Troubleshooting Skype Issues After Recent Update

What kind of trouble?

When I clicked on it, I got an error message I have forgotten but it is prevalent on the web.
I tried preview which opened then tried Skype to no avail.
I was advised to install Microsoft visual C++ 2015 redistributable x 64 14.0.24215 which did no good.

I then uninstalled it and reinstalled it and all seems to work.

One MS visual is x32 and the other x64 & they appear to be installed on the same date; my machine is 64 bit

My question is should I uninstall Microsoft visual C++ 2015 redistributable x 64 14.0.24215 ?

That's a good question Peter. I had been running Skype on this machine (now v1607 b14393.969) last year on v1607 but of course earlier build, but still Post-AU W10. Without problems, really other than my webcam is 10 yrs. old and my son hates the resolution; but it works more or less. I was just checking my Visual C++ version and I have v2010 -v2013 x86 v12.0.21005, and v2012 x64 v11.0.61030. My machine is 64bit CPU (Intel Quad-Core) and 64bit W10 Pro. Unless you have other programs that require the newer Visual C++ x64 version, you might not need it. The space taken by mine are all below 21MB; which is really quite small. But, if you are running tight on free disk space on your C: boot drive, you might want to ditch it.

As a precaution, prior to getting rid of it I would definitely consider creating a Backup Image File using one of the 3 following free Backup software programs we've used extensively with W10:
1.) Macrium Reflect
2.) Acronis TrueImage
3.) EASEus TODO

We recommend that you store that image on some external media such as a large capacity flash drive, external hard drive or online Cloud Storage account such as Microsoft OneDrive or GoogleDrive or Dropbox. I use all of these, since if you remove a foundation app such as Visual C++, it's not too unusual for your W10 to stop working and or generate quirky error messages which will drive you crazy! Should that happen, and it's happened to me, it's quite easy to Restore your Hard Drive to a working state again by restoring your Backup Image file from your external media source and you're back in business!

It's not always possible to tell what other apps, including native Microsoft apps that might have it's hooks into that new v2015 Visual C++ after installing it. At least not without a whole lot of work. Sometimes removing it can cause system instability, thus my little lecture on taking precautions to "rollback" your system to a working condition prior to the Visual C++ removal.

Other Users or Admins here might have a different suggestion on whether to discard it or keep it. Just my opinion.

Glad you got your Skype working and Best of luck,
<<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>>

yes. What I did is I uninstalled Skype and looked for an older version. The new version is full of bug.

If I have further trouble with it I will also use an earlier version. I do not use it often but need it when I do. I am still checking with no issues and am using the latest version and updates.
Thank you for the help. BTW, I live with Macrium reflect by my side - what a life saver.

That's good Peter: thanks for your follow-up!!
Yes, me too; I now have bought a WD 8TB NAS to keep my Macrium customer image backups on which helps tremendously as I have to keep those for 5 years. What a great combo. I have 13TB of storage on my main computer and my NAS, and more on secondary computers.
Take it easy & hope to hear from you soon.

Best,
<<BBJ>>

@BBJ
All mods and members should be as professionally skilled and especially as cordial as you are.
You make coming to this forum a pleasure.