Way 1: Install the software via Windows Update

Microsoft has built Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 in Windows Update KB2999226. So you can install it through Windows Update.

1. Type Update in the search box from Start. Then click Check for updates (Windows 10) or Windows Update (Windows 7) from the result.
   

   

2. Click Check for updates .
   

   

3. Windows should then check for updates automatically.
   If you use Windows 10, Microsoft will install the detected updates automatically;
   If you use Windows 7, click Install Updates.
   

   

4. Restart your computer. Then repeat the steps above again until no more updates are available.

5. Open the same program or the file to see if successfully.  If you open the program successfully, great! If the error still exists, don’t worry, there’s something else you could try…

Way 2: Download Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 from Microsoft directly 

You could choose to donwload the software directly from the official Microsoft website. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Go to Microsoft Download website.
2. Click Download.
   

   

3. Select your system type x64 or x86(x32), then click Next.
   

   

   NOTE: If you’re not sure what system type your Windows runs, check like these: type system in the search box from the Start menu, then click System (Windows 10) or System Information (Windows 7) from the result. You should then see your system type on the pop-up window.

4. It should then start to download the file.

5. When it’s done, double-click the downloaded .exe file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
6. Open the same program or the file to see if successfully.  If you open the program successfully, great! If the error still exists, don’t worry, move onto Way 3.

Way 3: Repair the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 on your computer

If you already have the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 on your computer, you can try to repair it to solve this problem.

Follow these steps:

1. Type control in the search box from the Start menu. Then click Control Panel.
   

   

2. Click Programs and Features under the Small icons pane.
   

   

3. Click Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable, then Change.
   

   

4. Click Repair.
   

   

5. Click Yes when prompted by User Account Control and continue to follow the on-screen instructions to complete the repair.

Way 4: Copy the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll file from your friends’s PC

If unfortunately, all the previous methods fails to help, you can copy the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll file from a PC that runs the same Windows system as yours.

Part 1: Check your Windows system type and find a computer that runs the same system with yours.

Here’s how you can check Windows type of a computer:

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key to bring up the Search box.
2. Type system information and then select System Information from the result.

   

3. You should then see the system type of the computer.

   

Part 2: Copy the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll file from the working computer and then paste it to the problem computer.

Here’s how you can find the dll file:

1. On the keyboard of the working computer, press the Windows logo key and E at the same time to bring up the File Explorer. 
2. Go to C:\Windows\System32, then type api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll and press Enter. If it shows no results, go to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 instead and search api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll again.

   

3. Copy the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll file if found and paste it into the same location as where you copy the file in your problem computer.

Note: Keep in mid that not every computer with the same system type has the dll file you want to restore, so this method is not always successful either.