SLADE3 using api-ms-win DLLs directly

The topic says a movement that applications like SLADE3 shouldn't do. Now I can't run it in this other PC.

Maybe I should upgrade from Windows 7 (if only I knew how...), but this PC is not mine. And, according to this page, they should already be present on Windows 7 and NOT be used by applications directly!

I installed and reinstalled the Visual C++ Redistributable packages 2015, 2013, 2010 and 2005, both x86 and x64 (even knowing that the only I should need is x86, I wanted to try all methods). I did also find some api-ms-win DLLs inside some folder in C:\Windows (therefore it should work), except the folder had the word "avast" in it, which made my eyebrows raise suspiction.

And when I repair the x86 version of the VC++ 2015, it gets stuck at the "Windows7-MSU" part, and Windows Update stays an eternity searching for update packages. I would at first blame the shit Internet by here, but not finding update packages for like hours is just impossible. This might be the cause?

Some other applications have similiar, if not the same, problems as well.

What should I do now? Is this problem happening to any of you? I'm sure not since I did not find any working solution online. :/

Nevermind, I had to install an update for Windows 7 by stopping the WUAUSERV service in CMD (I know how to use command line C;). Then I repeated it to install the x86 version of the Visual C++ 2015. And now SLADE runs! :D

Hope this helps more souls in the future

It doesn't really help because you didn't say which update you had to install. SLADE does seem to fail fairly often when Windows libraries aren't in quite a normal state, but not broken enough to affect much else.

The problem you had with Windows Update checking endlessly is something that cropped up with a lot of Windows 7 installs some time last year. When you have the correct updates installed it goes away. I keep a folder with copies of the following on USB stick I carry around:

• KB3102810
  
• KB3020369
  
• KB3172605
  
• KB947821 (this one is huge)
  

After those I install KB3125574, which is another 500 MB "convenience rollup." The combination of all those generally sorts out Windows 7 and keeps it updating.