How to troubleshoot Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 installation issues on Microsoft Windows Server 2003

This step-by-step article describes how to troubleshoot issues that you may experience when you install the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003.

When Microsoft Windows Installer is incorrectly registered in the Windows registry, the .NET Framework 1.1 Setup program cannot gain access to some Windows Installer components. This article discusses how to work around this issue by unregistering and then reregistering Windows Installer.

This article also discusses how to troubleshoot other issues that you may experience when you install the .NET Framework 1.1 on Windows Server 2003, how to repair or reinstall Windows Server 2003, and how to manually repair the .NET Framework 1.1.

Requirements

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
• Registry Editor
• Windows Installer

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Unregister and then reregister Windows Installer

1. Unregister Windows Installer:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open text box, type msiexec /unregister, and then click OK.
2. Reregister Windows Installer:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open text box, type msiexec /regserver, and then click OK.

Repair or reinstall Windows Server 2003

When you repair or reinstall Windows Server 2003, you automatically repair the .NET Framework 1.1. To do this, run your Windows Server 2003 Setup program. For more information about Windows Server 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Manually repair the .NET Framework 1.1

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Manually delete the netfx registry value from the Windows registry. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open text box, type regedit, and then click OK to start Registry Editor.
   3. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OC Manager\Subcomponents
   4. Under Name in the right pane of Registry Editor, right-click netfx, and then click Delete.
   5. In the Confirm Value Delete dialog box, click Yes.
   6. Quit Registry Editor.
2. In the Inf folder that is located in your Windows folder, create a device information (.inf) file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Paste the following text in a text editor such as Notepad:

      [Version]
      Signature = "$Windows NT$"
      DriverVer=10/01/2002,5.2.3790.0
      
      [Components]
      netfx=netfxocm.dll,UrtOcmProc,netfxocm.inf,,7

   2. On the File menu, click Save.
   3. In the Save As dialog box, locate and then click the %Windows Folder%\inf folder on your computer.
      
      Note %Windows Folder% is a placeholder for the path of your Windows folder.
   4. In the Save as type drop-down list box, click All Files.
   5. In the File name text box, type sysnew.inf and then click Save.
3. Run the Windows Optional Component (OC) Installer wizard to reinstall the .NET Framework 1.1. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open text box, type cmd, and then click OK.
   3. At the command prompt, run the following command to start the Windows OC Installer wizard:
      sysocmgr /i:%Windows Folder%\inf\sysnew.inf
      Note %Windows Folder% is a placeholder for the path of your Windows folder.
   4. On the Windows Components page of the Windows OC Installer wizard, click Next to reinstall the .NET Framework 1.1.
      
      Note If the Files Needed dialog box appears, type the path of the i386 installation folder in the Copy files from text box, and then click OK. The i386 folder is located in the folder where you installed your operating system.
4. Manually install assemblies in the global assembly cache. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open text box, type cmd, and then click OK.
   3. At the command prompt, run the following command (type this command on one line):
      "%Windows Folder%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.xxxx\gacutil.exe" /f /il %Windows Folder%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.xxxx\assemblylist.txt
      Notes
      • %Windows Folder% is a placeholder for the path of your Windows folder.
      • xxxx is a placeholder for the build number of the version of the .NET Framework 1.1 that you are trying to repair.

For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web sites: