   Visual Studio Junk
  One thing I hate is having stuff on a computer that I know I can't use... But I don't know what it is, or where it is.I love Visual Studio, but it installs a large number of things I doubt I'll ever use even on a custom install. I only use VC++, so am I safe to remove components like "Microsoft SQL Server XXX..."?   
  I've never tried, it might be possible to reduce part of clutter. Sticking with C++ might also help a bit. SQL stuff might be part of Visual Studio itself, not necessarily intended for applications only. Perhaps as defaults for LINQ or similar.Visual Studio is a bit silly with regard to number of components it installs, but it may be worth keeping it, since custom installs can likely break things in subtle or unexpected ways. Especially if disk space is not a problem - memory shouldn't be either.That's what developers machines are for anyway.Temporarily ignoring the licensing issues, some people have been experimenting with running development versions of OS inside a VM. It works, but the IO overhead might be problematic with large-ish projects.One way to try it would with with MS-provided virtualization if XP is enough.   ;  I think some of the SQL stuff is used for Intellisence in VC 2010.  Intellisense data is stored in a compact SQL database now.   ;  Thanks for the info.Quote:I think some of the SQL stuff is used for Intellisence in VC 2010. Intellisense data is stored in a compact SQL database now.I disabled Intellisense in favor of Visual Assist X. (ISense was also lagging my system to a near standstill) If I can get away with installing the SQL items, I can go without ISense.   ;  I haven't busted out for a VS2010 yet; but I installed the express versions for kicks and to mess around with .NET 4.0; I find intellisense murders the performance of the editor. Interesting that others are noticing the same thing...   ;  Forgive me for being new to programming, I haven't done it in years and am getting back into it by learning VCS.  From my experiences with installing Visual Studio, you are given the option NOT to install Microsoft SQL Server, as well as some other options, and also the ability just to install one of the languages and not the full Visual Studio itself.Is this not what you're looking for? :)   ;Quote:Original post by djzI find intellisense murders the performance of the editor. Interesting that others are noticing the same thing...I really haven't noticed any major performance issues.  2010's intellisense is definitely improved.  I haven't seen any of the corruption issues I frequently saw in VS 2005, where it would just quit working until I deleted the .ncb file and let VS rebuild it.  Does seem to keep track of classes and namespaces better than previously too.  It also does attempts to point out errors like use of variables that haven't been declared, or at least misspelled; and incompatible types before a compile.   ;Quote:you are given the option NOT to install Microsoft SQL Server, as well as some other options, and also the ability just to install one of the languages and not the full Visual Studio itself.In VS10, you can choose just one VC item to install, and 20 things end up on the Add and Remove Programs list. There is not much choice.Quote:I find intellisense murders the performance of the editor. Interesting that others are noticing the same thing...I think this is best taken up with one of the MS groups. I had this problem on XP on large scale projects. I have yet to have the issue with Win7.   ;Quote:Original post by Christopher LoydFrom my experiences with installing Visual Studio, you are given the option NOT to install Microsoft SQL Server, as well as some other options, and also the ability just to install one of the languages and not the full Visual Studio itself.I'm not sure about 2010, but 2008 was misleading in that respect, because it required you to install the C# portion in order to install the C++ compiler.  I don't even remember 2005 having that limitation.[Edited by - shuma-gorath on May 13, 2010 12:02:05 PM]