I have trouble running my programs outside of VC++. I get an "Initialization Failed" whenever I try to run my programs outside of VC++. I tried compiling my program for release instead of debug but I still can''t run it unless VC++ is running. What am I doing wrong?

if you using these NeHe examples, the only way you can get an init failed error is if your textures are not in the right spot.
make sure the "data" directory is one directory above the final EXE.

One idea is that the *.exe file may not have access to vc++ file path when it loads a texture or modle file.
I''d suggest changing the messages your program displays to be more descriptive on what failed. That way you''ll get a better idea of where it fails and people will be more likely to be able to answer!

copy your exe one folder up and out of the debug/release folder
most likely it cant find the paths to your data directories