dotNet 3.X support

[jds]

Btw guys, it's possible to run quite a few dotnet 3.0/3.5 applications by getting the missing assemblies they may depend on from dotnet 3.5 installer and putting them in the system dir or the application folder. Remotesoft .NET Explorer is a good free tool for identifying missing .net dependencies. The WPF files won't work but often it's only just system.core.dll that's missing and this one runs just fine. I have tried hard to get some net 4.0 apps to run but to no avail even the simplest ones.

@jds

I think you should have a look at the OnePiece's .NET 3.5 SP1 True Addon. It uses an INF file to install so it's much better to analyse and modify then the official MSI installer.

Joe, if you google WPF you'll find out that 90% of the top results are about the Windows Presentation Foundation graphical subsystem introduced with dotnet 3.0.

As for system.core.dll it's a dotnet 3.5 file and you can find it at the following location (navigating the installer with 7-Zip):

dotnetfx35SP1.exe\wcu\.\.\.\.\.\dotNetFramework\dotNetFX35\x86\netfx35_x86.exe\vs_setup.cab\FL_System_Core_dll_Gac_24763_x86_ln.3643236F_FC70_11D3_A536_0090278A1BB8

Thanks, loblo & tomasz86.

This is potentially very useful for running dotNet applications built with VS2008 (or VS2005 with the dotNet 3.0 update) or later.

I found the OnePiece packages easier to dissect for required "assemblies" than the MS ones. Don't make my first mistake of downloading the usual dotNet 3.X framework installation packages from MS, these are downloaders only and don't contain anything useful (the "full" packages from MS should be OK, but they are huge and the embedded files need renaming).

Use the Remotesoft .NET Explorer to find out what "assemblies" you need. The way this seems to work is that you open your dotNet 3.X application, expand the tree view for the Dependencies branch, then select the properties of anything listed there. If a normal Properties window appears or the error message "This file does not have a program associated with it ..." , then the "assembly" exists. If the error "Can't resolve reference ..." appears, then the "assembly" is missing. You also need to do this for any "assemblies" you bring in, to find their dependent "assemblies".

Unfortunately, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications don't seem to work. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can figure a way ...

Joe.

Edited August 24, 2012 by jds

[tomasz86]

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) doesn't work in Win2k too