Installing .Net 1.1 in Windows 7 Pro fails

To solve various problems for which I sought help earlier (thanks to those who tried) I recently did a clean reinstall of Win 7 Pro + SP1 (and all updates) and, of course, a whole bunch of apps. So far so good, and it did solve a lot of nagging issues of the kind that do build up in Windows over time.

However, an Excel application that uses DDE to access real time data from a remote server needs .Net Framework 1.1 (so says the service provider). The Win 7 reinstall included only .Net 4.0 (not 4.5). So far the .Net 1.1 downloads from Microsoft have failed to install - the setup process goes almost to completion, then says it "ended prematurely" and rolls back. There are no error codes or other indication as to why it failed. Here are the two files that I tried, both with the same result:

dotnetfx.exe NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe both from the MS Download Center

How can I install .Net 1.1 and get it working on my machine? Do I need to uninstall 4.0 first, then do 1.1 and then 4.0?

Thanks for any words of wisdom on this matter.

A Guy: my apologies for responding so late - I was away for about two weeks.

The procedure you cite shows up on several websites, so it must be valid. I need to get .Net 1.1 back onto my system after doing a clean re-install of Win 7 Pro SP1 (just a few weeks ago - it and all updates went well).

The 1.1 sequence, using new c:\DotNet folder as recommended, seemed to work flawlessly. There were no error, unhandled exceptions, or other failure reports. But .Net 1.1 isn't there! Netfx_Setupverifier.exe doesn't even list it to be verified (2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 are listed and verified); and it doesn't show up in Control Panel > Programs and Features where, unlike 2.0 thru 3.5, I would expect it to be separately listed as it was before I reinstalled Win 7. I had also run sfc /scannow, which reported no issues.

What's missing? Is there another service that needs to be running? Is there some other Windows feature that needs to be turned on to let .Net 1.1 fully install? Is there a registry key that I can fix? I should also note that, when running netfix.msi (the final step in the procedure), at the very end the progress bar appeared to run backwards, as though a rollback were taking place. That lasted only a second or two, and there were no messages of any kind.

Can you (or anyone) anyone shed some light on this problem? I know that many people in the past have appealed to this and other forums for help regarding .Net 1.1 on Win 7. I'm also aware that Microsoft no longer supports 1.1 on Win 7. But there must be a way to make it happen.

Thanks in advance for any help and words of wisdom.

Have you run all arounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates, after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3)?

This should deliver the latest Net Frameworks which are backwards compatible as well as other performance and security updates which may also be needed to give full functionality.

If you're saying however that you have a program that only can use such an old version of Net Framework and isn't backwards compatible with newer ones then the program may need to be installed in Compatibility Mode for XP SP2 or the OS it was written for.

rcdunbar said:

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How can I install .Net 1.1 and get it working on my machine? Do I need to uninstall 4.0 first, then do 1.1 and then 4.0?

Thanks for any words of wisdom on this matter.

You have been given some good tips in the posts above. This post is to address your question about uninstalling 4.0 first. I did not have to do that... but I'm testing in W7 pro 64bit. Maybe W7 pro 32 bit has different issues with this 1.1 install.



There were no problems after the restart - but I don't have a way to test Excel and DDE for you.

Thanks gregrocker,
According to Windows Update, all available updates have been successfully installed, except for a few minor optionals. I do have my system set for auto-updating. For drivers I also use Raxco Perfect Updater, which says that all drivers are current.

The program that needs .Net 1.1 is Sterling Trader Pro, a commercially available stock market trading application. It's free to download but, as you might expect, you pay to trade. This app provides linkage into Excel via DDE and the included Excel add-in. This is the part that that needs .Net 1.1. I have developed an Excel trading application (with extensive VBA content) that gets a real time market data feed from the Sterling servers via Trader Pro. This Excel app worked fine before I re-installed Win 7 Pro (a necessary last resort due to other accumulated system issues); and it works fine on a partner's PC. So I'm assuming that if I can just get 1.1 back onto my system I'll be back up and trading.

Thanks Slartybart,
I'm studying the instructions in the link you provided; I will try them very soon and let you know the results.

Question: I assume that .Net 1.1, when correctly installed, will show up in Programs and Features as a separate line item, unlike 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5, which are built into 4.0. Is this a correct assumption?

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