Hello conceptualclarity, and welcome to Sysnative!
Visual Studio, Visual C++, all of the different versions, years, service packs....it's very confusing and you're not alone in being confused :)
Most of the files you have listed are not applicable to you - they are for developers only. As a general guide to you - if it has a large file size, it's for developers only [defining small as being up to ~50MB in size], and if it says Visual
Studio, it's also for developers only. The keyword you need to look out for as things you do want is "Redistributable".
I don't intend to explain what each and every word of their terminology means here unless you really want me to - it's long and very confusing, just give you the low-down on the things you need to know.
The term Visual Studio refers to a whole package - a suite - of tools, exclusively for developers. This suite is split down into an IDE - Integrated Development Environment, the actual graphical window we developers type out code into - and backend components, invisible things we never see but which do useful work in the background. The IDE itself is split into quite a few different parts, each for it's own language - C++, C#, F# etc. This suite of tools usually costs an awful lot of money to buy (although you'll still be able to download it for free off the Microsoft website - but you'll soon find out that it's only a time limited trial).
However, to complement this massive and expensive package, Microsoft also release a free version, called the Express edition. For various reasons the Express edition doesn't wrap the individual parts of the IDE into a single suite - they all come separately. You are free to download them all if you like, but they'll all be separate, not combined. This means that each different Express edition must include in it's name the language which it supplies: e.g. Visual C++ 2010 Express, Visual C# 2010 Express, etc. By contrast, Visual Studio 2010 includes them all [the Studio part of the name shows that this is the expensive combined edition], so does not need to include the individual language names.
Therefore, all of the products I've just listed above are developer tools only - you don't need them.
As I said above, the keyword you want to look out for is "Redistributable". Why is this? It's basically saying that the developer who is writing a program has the right to redistribute that file to the public at large (basically, Microsoft is waiving their copyright restrictions allowing that file to be redistributed free of charge and restriction provided it isn't modified, misrepresented, etc.). Why is this significant? It means that the developer can send it to the end-user (someone like you).
They're the files you need on your PC.
[As a quick aside, with service packs, some service packs must be installed on top of the original product, but some don't need to be - the original product is embedded within them. The rules which determine which are which are not particularly complicated, but we don't need to get into them now so I won't. Basically, Visual Studio service packs don't include the original product, but Visual C++ Redistributables do].
There's then yet another complexity (a relevant one - you have no idea how many I'm omitting but you would have to navigate if you were a developer!). VC++ 2010 [a shorthand for Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable] does NOT supersede VC++ 2005 or VC++ 2008. You need them all. Why? Pretty much because (this is slightly oversimplified) programs written in Visual Studio 2008 need VC++ 2008, programs written in Visual Studio 2005 need VC++ 2005, etc. Trust me, you need them all :)
Next complexity - "Runtime". What does it mean? Let's not go there. There's 'good' runtimes and 'bad' runtimes for the non-developer. Stick to the Redistributables and you'll be fine.
And then next? We've talked about VC++ Redistributables, but what about Visual C# Redistributables? Well, they exist, but they're called something different - .net Framework. They're almost as complex as VC++ redists but this time some versions supersede some previous versions, whilst others don't. That's an entirely separate discussion.
OK, so you've made it down here. Well done :)
Did you follow all that I said? Chances are that's a no - most people find VC++ very confusing. If you didn't, not to worry. First, I'm really happy to re-explain any parts you don't get. Second, I'll put here the actions you actually need to take, making the explanations only for interests sake [in my experience though, most people like to know at least a little of the "why" we do stuff, and the behind-the-scenes knowledge, rather than blinding following orders :)]
First, uninstall anything which says "Visual Studio". By uninstalling the IDE parts first, this should take out most of the invisible backend components without you even needing to worry.
Then uninstall these too:
Visual C++ 2010 x86 Runtime
Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1
Then install all of the following:
1.
Download details: Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
2.
Download details: Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
3.
Download details: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86)
1.
Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 Service Pack 3
2.
Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1
3.
Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (x86)
4.
Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
5.
Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Standalone Installer)
(don't worry too much about the newer ones for various reasons). This should cover virtually any application you throw at your computer. If, however, you do run into problems - and this is likely to come in the form of a "Side by Side Configuration is incorrect" error, please come straight back here and I'll try to put it right. Be aware that most internet forums are not equipped to deal with that particular error. A little bit of self promotion (
), at this forum we've specialists in this (and other) technical errors which require careful & specific diagnosis, so we'd love to take it on.
I hope this helps rather than just confuses more :)
Richard