How do I install .NET 2.0 SP2 without .NET 3.5 SP1 on Windows Vista?

Question

We recently added a feature to our software that requires .NET 2.0 SP2. This is not a problem on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 since we can just include the redistributable for .NET 2.0 SP2 in our installation. On Windows Vista and later, .NET is more tightly integrated into the OS (I'm not sure exactly how), and there doesn't appear to be a redistributable package for just .NET 2.0 SP2.

I think that the .NET 3.5 SP1 redistributable (which can be installed on Vista) includes .NET 2.0 SP2, but I'd rather not include because it is very large (~230MB, about double the size of our current installation). Also, we'd rather not use a bootstrapper since many of our customers do not have internet access.

We had the same problem when we started using .NET 2.0 SP1, but we decided to just require Vista SP1. We could start requiring Vista SP2...

Does there exist a redistributable package for .NET 2.0 SP2 for Vista?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there is no standalone installer for .NET 2.0 SP2 for Vista or Server 2008. You really need to install the .NET 3.5 SP1.

Read here for more details: Aaron Stebner about .NET 2.0 SP2 standalone core and language pack installer

Answer 2

The simplest solution is the same as used by most developers, including Microsoft.

Release two versions of your installation, an ISO for offline installation that includes everything on disk. And a smaller "online" installation which downloads required dependencies.

You then prompt the customer to download the correct one, or offer to post out a CD/DVD for a nominal fee.