INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Packs - What, Where, and Why

ID: Q170365

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Studio versions 97, 97sp1, 97sp2, 97sp3

SUMMARY

This article provides information about the contents of the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 and where you can get it.

Much of this information is also available from the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/sp/vs97/

If you are looking for information concerning Visual Studio 6.0 service packs, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q194022 INFO: Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs, What, Where, Why

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft releases service packs to provide bug fixes and address other issues that customers have discovered since the product's release. This service pack was created for the Visual Studio family of tools.

The Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 addresses the following products:

Visual Studio 97 (Enterprise and Professional Editions)

Visual Basic 5.0 (Enterprise and Professional Editions)

Visual C++ 5.0 (Enterprise and Professional Editions)

Visual InterDev 1.0

Visual J++ 1.1 (Professional Edition)

Visual FoxPro 5.0

Visual SourceSafe 5.0

The Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 covers all English versions of these products, as well as all localized versions. The Visual Studio 97 Service Pack detects the files you have installed on your machine, and installs the appropriate fixes. Localized versions include: Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 is a superset of Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 1 and Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2; if you did not install Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, you will get those updates with Service Pack 3. If you already installed Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, Service Pack 3 will provide you with the new updates since the Service Pack 2 release.

How to Order the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3

Service Pack 3 is available in the U.S. and Canada via fulfillment at no charge, except for shipping and handling charges of US $7.50 (CDN $12.00).

Outside of North America, customers must contact their local subsidiary for availability and ordering information. Service Pack 3 contains all of Service Pack 1 and 2, plus additional updates.

NOTE: MSDN Universal customers will automatically receive the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 in the next quarterly release, in January 1998.

Alternatively, customers can order the product by phone or mail:

Call (800) 370-9257 - US and Canada
Fax (716) 873-0906 - US
Fax (905) 374-3855 - Canada

IMPORTANT: Be sure to order Part No. 628-00128.

By mail in the United States:

Microsoft Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3
PO Box 1096
Buffalo, NY 14240-1096

By mail in Canada:

Microsoft Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Canada Order Centre
PO Box 643
Fort Erie, ON L2A 6M1

Ordering in Europe, Africa, Mediterranean, and Middle East:

MSDN Information Centre
P.O. Box 5576
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Ireland
Phone: +353-1-708 8690
Fax: +353-1-708 8666

Note: Please mention Web tracking code number 113-B032.

The Service Pack includes files for English and all localized versions. In North America and Canada, the Service Pack will be delivered within four to six weeks.

IMPORTANT: Outside of the regions listed above, customers must contact their local subsidiary for ordering information.

Download of Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3

As stated above, the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack CD-ROM is available for purchase. In addition, the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack will be available for download from the Web for free. There are several versions available:

Visual Basic - All-languages versions: This contains all of the English and non-English updates to Visual Basic, including German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. You should select this option if you have any of these versions of Visual Basic installed on your machine. Approximate size: 12.3MB.

CORE: This CORE set of updates includes all of the English and non-English updates for Visual Basic, Visual InterDev, Visual J++, Visual FoxPro, and Visual SourceSafe. You should select this option if you have any of the previously listed products. Approximate size: 37.8MB.

FULL: This FULL set of updates includes everything in CORE, plus all of the updates for English and non-English versions of Visual C++. Approximate size: 91.4 MB.

Due to the scope of updates available on the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack and the subsequent large size of the files, we recommend ordering the CD-ROM version. However, we want to make the files available for download for those who prefer it.

You can get to the web download from the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/sp/vs97/

Uninstalling the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack

You must uninstall the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack manually; it is not built into the product. To uninstall Visual Studio 97 Service Pack updates to the developer tools on your system, follow these steps:

Uninstall the developer tools (Visual C++, Visual Basic, etc.).

Delete any remaining Microsoft developer tools product files (but not files or programs you have created).

Reinstall the developer tools.

Detecting Visual Studio 97 Service Pack Updates

The Help About box for developer tools does not indicate what updates have been made since the initial release of the product in 1997.

After a service pack has been applied to a developer tool, the only indication that the service pack has been applied is in the version information embedded in file properties for the binary files that were updated.

For additional information about the Visual Studio 97 Service Packs, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q170367 HOWTO: Determine VS97 Service Pack Updates in a Product

REFERENCES

To find all of the bugs that are fixed in Visual Studio 97 Service Packs for your product, query on the following keyword in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

VS97FixlistSP3

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q176066 INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3 Readme

Q175869 INFO: Troubleshooting the Visual Studio Service Pack Download

Additional query words:


Keywords          : kbVS97sp1fix kbVS97sp2fix kbVS97sp3fix 
Version           : WINDOWS:97,97sp1,97sp2,97sp3
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: May 11, 1999