en.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui\9.0.30729.4926_en_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui.DLL.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture en.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\9.0.21022.8__1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.MANIFEST.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.MANIFEST.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture Neutral.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
    ERROR: Cannot resolve reference Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
ERROR: Activation Context generation failed.
End Activation Context Generation.

=================
Begin Activation Context Generation.
Input Parameter:
    Flags = 0
    ProcessorArchitecture = x86
    CultureFallBacks = en-US;en
    ManifestPath = J:\TestEnumProcs.exe
    AssemblyDirectory = J:\
    Application Config File = 
-----------------
INFO: Parsing Manifest File J:\TestEnumProcs.exe.
    INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is (null).
    INFO: Reference: Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8"
    INFO: Reference: Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8"
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: Find publisher policy at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_policy.9.0.microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_f47c47b2f658b4a8.manifest
                INFO: Publisher Policy redirected assembly version.
                INFO: Post policy assembly identity is Microsoft.VC90.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.30729.4926".
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_508ed732bcbc0e5a.manifest.
                INFO: Manifest found at C:\Windows\WinSxS\manifests\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4926_none_508ed732bcbc0e5a.manifest.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui,language="*",processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.30729.4926".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture en-US.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui\9.0.30729.4926_en-US_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui.DLL.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture en-US.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture en.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui\9.0.30729.4926_en_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.CRT.mui.DLL.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture en.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
    INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture x86.
        INFO: Resolving reference for culture Neutral.
            INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
                INFO: No publisher policy found.
                INFO: No binding policy redirect found.
            INFO: Begin assembly probing.
                INFO: Did not find the assembly in WinSxS.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\9.0.21022.8__1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.MANIFEST.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.DLL.
                INFO: Attempt to probe manifest at J:\Microsoft.VC90.MFC\Microsoft.VC90.MFC.MANIFEST.
                INFO: Did not find manifest for culture Neutral.
            INFO: End assembly probing.
    ERROR: Cannot resolve reference Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8".
ERROR: Activation Context generation failed.
End Activation Context Generation.

I know that this issue can be fixed by installing the " MFC Redistributable Package " on that system, but I would really like to avoid that and try to fix this issue by adding the missing DLLs.

Any idea how to do that?

Answer 1

I wrote an article about this for VS-2005 on Codeproject .

You can find the code for VS-2008 on my blog . It is German, but you only need the include file. The rest and the explanation can be found in the CodeProject article.

With the include file, you don't have to change the manifests manually. It is all done just by using the include files and set some defines.

Answer 2

The trace shows that msvcr90.dll is present in the side-by-side cache but mfc90u.dll is not. Fairly unusual, smells like another installer was run on that machine before that only deployed with it needed.

Local deployment is technically possible, it requires surgery on the manifests. You cannot remove them completely, there's a check built into the CRT that verifies that they are present and the app will fail with R6034 if they are not.

The surgery changes the manifests to switch from side-by-side to private assemblies. Which requires that the "publicKeyToken" element is removed from the manifest entries. The private copy of the DLLs must also be copied into directories with the correct names and a tweaked manifest. The steps are outlined in this blog post .

Just running the vcredist installer is obviously much simpler and less error prone.

Answer 3

See if you can convince the linker to spit out a list of library and DLL dependencies at build time. Then you hunt them down from your dev machine and statically include them. Kind of a pain.

In my quick glance over the linker command line arguments, here are a few that I would dig into:

• /Manifest
• /Manifestdependency
• /Verbose

I expect you should be able to see exactly what the dependencies are if you dig.

For what it's worth, the equivalent command line argument for the compiler is /showIncludes ,

Answer 4

Solved in 2017 by installing: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8328

Windows 10 and PCs with Visual Studio will need this fix.