sasha
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:37 pm

Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Hello!

I have recently added installation of the VC++ redistributables to our installer. I have specified the /q /norestart to all 3 types if installation (on the 'Installation' page).
I expected that the installation would always be silent. Alas, when running with the full UI, there is the prompt to install VC++ redistributables.

If the main installer (.exe bootstrap) is launched with /q or /qb, then there is no VC++ UI displayed.

Is my expectation wrong? If not, is there a way to achieve this behavior?

Thanks!
Liviu
Posts: 1382
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:29 am
Contact: Website

Re: Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Hello,

To facilitate a more in-depth investigation of this issue, could you kindly email the .AIP (setup project) file to support at advancedinstaller dot com?

Best regards,
Liviu
________________________________________
Liviu Sandu - Advanced Installer Team
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sasha
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:37 pm

Re: Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Dear Liviu,

unfortunately, I can't supply the .aip file. I'll see if I can come up with a reduced/new .aip.
Catalin
Posts: 7717
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Hello Sasha,

By "prompt to install VC++", do you mean the UAC?
Screenshot_117.png
Screenshot_117.png (33.31 KiB) Viewed 4971 times
If so, that can be avoided by enabling the "Run as administrator" option from the "Install Parameters" page.

Basically, although you are asked to elevate the setup, the prerequisite does not inherit that and therefore will also ask for the UAC. If we elevate the process from the start, then the prerequisite will inherit the admin rights and will no longer spawn the UAC.

When running silently, from the command line, you do so via an elevated command line/powershell console, which does the same as the option I mentioned - this is why no prompt appears then.

Hope this helps! :)

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
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sasha
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:37 pm

Re: Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Dear Catalin,

thanks for the reply and sorry about a delayed response.

I didn't mean the UAC, but rather the installer dialog changing into the one showing the VC++ redistributable with the checkmark prompting to install it.

Fortunately, as I started working on creating a reproducible .aip, I noticed that the sample I was creating didn't suffer from the issue. So I started comparing the two projects side by side and noticed that in the sample, the VC++ RTL was nested under the main feature (in the prerequisites view) and in the non-working instance it was a peer of the main feature.

Moving it under the main feature and then marking it 'not displayed' in the General page of the Organization view produced the desired behavior - no separate UI for the VC RTL.

Thanks for your help,
.a
Last edited by sasha on Tue Apr 28, 2026 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Liviu
Posts: 1382
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:29 am
Contact: Website

Re: Visual C++ prerequisites - to be installed silently

Hello Sasha,

Thank you for your followup on this.

We're glad to hear that you were able to resolve this.

Best regards,
Liviu
________________________________________
Liviu Sandu - Advanced Installer Team
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