dotnet hell

[AlanMiller]

Somehow, my system has fallen victim to the mess that is .NET. I'd read about this but so far escaped it, so had no idea of how messy and interminably insidious it actually was. There are lots of articles on removal, repair and reinstallation of the framework(s) but I'm hoping that somebody might know of a complete solution or download package that does the following:

• Remove all existing frameworks
  Clean up everything that might choke reinstalls
  Contain all versions, SPs and hotfixes for reinstallation, as standalones or redistributables
  Clean up any mess that might remain after the event

At the moment, I've been shuffled through to Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 by Windows update, but even the .net mess cleanup tool won't clear the path for this and I'm getting sick of using all my download quota on failed updates.


Alan

[JoeP]

I had this happen on one system at work. I used the .NET cleanup tool from Aaron Stebner's WebLog : Automated cleanup tool to remove the .NET Framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5. Then I went back to .NET 1.1 and installed it + service packs. Then 2.0 + service packs. Then 3.0 + service packs. Last 3.5 + services packs.

I downloaded the complete packages rather than let Windows Update or the .net 3.0 & 3.5 installers try to figure anything out.

Joe

[AlanMiller]

Thanks Joe. I figured you might be "da man" for this issue. I've had trouble finding all of the redistributables with SPs and hotfixes, all as downloadable packages. Do you have URLs please?

I downloaded the complete packages rather than let Windows Update or the .net 3.0 & 3.5 installers try to figure anything out.

Alan

[JoeP]

All I did was search download.microsoft.com. IIRC, the frustrating part of searching for and downloading .NET is that sometimes a service pack is a complete installation and distinguishing those from "normal" service packs is almost impossible.

Joe

[AlanMiller]

I see what you mean. Looks like this mess even extends into their file (dis)organization. I'll have a further hunt and see if there is a 3rd party download out there, from someone else who has had to wade through this themselves.

Alan