How do I install .NET 2.0 SP2 without .NET 3.5 SP1 on Windows Vista?

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How do I install .NET 2.0 SP2 without .NET 3.5 SP1 on Windows Vista?

We recently added a feature to our software that requires .NET 2.0 SP2. This is not a problem on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 since we can just include the redistributable for .NET 2.0 SP2 in our installation. On Windows Vista and later, .NET is more tightly integrated into the OS (I'm not sure exactly how), and there doesn't appear to be a redistributable package for just .NET 2.0 SP2.

I think that the .NET 3.5 SP1 redistributable (which can be installed on Vista) includes .NET 2.0 SP2, but I'd rather not include because it is very large (~230MB, about double the size of our current installation). Also, we'd rather not use a bootstrapper since many of our customers do not have internet access.

We had the same problem when we started using .NET 2.0 SP1, but we decided to just require Vista SP1. We could start requiring Vista SP2...

Does there exist a redistributable package for .NET 2.0 SP2 for Vista?

+2 A:

Unfortunately, there is no standalone installer for .NET 2.0 SP2 for Vista or Server 2008. You really need to install the .NET 3.5 SP1.

Read here for more details: Aaron Stebner about .NET 2.0 SP2 standalone core and language pack installer

Mephisztoe 2009-12-17 15:01:27

As a side note, you'll probably see the same problem with .NET 3.5 in Windows 7, although it does have 3.5 SP1 already.

R. Bemrose 2009-12-17 15:18:35

Actually, we do not have problems on Windows 7 since .NET 3.5 SP1, which includes .NET 2.0 SP2, is already installed.

CodeSavvyGeek 2009-12-17 15:34:55

The simplest solution is the same as used by most developers, including Microsoft.

Release two versions of your installation, an ISO for offline installation that includes everything on disk. And a smaller "online" installation which downloads required dependencies.

You then prompt the customer to download the correct one, or offer to post out a CD/DVD for a nominal fee.

sascha 2009-12-17 21:57:05

This is a good idea, and we have considered doing it in the past. Unfortunately, many of our customers do not have internet access and use older computers that may not have DVD drives. Our installation must fit on a single CD with lots of other documentation resources, so size is a big concern. Also, this solution doesn't really address the original question, which was to get just .NET 2.0 SP2 onto Vista without .NET 3.5 SP1.

CodeSavvyGeek 2009-12-18 00:58:27

Well... the question is already answered: You don't. There may be a manual hack to get things more or less working, but you won't want to do that, because you would need to guarantee your customer that your 3rd party modification of the way, Microsoft distributes their own software works... and you really don't want to do *that*. However, you could still include a CD containing all prerequisites, your software needs (which includes but is not limited to .NET 3.5 SP1).

Mephisztoe 2009-12-20 19:47:29

ansaurus

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How do I install .NET 2.0 SP2 without .NET 3.5 SP1 on Windows Vista?

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