Thoughts about setup and deployment issues, WiX, XNA, the .NET Framework and Visual Studio
All postings are provided AS IS with no warranties, and confer no rights. Additionally, views expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer, Microsoft.
Question:
I tried to install the .NET Framework 4 beta 1 and Visual Studio 2010 beta 1 on my Windows XP Media Center system. It fails to install with an error like the following:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 cannot be installed because an incompatible version of .NET Framework (v1.0) is installed on the machine. For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91126.
I don’t see any useful information in that link, and I don’t see an option to uninstall the .NET Framework 1.0 in the Add/Remove Programs control panel on my system, so I’m stuck.
Is there any way I can install the .NET Framework 4 beta 1 and VS 2010 beta 1 on my Windows XP Media Center system?
Answer:
Officially, the .NET Framework 4 beta 1 (and therefore VS 2010 beta 1) is not supported on Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. However, the wording in the readme is a bit vague. Item 2.1.1.1 in the .NET Framework 4 beta 1 readme says the following:
Note: You cannot install the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 on operating systems that have the .NET Framework 1.0 built in.
As I previously wrote in this blog post, the .NET Framework 1.0 is installed as an OS component on Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and it cannot be uninstalled on those versions of Windows XP.
If you are running Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and want to be able to install the .NET Framework 4 beta 1 and VS 2010 beta 1, you can manually rename the following registry value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\v1.0]
If you do this, there are a few important caveats to keep in mind:
既に Visual Studio 2010 Beta1 および .NET Framework 4.0 Beta 1 英語版がダウンロードセンターからご利用頂けるようになりました。日本語版も間もなく提供開始される予定です。
Hey I am running Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and tried to both manually rename the registry value and deleting the key. Both resulted in the "The .NET Framework version 4 cannot be installed because the .NET Framework version 1.0 is already installed on your computer. For more information, see the <A HREF="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135490">Readme file</A>. "
Anymore ideas?
Hi Dschu012 - I found the registry key that I listed in this blog post by looking at the installer for the .NET Framework 4 beta. I don't know what else would cause this block to occur if you deleted the correct registry value. One thing to check is that if you've got a 64-bit OS, you'll need to also rename/delete the following value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\v1.0]
If you still get blocked after double-checking that both of the above keys are not on your system, then can you please gather and post your log files to a file server and reply back here with a link to them so I can take a further look? You can find a tool for gathering these log files in the blog post at http://blogs.msdn.com/heaths/archive/2009/05/22/updated-log-collection-utility-available-for-visual-studio-2010-and-net-4-0-beta-1.aspx.
For some reason it just work right now even though I didn't make any changes to my registry, besides the ones I did previously. Thanks for the help and the info.
Thank You!
I have the XP Media Center. http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=453248 mentions no solution. I thought all hope was out for me to able to try the net framework 4.0 unless I bought a new computer.
Regards, Fredrik
I recently had to re-install windows XP on my system. now a program (HP Image Zone) I use is giving me an error when I try to open it: "An unhandled exception has occurred in a component in your application. Click Continue and application will ignore this error and attempt to continue. Object reference not set to an instance of an object.". when I select the continue it comes right back to the msg box. I have to end the application from task mgr. the program was working fine before.
I been on numerous calls with the vendor support but they still haven't been able to get past the error. I've reinstalled the HP software, the .net framework, and windows installer. I verified the .net installation for all the versions of .net. I was hoping you might be able to tell me where to look for the solution.
Hi O3devildog - If this is the only application giving you problems, then your best bet is to contact the manufacturer of the program. It sounds like you've already tried that though, so I'm not sure what else to suggest.
If you are seeing similar problems with multiple programs, then it is more likely being caused by something else on your system like the .NET Framework. If that is the case, I'd suggest making sure you have the latest version of the .NET Framework installed (which is 3.5 SP1, and can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=AB99342F-5D1A-413D-8319-81DA479AB0D7) to see if that helps at all in this case.
i cant download this app to my lap
what can i do ??
Hi Sandra - What exact program are you trying to download, and what is the exact error message that you are seeing when you try to download it currently?
If only the teams would actually FIX the problem instead of telling us not to install .NET Framework 4.0 if we still want Media Center to work, especially with it now being required to use any application built on the XNA 4.0 framework...
Hi KyL416 - This blog post contains information that was only applicable to beta versions of the .NET Framework 4. You should be able to successfully install the final version of the .NET Framework 4 on a computer that is running Windows XP Media Center Edition. The only restriction that still exists in the final version of the .NET Framework 4 is that you cannot install the .NET Framework 1.0 after you install the .NET Framework 4. Instead, you have to install the .NET Framework 1.0 before installing the .NET Framework 4. Since the .NET Framework 1.0 comes pre-installed as a part of the OS on Windows XP Media Center Edition, you will be OK because you will have to install the .NET Framework 4 afterwards anyways.