.NET Repair Tool Released by MS

Published on June 17, 2012 By DrJBHL In Personal Computing

Every time I see a .NET update, I clutch. I admit it. Ask WebGizmos what happens with a bad .NET update/installation. We were on the phone for hours. From then on he refused to update. I don’t blame him.

Before trying to update/install .NET 4.0 (W7 SP1 comes with .NET 3.5) run the following: sfc /scannow as Administrator. If your system files have become corrupted, that could cause problems. If you have installed and are running into problems, do the following:

Click on Start and under search type in appwiz.cpl
Then Click on Turn Windows Feature On or Off
Uncheck on .NET Frameworks and click OK
Restart you System
Now click on Start and under search type in CMD
Right Click on CMD and Run as administrator
Next type in SFC /SCANNOW
Click on Start and under search type in appwiz.cpl
Then Click on Turn Windows Feature On or Off
Check on .NET Frameworks and click OK
Then Test it and see if that work

Well, as penance for what they did to Giz, MS has made and released the .NET Framework Repair Tool [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30135]

The tool is a troubleshooter which deals with common problems with setup and updates of MS .NET Framework installation. The tool also can apply fixes to known problems, and will carry out:

Re-register Windows Installer service. It unregisters and re-registers the Windows Installer service using MsiExec.exe. Applicable regardless of the diagnosis results.
Restart Windows Installer service. It stops and restarts the Windows Installer service. Applicable regardless of the diagnosis results.

You can also manually troubleshoot with the System Update Readiness Tool which cleans up problems which would cause problems on installation: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/What-is-the-System-Update-Readiness-Tool?SignedIn=1

Finally, There’s an additional tool. .NET Framework Setup Cleanup Utility.

That is a tool of last resort, and you should do all the steps listed here before using it.

Aaron Stebner has also published a “What to do if other .NET Framework setup troubleshooting steps do not help” . This is the updated instruction, as well as his guide here , which is the Unified Guide.

I hope this helps someone in the future…

.NET Framework Repair Tool download link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30135

Sources:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/microsoft-net-framework-repair-tool

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/the-net-framework-removal-cleanup-tool

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/troubleshoot-net-frameworks-4-0-install-issues-on-windows-7

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/system-update-readiness-tool-for-windows-vista-windows-7-86-64

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/What-is-the-System-Update-Readiness-Tool?SignedIn=1

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2005/08/22/unified-net-framework-troubleshooting-guide.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2008/03/07/8108332.aspx

Comments

Daiwa

on Jun 17, 2012

MS really screwed the pooch with .NET. I'm not sure I trust the repair tool, but I've been bitten twice by failed updates and hope this is the tool MS should have had available from the gitgo. Natch, SDC requires .NET.

DrJBHL

on Jun 17, 2012

Agreed... but this is only to try to help folks who get jammed up with problems... I do hope it helps, as I spent some time looking stuff up.

DaveRI

on Jun 17, 2012

If you have installed and are running into problems

Are there any common symptoms that would tell me I need to poke at it? (as opposed to having to poke at something else)

Thanks for the post Doc.

DrJBHL

on Jun 17, 2012

They'd appear right after or even during an update, Dave. Like 'hanging', error 1603, the kb979907 problem... a lot would depend on what OS you have, and which .NET version.

There are 5,240,000 problems (total)... on a bing search...

teddybearcholla

on Jun 17, 2012

Bookmarked....thank you Seth!

Daiwa

on Jun 18, 2012

DrJBHL

reply 2

Agreed... but this is only to try to help folks who get jammed up with problems... I do hope it helps, as I spent some time looking stuff up.

For which we are all grateful, Doc. Didn't mean to sound bitchy, but meant to sound bitchy.

As for symptoms, a .NET update from Microsoft Update fails (for any of apparently many, mostly unfathomable reasons) leaving you with a partially-updated and thereby borked .NET setup. Worse, it may succeed and leave you with a borked .NET. Any apps that depend on the particular version(s) of .NET affected may have issues. I believe, but don't have a way to confirm, that it was .NET updates that cost us hundreds of manhours at work troubleshooting issues with scanning in a VPN environment, one in which the VPN interacts heavily with local machines, over a period of 3 months or so in the summer of 2011.

Hopefully, that's just historical info and MS has stopped 'helping' us by updating older iterations of .NET. .NET is truly the black hole of the Windows OS. IMHO. YMMV. ETC.

Here's MS's description of their tool:

This tool detects and tries to fix some frequently occurring issues with the setup of or with updates to the Microsoft .NET Framework.

Italics added. Doesn't leave me with a strong feeling of confidence.

Uvah

on Jun 18, 2012

Knock on wood...haven't had any issues with .Net...yet.

Daiwa

on Jul 06, 2012

I've left the XP rig with the borked 3.5 .NET update sit for some time, but decided to try the new MS tool. It failed, as I figured it might.

I ran Stebner's .NET Framework Cleanup Tool & selected only 3.5 & the cleanup completed. I then D/L'd the 3.5 SP1 full package .exe and installed using that successfully. Now TurboTax and a few other apps that depend on 3.5 will install/run again.

Once successfully installed, Windows Update offered another 4 .NET security updates or so, but I'm content to leave things well enough alone again. It's a feather balanced on the edge of a piece of paper now, so not looking for any slight breezes.

DrJBHL

on Jul 06, 2012

Glad it worked for you, Daiwa (justifies the whole bitchy post).

Savyg

on Jul 08, 2012

Daiwa

reply 9

It's a feather balanced on the edge of a piece of paper now, so not looking for any slight breezes.

As XP always has been

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