PRB: "This Setup Does Not Contain the .NET Framework" Error Message During Visual Studio .NET Deployment

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This article was previously published under Q320426

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SYMPTOMS

When you compile Visual Studio .NET Setup and Deployment projects, you may receive the following message:

WARNING: This setup does not contain the .NET Framework which must be installed on the target machine by running dotnetfx.exe before this setup will install. You can find dotnetfx.exe on the Visual Studio .NET 'Windows Components Update' media. Dotnetfx.exe can be redistributed with your setup.

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CAUSE

By default, this warning is generated in each setup package to remind you that the Microsoft .NET Framework is not distributed with Setup and Deployment projects but is required for .NET applications to run.

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RESOLUTION

If you want to include the .NET Framework in your Visual Studio .NET Setup and Deployment projects, see the following Microsoft sample for how to include the .NET Framework with your package:

Microsoft .NET Framework Setup.exe Bootstrapper Sample
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=bf253cfd-1efc-4fc5-ba7e-6a6f21403495&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=bf253cfd-1efc-4fc5-ba7e-6a6f21403495&displaylang=en)

You can download the .NET Framework from the Microsoft Web site. The .NET Framework is also available on the Visual Studio .NET installation media. For additional information about the location of the .NET Framework redistributable package, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308488 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308488/EN-US/ ) INFO: Download and Install the .NET Framework

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