Cannot install .NET 3.5 without Windows Update

NCSGeek

Member
Hello. So I trimmed down the latest windows 10 iso, removing the bloat while maintaining as much compatibility as possible. I did also remove all of Windows Update that was possible outside of live mode. I'm happy with the results of my tweaking and all is working perfectly.. Except one thing. Some games, notably Age of Empires titles, require .NET 3.5 to run. Often times they will have a popup asking to download the feature. From what I can tell, that is from Windows Update in some way. I do not get this popup. I tried other ways to install .NET 3.5, even using an untouched version of the same ISO and using that as a source for DISM to install the feature. But that did not work either.

So basically, I dont want to re-do all of my tweaking from scratch and keep windows update this time. Is there any way that I can install .NET 3.5? Surely there's some way I can manually install this or something.

Any help is very appreciated. I can provide any missing information and I'll be following the thread closely.
 
on win 10 1809(and win 8.1) .net 3.5 is already in the iso, run the following code to manually install it. think you have to enable it in the tool in the Features section.
Code:
DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:D:\sources\sxs

change Source:D to whatever drive letter is appropriate. i always install net 3.5 because i have 1 installer that fails without it.
 
Last edited:
on win 10 1809(and win 8.1) .net 3.5 is already in the iso, run the following code to manually install it. think you have to enable it in the tool in the Features section.
Code:
DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:D:\sources\sxs

change Source:D to whatever drive letter is appropriate. i always install net 3.5 because i have 1 installer that fails without it.
I mentioned that I tried using DISM to enable the feature using a fresh ISO as the source. I might not have been clear on that though. It gives this error:
Code:
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18363.418


Error: 126

The specified module could not be found.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log

Not certain what you mean by "enable it in the tool in the Features section" though
 
Not certain what you mean by "enable it in the tool in the Features section"

when you want to put it into an image with ntlite. ahh, you did mention dism, oops :rolleyes:. wait till one of the guys answers, i dont get an error when i do mine. could be you used the wrong drive letter.
 
when you want to put it into an image with ntlite. ahh, you did mention dism, oops :rolleyes:. wait till one of the guys answers, i dont get an error when i do mine. could be you used the wrong drive letter.

I did check the simple stuff like a typo, yeah. I think I removed something that was necessary for DISM. That's my theory at least.
 
Make sure the drive & path is the top of your image folder. If you don't have it any more, unzip the install ISO somewhere and find the Sources\SxS underneath.
 
Make sure the drive & path is the top of your image folder. If you don't have it any more, unzip the install ISO somewhere and find the Sources\SxS underneath.

D:\sources\sxs is the correct path. I checked just now too. There are only 4 .cab files inside though:

microsoft-windows-internetexplorer-optional-package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~.cab
Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-Optional-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~.cab
microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~.cab
Microsoft-Windows-NetFx3-OnDemand-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~.cab

But I mean, two of those seem to be the .NET 3.5 package that I need? So Im not really sure what to think. Still leaning on the idea that my DISM does not function correctly due to some component I removed.
 
the 2 netfx3 cabs are the ones. msu updates have cab files inside, run task manager then an msu, you will see dism fire up.
 
it could be in the iso/image you created, the tool does that by defalt. always keep your presets.
 
Update:
Okay so I may have solved this actually. I was doing some googling on how to install .cab files and came across this;

So I used that context menu to install both of those .cab files for .NET 3.5. All seems to be working, I can launch the game and everything. Due to my lack of knowledge on .cab files, I did not know I could just install them like that.

So I suppose I'm all set then. Sorry for the trouble, again, I didnt even think to try something like that due to my lack of understanding on .cab files. Thank you for your time! Unless anyone thinks that what I've done is not a solution then I believe I'm good to go.
 
Did you keep a WinPE boot environment besides the Windows Setup? Maybe we can boot into WinPE, mount both drives, and run DISM offline since most people don't muck with WinPE except to install drivers.
 
Did you keep a WinPE boot environment besides the Windows Setup? Maybe we can boot into WinPE, mount both drives, and run DISM offline since most people don't muck with WinPE except to install drivers.

Posted an update. Glad I dont think I'll be needing to do all of that. But I would if needed. Thank you for your time, it's appreciated!

happy days :)
Thanks ^^
 
Hello. So I trimmed down the latest windows 10 iso, removing the bloat while maintaining as much compatibility as possible. I did also remove all of Windows Update that was possible outside of live mode. I'm happy with the results of my tweaking and all is working perfectly.. Except one thing. Some games, notably Age of Empires titles, require .NET 3.5 to run. Often times they will have a popup asking to download the feature. From what I can tell, that is from Windows Update in some way. I do not get this popup. I tried other ways to install .NET 3.5, even using an untouched version of the same ISO and using that as a source for DISM to install the feature. But that did not work either.

So basically, I dont want to re-do all of my tweaking from scratch and keep windows update this time. Is there any way that I can install .NET 3.5? Surely there's some way I can manually install this or something.

Any help is very appreciated. I can provide any missing information and I'll be following the thread closely.
Host refresh is the only option, let me know if it's not clear how to use to return components.
 
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