I've been unable to repair or uninstall the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable on my fully updated Windows 11 Home PC. Repair fails with error 0x80070666, and Windows also says the installation package "vc_runtimeAdditional_x86.msi" is on an unavailable network resource. The computer uses a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5070 Ti, 32 GB of DDR5 memory, and a 2 TB NVMe drive. What is the safest way to fix or remove this broken installation?
2 Answers
That missing MSI message means the original installer cache is damaged or unavailable. If reinstalling the current packages doesn’t fix it, use Microsoft’s Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter. Choose Uninstall, select the broken Visual C++ entry, and let the tool remove the orphaned installer record. Restart afterward, then install fresh x86 and x64 redistributables from Microsoft.
Error 0x80070666 usually means Windows thinks a newer Visual C++ runtime is already installed. Download the current official Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable installers for both x86 and x64, then run them as administrator and choose Repair or Install. The x86 package is needed even on 64-bit Windows because some 32-bit programs depend on it. Don’t delete the registry entries or installer files manually.
So I should try reinstalling both architectures first, then use the troubleshooter only if Windows still refuses to repair or uninstall it?