net framework

[kalimba]

Hi -

When I go to "add and remove programs", I see that I have

Microsoft Net Framework 1.1

Microsoft Net Framework 1.1 hotfix

Both of these are not listed with a size

I also have

Microsoft Net Framework 2.0 SP2

Microsoft Net Framework 3.0 SP2

And the newest edition

Microsoft Net Framework 3.5 SP1, which I just installed as I was getting Net Broadcast event program shut down errors, so I'm hoping this will solve that problem. This version is much smaller in size than the 2 listed above.

My question, however, is... would it be prudent to remove any or all of these earlier versions? Can they cause any harm, or contribute to those shutdown errors? Or are they needed, perhaps they are not backwards compatable or something?

Thanks in advance !

[AdvancedSetup]

No, for now I would leave them and get ALL updates for them offered by the Windows Update site.

.NET Framework From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Microsoft .NET Framework is a software framework that can be installed on computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems. It includes a large library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework. The .NET Framework is a key Microsoft offering and is intended to be used by most new applications created for the Windows platform.

.NET Framework Developer Center @ Microsoft

[mountaintree16]

@ kalimba

I was actually wondering the same thing.

I have the first two that you listed.

[yardbird]

Hi kalimba

Welcome to the forum. you post a good question, MS downloads always say you need this, or its critical, or a hotfix, you never see them in the "overview" anything about going into add/remove and removing something. I just download them. That would be the safe thing to do, In the past 6 years I downloaded everything MS wanted me to, except IE8. that includes SP2 & SP3. and it does not take up that much space! You can copy & paste each one listed, run them thru google and find som interesting info. To answer your question, can or should you remove the early net frameworks. I would say no. I'm not the expert and I can be wrong. So before you remove anything. Lets see if someone else wants to post a answer or comment. If your computer is running ok. I would leave it alone.....just my 2 cents

[d4rkn1ght]

Hi all

The question of the .Net frameworks is a very common one... to answer your question briefly, no, you should not remove any earlier version of .Net as each version adds to previous versions, not replaces.

However, as to whether or not you'd actually NEED all the .Net versions is another issue. For myself, I only have .Net 2.0 installed (no, not even 1.0) as that is (or was) the most common version before 3.5 was released. First, we'd have to see what the .NET framework is. I quote:

To grossly oversimplify, it's a package of common support software that can be used by programs so that they don't all have to re-write the same software over and over again. More specifically, it's aimed at users of Microsoft's newer versions of programming languages like C#, Visual Basic .NET and others. The .NET framework provides a broad array of functionality that can be used by programs written in those languages to perform common tasks, most commonly things that involve interacting with Windows itself.

It isn't a language; it's a shortcut for programming. Most commonly, you won't encounter software that will be so willing to be dependent on such packages, even though it might be convenient, and if you do, chances are, the software will install the .NET framework for you or tell you that you need it. So if you don't encounter any problems with your current software or software you install in the future, there's really no need to download the .NET framework even if Microsoft pushes it as a high-priority update.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards