.NET Framework 3.0 (WinFX runtime) deployment guide

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I noticed this weekend that a deployment guide for the .NET Framework 3.0 (previously known as the WinFX runtime components) has been published. This deployment guide contains the following information that can be useful if you are going to create a setup package that includes the .NET Framework 3.0 as a prerequisite:

  • System requirements (OS versions and hardware requirements)
  • Installation location and file/assembly versioning information
  • Detecting if the .NET Framework 3.0 is installed on a system using the registry
  • Detecting if the .NET Framework 3.0 is installed on a system using Internet Explorer user agent strings
  • Command line switches for .NET Framework 3.0 setup
  • Return codes for .NET Framework 3.0 setup
  • Detecting if .NET Framework 3.0 language packs are installed on a system using the registry
  • Sample script for detecting the .NET Framework 3.0 using Internet Explorer

I encourage you to take a look at this guide if you are planning to build and ship an application that requires the .NET Framework 3.0.

Please note that there is a factual error in the list of registry keys to detect .NET Framework versions in the guide. For the .NET Framework 1.0, there is not an Install registry value, so the documented detection method will always return false. Instead, you should check for the existence of the following registry value (like the sample code I previously published does):

  • Key name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\v1.0
  • Value name: 3705
  • Value data type: REG_SZ
  • Value data: 3321-3705

If you are working on implementing .NET Framework 3.0 deployment or redistribution solutions and run into any questions or problems, please let me know and I can post follow-up information with more detailed information in the future....