Install .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 machine

How to install .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 machine

• Installation from Windows discs – you can get .NET Framework 3.5 from the genuine upgrade or installation discs for Windows 8 or from the genuine installation discs of Windows 7 and Vista SP1. 

Automatic installation

The computer should automatically detect the need for .NET Framework 3.5 and you’ll see a pop-up window like the one pictured below.

Simply select ‘Download and install this feature’ and Windows 8 will download the necessary files and install them for you.

Manual installation

 Step 1 

From your desktop (you can navigate there by using the Windows key on your keyboard), open the right-hand sidebar menu (by moving your mouse pointer to the top or bottom right-hand corner of your screen) and select ‘Settings’.

 Step 2 

From the Settings menu, select ‘Control Panel’.

 Step 3 

From Control Panel, select ‘Uninstall a program’.

 Step 4 

On the left-hand side of the next window, select ‘Turn Windows features on or off’.

 Step  5 

Check the box to enable ‘.NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)’ and then click ‘OK’. This might take several minutes to process.

Step 6

When the installation finishes, click ‘Close’ to complete.

Not working?

Try restarting your computer, check that your internet is working and then try the installation steps again. If it’s still not working, you can also try installing it from the installation/upgrade discs.

Windows installation discs

 Step 1 

Insert your Windows installation/upgrade disc, wait a few moments and then hold the Windows key and press the letter ‘E’ to open ‘Computer’.

 Step  2 

Take note of the letter assigned to your Windows installation/upgrade disc drive as you’ll need this shortly. In this example, you can see the letter is ‘I’.

Step 3

From the Windows Start menu (you can navigate there using the Windows key on your keyboard), type ‘cmd’ to search for the ‘Command Prompt’ application.

Step 4

Right-click ‘Command Prompt’ and choose ‘Run as administrator’, from the bottom of your screen (if you’re presented with a ‘User Account Control’ pop-up window, click ‘Yes’ to continue).

Step 5

Copy the bold line of text below by first; highlighting it with your mouse, and then holding the ‘Ctrl’ and ‘C’ keys.

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:netfx3 /all /source:X:\sources\sxs /limitaccess

Step 6

Paste the text into the Command Prompt window by right-clicking your mouse in the window and selecting ‘Paste’ from the drop-down menu.

Step 7

Replace the capital ‘X’ in the line of text with the letter for the source drive that you got from Step 2. You can navigate to it by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

In this example, the correct source drive is ‘I’ – yours may be different.

Step 8

Once you’ve input the correct source drive, press the ‘Enter’ key. If everything goes to plan, you’ll see this confirmation message.