redistributable offline .NET Framework 3.5 installer for Windows 8

Question

Our company was testing our product (compiled for .NET Framework 3.5) on Windows 8. We have discovered that there is no .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 and there are two possibilities to resolve this issue:

1. online installation

2. install from Windows 8 installation DVD or ISO

But, we need to have redistributable offline installer for everyone without internet and without Windows installation DVD.

Is there a way how to resolve this issue?

Thanks.

UPDATE:

This should apply to Windows 10 as well.

Her

Answer 1

Try this command:

Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /Source:I:\Sources\sxs /LimitAccess

I: partition of your Windows DVD.

Capsule

qub1n mentioned the requirement is no internet connectivity/Windows DVD. – Forage

prompt me : The limitaccsess option is not recognized in this context. Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /Source:I:\Sources\sxs i run that without limit-access switch, and execute successfully. – Korella

Mount your Windows ISO file or put the DVD in disc drive – Atmosphere

There is no sxs folder in my iso :( – Significs

Answer 2

Looks like you need the package from the installation media if you're you're offline (located at D:\sources\sxs) You could copy this to each machine that you require .NET 3.5 on (so technically you only need the installation media once to get the package) and get each machine to run the command:

Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:c:\dotnet35 /LimitAccess

There's a guide on MSDN.

Dever

I have discussed this solutions with Microsoft (using our MSDN subscription) and the man from Microsoft told me, that it is illegal, because nobody is allowed to distribute part of anything what is under copyright of Microsoft without agreement of Microsoft. But he also told me that if I do so (make the package), they will probably not take any action against the distributing subject. Anyway I don't like this solution. How many types of packages do I need? X86, x64? Do I need extra package for every localized windows? Probably not, but I have no assurance. – Her

I guess that in a closed environment, where you don't have internet access and you need to develop/test your application, this would be a valid option. – Gapeworm

Unfortunately, and in complete contrast to the policy for redistributing .NET on Windows versions prior to 8, MS now say "The sources\SxS folder must not be used as a redistribution mechanism since this is not a supported mechanism" msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/… – Novercal

Answer 3

After several month without real solution for this problem, I suppose that the best solution is to upgrade the application to .NET framework 4.0, which is supported by Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 2012 Server by default and it is still available as offline installation for Windows XP.

Her

Answer 4

You don't have to copy everything to C:\dotnet35. Usually all the files are already copied to the folder C:\Windows\WinSxS. Then the command becomes (assuming Windows was installed to C:): "Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:C:\Windows\WinSxS /LimitAccess" If not you can also point the command to the DVD directly. Then the command becomes (assuming DVD is mounted to D:): "Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:D:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess".

Maya

Answer 5

Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 can be installed on windows 10 without having installation media. The file you need is called microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package.cab. Just google it and you will get the download links. After downloading it, copy that file to C:\dotnet35 and run the following command.

Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:c:\dotnet35 /LimitAccess

Tested and worked in Windows 10 without any issue.

Fairfield

Did you test on more than one version of Windows 10? – Kenwood