Solved corrupt dotnet - no amount of reinstall / repair helps

ok - this has been covered here before, for example

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/149137-dot-net-4-problem.html

but there's no solutions, and perhaps there's more wisdom around now as the OS has matured.

e.g. the programs depending on dotnet (not exactly sure which version) on my win7 ultimate laptop stopped working. i tried reinstal/repair of the various versions. reported by asoft's utility:
1.1
2.0
3.0
3.5
4.5.2
are all there.

then i tried to repair install (in-place-upgrade) of the OS. which helped a bit. now i get more descriptive error messages. but dotnet apps still don't run.

also - i have ran the dotnet repair tools that ms provides.

so - what to do next? how about manually deleting everything pertaining to dotnet from registry / its subfolder? would the system still boot?

any wisdom out there?

I'm not expert on this but I will share my experience.

See Posts #52 & #54 in this thread: Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1 Explorer.exe The Oddest Issue Ever

If you messed about trying to remove 3.5 then I can't help. It's part of the operating system and as far as I know it cannot be reinstalled - repairing windows or reinstalling windows would be the only way to fix 3.5

Anyway for the other versions here is my method:

Set windows updates to "never check" and disable Windows Update service.

Download offline installers for any versions of .NET Framework that you need to install.

Run the .NET Framework cleanup utility and remove each version one at a time (excluding 3.5) with a reboot between each removal. Keep windows updates and windows update service disabled.

After the final reboot run advanced disk cleanup to include windows updates cleanup. Reboot.

Run Windows Installer Cleanup Utility and remove any .NET Framework entries (excluding 3.5)

Reboot.

Manually install each required version of .NET Framework one at a time and re-enable windows update service. Reboot then run a windows update check after each installation to check for missing patches related to the version that you just installed.

Links:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/astebner/2008/08/28/net-framework-cleanup-tool-users-guide/

If you run the cleanup tool on an OS that has any edition of the .NET Framework installed as a part of the OS, it will prevent you from using the .NET Framework – All Versions option because there is at least one version that it cannot remove.

Click to expand...

Download Windows Installer CleanUp Utility - MajorGeeks

Disk Cleanup : Extended

many thans Callender, that's an actionable plan. i'll do that / report how it goes.

quick update - the cleanup went well on your instructions, and the dotnet-related error messages disappeared. now, however, i'm unable to get dotnet 2.0. reinstalled, and program(s) requiring it won't run.

i understand that it's supposed to be part of 3.5, but that doesn't appear to be the case. the install file sends me to the control panel to tweak with "windows features," but the dotnet options there don't work (and there's no listing for 2.0).

what to try next?

Can you post the asoft log? The "Copy" button should allow you to copy and paste the results.

Also if asoft shows that 2.0 is not installed you can try the offline installers.


Try downloading the offline installers into separate folders then run the installers one at a time in the order listed with a reboot between each installation.

fixed

Callender said:

Can you post the asoft log?

Code:

Download Links for Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
Download Link (x86)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=22808
Download Link (x64)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=6523
SP1 (x86)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16614
SP1 (x64)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=6041
SP2
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1639

Click to expand...

fixed, it seems. what i ended up doing is to copy the contents of
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727
and registry export for a search string "v2.0.50727," to the tune of 20Mb or so, from a working system to the crippled one. now everything seems to work.

a bit unconventional method, but it seems to have got me going.

the install files above - only the x86 2.0 actually works, the others fail either saying "already installed" or "you must use control panel's "windows features,"" that doesn't work.

shame on bill for creating a giant unfathomable mess, and to all the programmers who have chosen to rely on something this brittle. and kudos to callender for helping me circumvent it.

here's my current asop, for posterity:
<32Bit>
1.1.4322.2032
->C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322
2.0.50727.5420
->C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
4.6.1590.0
->C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319

<64Bit>
2.0.50727.5420
->C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727
4.6.1590.0
->C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319

< Installed .NET Frameworks >
.NET FW 1.1 SP 1 (CLR:1.1)
.NET FW 2.0 SP 2 (CLR:2.0)
.NET FW 3.0 SP 2 (CLR:2.0)
.NET FW 3.5 SP 1 (CLR:2.0)
.NET FW 4.6.2 (CLR:4.0)

< Installed Updates >
.NETFramework
Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
KB2468871
KB2468871v2
KB2478063
KB2533523
KB2544514
KB2600211
KB2600217
Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Extended
KB2468871
KB2468871v2
KB2478063
KB2533523
KB2544514
KB2600211
KB2600217
KB2468871
KB2468871v2
KB2478063
KB2533523
KB2544514
KB2600211
KB2600217
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
KB2729460
KB2737083
KB2742613
KB2745582
KB2748645
KB2750147
KB2756203
KB2759112
KB2783808
KB2789648
KB2794055
KB2803754
KB2804582
KB2805221
KB2805226
KB2805290
KB2822218
KB2823493
KB2828841
KB2835622
KB2858725
KB2861193
KB2861208
KB2862063
KB2872778
KB2885201
KB2889889
KB2894849
KB2894854
KB2898864
KB2898869
KB2901118
KB2901126
KB2901983
KB2908383
KB2925382
KB2931368
KB2936388
KB2937676
KB2938782
KB2954853
KB2969355
KB3006566
KB3033093
KB3045561
KB3072311
KB3074233
KB3074554
KB3076093
KB3083186
KB3086153
KB3088517
KB3088957
KB3095098
KB3095338
KB3098001
KB3098786
KB3099851
KB3099874
KB3102433
KB3120241
KB3120734
KB3122661
KB3127233
KB3136000
KB3142037
KB3143693
KB3151798
KB3164025

< Installed Languages 3.0>
English - United States
< Installed Languages 3.5.x>
English - United States
< Installed Languages 4.x>
English - United States

---------------some tags for posterity to make this thread searchable - no other threads coming up on google search can resolve this issue
install dotnet 2.0 on win7 ultimate; .net; framework