Hello,
Could anyone please let me know if I could safely install VS-2008 on a machine which already has VS-2010?
+4
A:
Yes. I have done it many times. They install side by side. In fact, as Tim mentioned in the comments below, all versions of VS are designed to be capable of concurrent installs. Quite handy.
UPDATE: Hans Passant brings up a good point in the comments below and that is that the last version of VS that you install will grab the file associations. This has personally never been an issue for me but you will want to be aware of it. Thanks Hans!
You can restore file associations in Tools > Options > Environment > General > Restore File Associations
Bradley Mountford
2010-05-17 16:16:24
just an additional data point - I have no installed 2010 yet, but in the past I have had VC6, 2005 and 2008 all on the same machine working fine.
Tim
2010-05-17 16:18:29
@Tim Good point to mention that all previous versions are designed to install side-by-side as well.
Bradley Mountford
2010-05-17 16:29:24
Great, thank you for the quick response.
VoodooChild
2010-05-17 17:36:24
Glad I could help!
Bradley Mountford
2010-05-17 18:03:00
That's not my experience btw. I know for a fact that installing VS2005 *after* VS2008 would mess up the file associations. Not sure about VS2010, but a repair might be needed to get them back. They are otherwise isolated.
Hans Passant
2010-05-17 18:20:46
@Hans file associations are no big deal - you can just change them right back.
Tim
2010-05-17 18:58:43
@Tim: do you have a good procedure to change that many of them back?
Hans Passant
2010-05-17 19:23:04
VS2010 In the Tools Option -> Go to General Page of Environment and click the ‘Restore File Associations’ button. Click OK when done.
VoodooChild
2010-05-17 20:47:29
This was a real hassle for me when I installed VC4 - the mobile dev environment or something. It was horrendous to double click on a cpp file and have the worst code editor on the machine open up. Voodoo child I think has the right solution though I only did them manually from the registry or explorer.
Tim
2010-05-18 01:46:52