125

I've finished my C# application, but I have a little problem:

When I try to run my application in another PC, I need always to Install .NET Framework 4.0.

Is there something to do to make it work without installing the framework from internet?

I tried before InnoSetup for a VB6 application, but I'm not sure if it's going to work for .NET 4.0!

Any ideas?

vaultah
  • 44,105
  • 12
  • 114
  • 143
Wassim AZIRAR
  • 10,823
  • 38
  • 121
  • 174
  • 4
    You cannot get rid of .net Framework. If you want you can create a setup for your application and include .net framework setup inside your setup. In this way you can avoid downloading it from internet. But it will increase your setup size. – CharithJ May 22 '11 at 21:34
  • It's not a problem. You know how ? – Wassim AZIRAR May 22 '11 at 21:35
  • 2
    Just as a Note.. make sure you don't go to File-New. Right click on your solution and click Add->New Project. This way you are ADDING a setup project to your files and not just creating a new project by itself. – David Nelson Jun 25 '12 at 15:37

3 Answers3

218

Use Visual Studio Setup project. Setup project can automatically include .NET framework setup in your installation package:

Here is my step-by-step for windows forms application:

  1. Create setup project. You can use Setup Wizard.

    enter image description here

  2. Select project type.

    enter image description here

  3. Select output.

    enter image description here

  4. Hit Finish.

  5. Open setup project properties.

    enter image description here

  6. Chose to include .NET framework.

    enter image description here

  7. Build setup project

  8. Check output

    enter image description here

Note: The Visual Studio Installer projects are no longer pre-packed with Visual Studio. However, in Visual Studio 2013 you can download them by using:

Tools > Extensions and Updates > Online (search) > Visual Studio Installer Projects
Alex Aza
  • 76,499
  • 26
  • 155
  • 134
  • Hey, I can't find my project on the list when I select Project Output ! – Wassim AZIRAR May 22 '11 at 21:41
  • @dotNET - what type of project is your project? – Alex Aza May 22 '11 at 21:43
  • 1
    Is it possible to set it up such that when you click Setup.exe that it will automatically detect if the .net 4 framework is installed and install it. Or does it have to be manually done? – Seth Nov 09 '11 at 23:52
  • 28
    Visual Studio 2012 no longer supports these Setup projects. You'll be directed to download InstallShield LE (Limited Edition) instead. It is free, but be aware that you'll need to rebuild your installer if your migrate from VS 2010 to VS 2012. – tobinibot Oct 22 '12 at 18:53
  • 1
    InstallShield LE (Limited Edition) is such a trash. It is truly limited. – Mahmood Jenami Aug 24 '15 at 15:56
  • 5
    There is an official microsoft extension which adds this feature to vs 2015 https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/f1cc3f3e-c300-40a7-8797-c509fb8933b9 – XD face me Feb 14 '16 at 11:55
  • How to create shortcut on desktop and Menu , by default its not creating those – djkpA Apr 03 '17 at 14:58
  • 1
    I did all this, when I build the setup project, it says 0 built, 0 succeeded. (vs2017) – nurettin Oct 18 '17 at 10:49
  • 5
    Followed everything but got this error: `ERROR: To enable 'Download prerequisites from the same location as my application' in the Prerequisites dialog box, you must download file 'DotNetFX461\NDP461-KB3102436-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe' for item 'Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 (x86 and x64)' to your local machine. For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=616018.` – Chris Mar 24 '18 at 07:21
  • To Chris Biasbas. download .NET4.6.1 offline installer from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/deployment/deployment-guide-for-developers and copy into C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\SDK\Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFX461. then everything should works fine – mili May 10 '18 at 07:33
  • 2
    @nurettin I have found the folder for VS2017 to be `C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFX471` for .NET 4.7.1 installer – Crowley Aug 13 '18 at 14:49
  • @mili that doesnt work necessarily. It doesn't include a product.xml. VS won't build without it. – addohm Nov 15 '18 at 09:12
6

You need to create installer, which will check if user has required .NET Framework 4.0. You can use WiX to create installer. It's very powerfull and customizable. Also you can use ClickOnce to create installer - it's very simple to use. It will allow you with one click add requirement to install .NET Framework 4.0.

Damian Antonowicz
  • 780
  • 6
  • 12
2

Include an Setup Project (New Project > Other Project Types > Setup and Deployment > Visual Studio Installer) in your solution. It has options to include the framework installer. Check out this Deployment Guide MSDN post.

Bala R
  • 107,317
  • 23
  • 199
  • 210