Windows Visual C++ 20XX Redistributable multiple versions

[dustin_ds3000]

With my IT background being in cyber security I always want only the current version of a piece of software installed on my enterprise computers and my personal computers. At work and at home I have multiple versions of Windows Visual C++ 20XX Redistributable installed. for instance at work I have two versions of Windows Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86 (one being 9.0.21022 and the other being 9.0.30729) installed on some computers that is installed by software.

My question:

Does anybody know if a piece of software is dependent the version of Visual C++ 20XX Redistributable (9.0.21022) or just the year. I want to remove Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86 9.0.21022 and keep the software working.

 

[DelJo63]

Yeah, MS has a ton of these but I've found that I get a rash of them from various programs I've loaded.
DLLs are a pain and when a program demands a specific version, you end up with quite a collection and can't tell who depends upon who.