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"I was using <some application>, and i <did some usual thing>, and after it <behaved in expected ways> this error poped u, 'Visual C++ Rutnime Library Error'. Any ideas what this is, and how i can fix it. Please help, thank you."
People from all over the world come to this site, and the problems with spelling and language are not what matters here.
Here is an actual message of the kind most people are reporting:
Does Your Message Look Like This?
Please notice the following features of this message:
The origin of the message (identified in the title bar at the top) is "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library."
That is the software that is producing the message
That is not necessarily the software that the message is about
The message inside the box will identify the software that did something inappropriate
An application that uses the Visual C++ Runtime Library has produced a Runtime Error
The Visual C++ Runtime Library has discovered the error, it did not cause it
In this particular case, it is the application that has terminated in an unusual way
The Visual C++ Runtime Library is telling you about it.
The application software that made the error is identified in the line starting with "Program: ... "
The particular problem encountered is identified in the message.
The message is often not very informative. "Terminate in an unusual way" is not much help in isolating the actual situation and in determining the significance to the user. (In this case, there may not be much better to report by the time the condition is detected. It is useful to know if there were any other messages or unusual situations before this message appeared.)
The message may seem very cryptic and meant to be understood by a software developer
In general, these messages are intended to never occur in production applications. They are always an indication of a bug
Sometimes the "bug" comes to light when running the application on a version of Windows that it was not designed and certified for (as when moving your favorite game from XP to Vista)
The "application support team" does not mean the Microsoft Visual C++ team
(unless that is the program named inside the message display)
Contact whoever supports the program identified in the line starting with "Program: ...
But, But ...
The message is very confusing. It asks you to do something that you might not know how to do. It might not be clear what software is involved. It may even be less clear how to find that application's support and any team that provides it. Those difficulties can seem insurmountable. In particular, you may not know how to determine the origin of the program mentioned in the error message.
Maybe you just installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition. It seems as if now these messages are happening all of the time, and they didn't happen before. So maybe the problem is from Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition? Probably not. It is possible to see the error on one machine and not another, especially if they have different versions of Windows or their update status is different. Any of those differences, or some other recent change to your system is more likely the cause. It is easy to be misled by a coincidence.
An update to the Visual C++ Runtime Library might have included an improvement in the detection and reporting of this kind of application (not library) error. I don't know that has happened. It is possible. That would be an improvement in error reporting, not a defect originating in the library.
So Who Can Help Me?
First, check with the web site or support group for the application that VC++ Runtime Library is reporting about.
If you are unsuccessful finding support or do not know where to start,search on the Internet. A search for the name of the software together with a phrase such as "runtime error" will often find related support information. For example, I did a search on "Second Life" runtime error and found a support location (but unrelated to the message shown at the top of this post).
This will find reports about manydifferentapplications, but yours might be in the list. You may also find trial-and-error reports that don't reach a successful conclusion. You should ignore these unless their situation is exactly the same as yours in every detail.
If you don't find your application, the reports and discussion that you find may give you ideas about other ways to search.
Something that worked for someone else may also work for you. (Be cautious.)
You can ask on an MSDN Forum for Visual C++. This is not the best place to look for this particular message. People who know about VC++ do not know about all of the different applications. Moderators and users of the MSDN Forums do want to be helpful. If they do not recognize your specific problem, they will have to follow the same advice that this post gives you. (If I respond to you, I will make a short suggestion and also refer you to this post. Is that how you got here?)
Search on the forum for problems like yours
Check to make sure the existing discussions are about your particular situation and not something else
Start a new thread if there is not one like yours already
This is a lot to ask, but the idea is to increase the chances that someone can understand enough about your situation to be able to help you.
Be prepared to offer clarification to any questions that come back.
When you report the message, always provide complete information. Don't leave anything out about the error message. Show the title in the message window, exactly. Then show the message content, exactly and completely. You can omit "OK." (A simple screen shot of just the message is also helpful, if you know how to capture those.)
When you report the problem, do not add it to a thread about a different problem. Unless the problem being discussed is identical to yours in every detail, do not add to a thread saying you are having the same or a similar problem. This adds noise. It will confuse others who are looking for something like their problem.
Don't believe every speculation you see. (Corollary: Speculate as little as possible yourself.) Here's a recent MSDN Forum discussion that illustrates a number of the pitfalls mentioned here. Here are some different ones that illustrate the difficulty of obtaining assistance on an MSDN Forum, especially with incomplete information:
Visual C++ runtime error + MSN and you should have enough information from this article to offer better advice than was given here (hint: notice the title)
runtime error i need help win some, lose some; there is great advice here, but the problem requires help from the application vendor; notice the tail-gating new question that no one seems to have noticed
You should see the pattern in these samples and the responses
So You Want to Help?
If you find a question like these on an MSDN Forum (or anywhere else), I hope this description and samples gives you some ideas on how to respond in a way that improves the situation for the person experiencing the problem.
If they do not provide enough information, guide them in providing more.
If they do not know how to tell what the application is, suggest ways to find out (what folder is it in, what are the properties on the file, etc.).
Be respectful. Many people who look for assistance on these problems are not developers and they are increasingly likely not to be native English speakers. Work in small steps if necessary.
If you do offer assistance, don't abandon them. Don't leave anyone hanging without a response from you. If you have no further ideas, say so.
Lead them to this account if you have no other ideas and you think this might be helpful.
Notes to Developers
See how easy it is for novice users and others to see these messages as being errors about the runtime library, rather than from the runtime library. This is a very subtle distinction for computer users. In any case, there is a suggestion that Microsoft has something to do with this. Some users can be pretty indignant in assigning responsibility to Microsoft no matter who's application has misbehaved. The same can happen with any library identified with you or your company.
There are messages and responses that are intended never to be seen by production users (especially when the message language is not in the native language of the application user). I work with software that does it that way.
When an application is derailed in some unanticipated way, I need to be able to know what condition occurred and the message/log that was produced and understand it in my language.
I don't have a good answer on how someone not comfortable in my language can deal with this when attempting to troubleshoot a failure incident.
Localization of messages is not enough, and many libraries are not localized.
I have no great ideas and I welcome your suggestions
I have been wanting to put up a post about this as a generic response for problems like this. Yesterday I managed to encounter the error message on my own computer. Now I can unleash an advisory on this situation.
It is sometimes tedious to answer the same question over and over and remain civil. I want to do that, and I also want a place where I can refer people to greater detail without having to repeat it. Finally, this kind of situation is useful to illustrate the difficulties people get into with the software we write and distribute (and the phrasing of error messages from libraries). I want to encourage recognition of these situations and constructive ways to respond to them.
[update 2007-10-21T3:14-0700 I touched-up a couple of statements. I added the Notes to Developers.]
Hi I have a runtime error with a game calles "pes 2008". When I press play, there's a pop-up that sais I have a runtime error. I just read the whole page of what to do but I don't really understand it all ( I don't know anything about computers!). So if anybody can help and can explain in simple words of what I have to do, please help me. Thank's a lot. Alex
