Since the past one month or so of having upgraded to Windows 8, one thing that always kept me bugging was the absence of Dot Net Framework 3.5 in it. Though Windows 8 comes pre-installed with Dot Net Framework 4.5, there are many apps which specifically require .NET Framework version 3.5. Having tried the various methods present on the internet to install .NET Framework 3.5, I finally found one method that actually worked and obviously, I wanted to share it.
Downloading the offline installer of .NET framework is of no help in this case for one ridiculous reason, installing it requires you to have .NET Framework 3.5 already installed. Hilarious, right? But I wasn’t laughing at this error after having wasted about 350 MegaBytes on downloading the offline setup. It was growing more and more annoying and my hatred for Windows 8 kept on growing exponentially. The alternate method present on the internet used a Windows 8 Installation Media. I didn’t have one, so I borrowed a friend’s Windows 8 installation media. That method, which involved passing a command to install .NET 3.5 from the sources folder in the installation media, failed too because the installation media I was having contained both 32 bit as well as 64 bit versions of Windows 8 OS. Skipping the rest of the tale about how I got to the solution, let me share the solution with everyone:
Downloading the offline installer of .NET framework is of no help in this case for one ridiculous reason, installing it requires you to have .NET Framework 3.5 already installed. Hilarious, right? But I wasn’t laughing at this error after having wasted about 350 MegaBytes on downloading the offline setup. It was growing more and more annoying and my hatred for Windows 8 kept on growing exponentially. The alternate method present on the internet used a Windows 8 Installation Media. I didn’t have one, so I borrowed a friend’s Windows 8 installation media. That method, which involved passing a command to install .NET 3.5 from the sources folder in the installation media, failed too because the installation media I was having contained both 32 bit as well as 64 bit versions of Windows 8 OS. Skipping the rest of the tale about how I got to the solution, let me share the solution with everyone:
The only Sure-shot working method to Install .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8:
- Download the offline installer of .NET Framework 3.5. This is not the one you will generally download from Microsoft website (or most other websites). As I told you before, installing that one requires you to already have it installed. I am pretty sure this can be termed as a paradox. :P
- Running the executable file you just downloaded will extract three filed in the folder in which you downloaded the executable file (or at a location that you manually ask it to).
- Find the file named Mount This Image.ISO in the folder in which you extracted the files. Right click on that file and select Mount.
- The ISO image will be mounted as a virtual DVD. As shown in the screenshot, note the drive letter in your case. In our case, the drive letter is H.
- Jump back to the folder in which you extracted the files. Right Click the file named Run This as Administrator.bat and select Edit.
- This will open the Batch Script file in Notepad. In the only line present in the file, change X (after /Source:) to the drive letter you noted in step 2. Hit Ctrl + S to save the file once you have done the change.
- Back in the extracted folder, Right click on the Run This as Administrator.bat file and select Run as Administrator. Wait for the process to complete. It will take anywhere between 5-10 minutes. Once the process completes, you can proceed with installing any application that previously required you to have .NET Framework 3.5 installed on your system.
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