Question:

I recently installed the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 on my computer.  Afterwards, I went to the Windows Update site to check for updates, and I see the following item in the list of updates that my computer needs:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update for .NET versions 2.0 through 3.5 (KB951847)

Does this mean that the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 failed to install correctly when I installed it previously?  What do I do to fix this issue?

Answer:

No, this does not mean that the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 failed to install correctly on your system.  Unfortunately, the wording of the name of this update in Windows Update is confusing.  The .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update is an additional hotfix package that needs to be installed after installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.  Windows Update automatically bundles the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 with the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update if it detects that the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is not yet installed on your computer.  However, if the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is already installed on your computer, Windows Update will only install the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update even though the name of the item includes “Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1” in it.

If your computer is in this state, you should be able to simply allow Windows Update to install the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update on your system.

Additional troubleshooting steps in case the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update fails to install

Note that if the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update fails to install, there should be log files created on your computer to help narrow down the cause of the failure further.  They will be located in a sub-directory of your %temp% directory and have a folder name that includes the KB number of the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update.  There are several possible KB numbers for the .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update:

• KB958481
• KB958483
• KB958484

As previously posted on Rob Mensching’s blog and Bob Arnson’s blog, builds of WiX v3.5 starting with the 3.5.1030.0 build include support for Visual Studio 2010 beta 2.  Here are some highlights:

• Extension Manager integration – you can download and install WiX v3.5 directly from within the VS 2010 IDE; to do this, launch VS 2010 Professional Edition or higher, click on the Tools menu, choose Extension Manager...., select the Online Gallery on the left side of the Extension Manager UI, expand Tools, then Build, and you’ll see the Windows Installer XML Toolset listed there.
• WiX can now run on the .NET Framework 4 and it can process .NET Framework 4 assemblies during builds.
• Major performance improvement when building WiX projects in the VS IDE – you will no longer see the VS IDE appear to hang during builds.
• Automatic upgrade of .wixproj files from the VS 2008 file format to the VS 2010 file format.
• Improvements in the VS IDE experience for WiX projects – drag/drop of nodes, copy/paste of items, project references.
• Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition detection properties and custom actions have been added to the WixVSExtension.
• Numerous other miscellaneous bug fixes.

If you encounter any bugs with these new features or have suggestions for improvements, please report them on the WiX bug reporting site or the WiX feature request site.  If you have any questions about using these new features or about WiX in general, I encourage you to use the WiX mailing lists.