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Is possible to deploy a self contained .NET Framework application?

I'm developing a C#.Net application that uses the .Net Framework but I'm having trouble when users are installing the application on their computers. Some of them just don't know how to install the .Net Framework.
I'm searching for a solution to this problem and I found the self contained deployment use in .Net Core applications.
The problem is that my application doesn't use .Net Core, it is a WPF application.
I already search the web and all solutions I find brings me to the .Net Core self contained deployment.
What can be done in order to deploy a "self contained" .Net Framework application?
Thanks in advance.

You can use WiX to create a "bootstrap" installer, which will install required frameworks before installing your application.
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/howtos/redistributables_and_install_checks/install_dotnet.html

Find a version of the .NET Framework that all of your target computers already have, and set Visual Studio to target that version of the framework.
Then, just copy/paste all of the files out of the bin/release folder into a folder on the target computer and run your program's executable.
If all of your target computers have Windows 10, you can deploy using version 4.6 of the framework, and be guaranteed that your clients already have it.

Creating an exe for a Windows standalone application using C# in Visual Studio 2015

I have created Sales Management System using C# and MS SQL Server 2012. This is working fine. All I want to know in how can I create an exe so that this can be installed in another machine without any .NET Framework.
e.g. it should say like SalesManagementSystem.exe, and I should be able to install it in any machine.

Just download the Setup project templates and create an installer:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioProductTeam.MicrosoftVisualStudio2015InstallerProjects
See my extensive guide here on how to make an Installer (one that upgrades itself as well):
Install to same path when upgrading application

A .Net application will never run without the corresponding framework installed. But depending on the target OS the framework is already installed. Please check the release history at wikipeda. There you can see which .Net version is already installed in which windows version.
If you want to deploy a single executable you have to embed all your depending assemblies into your executable as a resource (plenty of questions and answers are already at SO) and load them by overwriting the AssemblyResolve event.
If you want to create a windows installer take a look at WiX.

You cannot just skip the .NET Framework on the target machine - it is needed to run your program. The exe file, produced by the C# compiler contains MSIL, which is understood by .NET Framework, as opposed by the destination OS - be it Windows or any other.
Having that said, your best bet is to write an installer for your app and
distribute the .NET Framework distribute the .NET Framework along with it. When launched, the installer might check what is the installed version of the .NET framework on the target machine (if any) and respond appropriately by installing whatever it is needed for your application.
You can use WiX to author an installers.

Can visual studio 2008 deployment project run without .net installed in the system?

My programming language is C# .Net 3.5 and I may have to install my applications in very old client systems (windows XP-SP1 and above) and may be that those systems do not contain any version of .Net (or even Windows-Installer-3.1) in them.
I have worked on VS-2008 deployment projects on and off since some time and I have some working knowledge of it.
I want to write a deployment project in VS-2008 but I have 2 questions :
Can a VS-2008 deployment project containing pre-requisites run on a system without any version of .Net (or even Windows-Installer-3.1) pre-installed in the system ?
How to create a boot-strapper installer to run in systems without .net pre-installed in them (boot strapper will install all pre-requisites including .net and other 3rd party run times) ?
Regards
Akshay Mishra

Can a VS-2008 deployment project containing pre-requisites run on a
system without any version of .Net (or even Windows-Installer-3.1)
pre-installed in the system ?
Yes, the EXE bootstrapper which handles prerequisites doesn't have any dependencies. So you can safely add Windows Installer and .NET Framework as prerequisites in your setup project.
How to create a boot-strapper installer to run in systems without .net
pre-installed in them (boot strapper will install all pre-requisites
including .net and other 3rd party run times) ?
Here is an article which may help: http://setupanddeployment.com/uncategorized/custom-prerequisite-visual-studio-setup-file/

You can use Salamander .net linker. I don't exactly understand what it does but what I know is that I was able to pack the necessary reference and the program into 1 folder. When I move the folder to a computer without .net framework installed, it was able to run.
The demo version of the program will give u nag screens every time u run the packed program.
The side effect of doing it this way is my program file size increased from few KB to 40MB.
Other references ..just for information:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/321269/Analyzing-a-Net-executable-or-DLL-without-NET-inst
http://www.codeproject.com/Questions/157853/Running-the-c-exe-without-net-framework-on-machine

You need to have .Net version installed on the client system.
Else it wont works.
Because even to start your application your application will search for CLR 2008 version.
You can do one thing. If you dont want to install .Net Framework, please develop your application in lower version of .Net framework.(May be .Net 2.0 will work without any requirement since it is XP SP1)

No, because there are not just DLLs, there is common language runtime needed to execute your program. Read the great book by Richter to better understand what happens when you create a program using .net libraries and its lifecycle.
By the way, i'm not quite sure, there must be some older version of .net installed with SP1. So may be you consider changing your application to use .NET 2?
UPDATE
May be you want to add .NET to your setup as prerequisite? You can add them without creating bootstrapper packages. See the article: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/35976/Add-Prerequisites-of-NET-Framework-in-Visual-Studi

How to prompt to install .NET Framework when deploying a WPF Browser Application?

Is there any way to make a WPF Browser Application prompt to install .NET Framework with ClickOnce like a regular installable WPF Application?.
Those publishing options are locked when the HostInBrowser property in the project file is set to True, which is necessary for the application i'm developing, however i need to make the installation of dependencies user friendly, and possibly from the .net framework installer already hosted in my server, as it would cut down greatly the use of bandwidth.
The program is intended to be used in intranet, as a "web page", by placing shortcuts on the desktop of each computer (which is done at the first run of the app), but most of the users don't have .NET Framework 4 installed.
is there any way to accomplish this without converting it to an installable wpf application?
Thanks in advance, Jesús.

No ClickOnce requires the .Net framework, because it's a component of it.
All ClickOnce applications require that the correct version of the .NET
Framework is installed on a computer before they can be run
You can however set a prerequisite which is a higher version of the framework, provided they have at least version 2.0 to begin with.
Commonly a bootstrapper written in managed code is used to overcome this limitation. You could use MSBuild for this, dotNetInstaller, or other third party tools. I've used dotNetInstaller a few times a recommend it, it's very flexible.

How can I deploy a C# application if users don't have .NET installed?

I have a C# program which I want to make available to my users, but the problem is that it requires .NET framework version 4.0. This is a problem because it was released pretty recently (April 2010) and a lot of people probably don't have it. To make matters worse it takes a while to download and install the framework (~10 minutes).
Is there any way I can install just a part of the framework I need? If that isn't possible can I compile my code down to a native binary for specific systems
eg. x86 32-bit, x86 64-bit, etc.
I've looked at a company called 'spoon' http://spoon.net/ but that looks like it just emulates apps on a server (sort of like citrix). What can I do to resolve this dilemma?

Anyone who wants to run your program needs the appropriate version of the .NET Framework installed. There's no way to work around this. It honestly amazes me how often this question gets asked. You can't compile .NET code down to any kind of a "native binary", and you can't distribute only the portions of the framework that you need. If all of this was important to you, you should have chosen a different development platform in the beginning.
Your only option is to bundle the .NET Framework along with your application's installer. The way to make this easiest on your customers is to use Visual Studio to create a setup project that will automatically install the .NET FW if they don't have it already, and then install your application, all in a single step process.
Visual Studio has built-in support for creating such a setup project, and most of the dirty work is handled for you. File -> New Project -> Other Project Types -> Setup & Deployment -> Visual Studio Installer. Then, pick either the "Setup Project" or "Setup Wizard" option, and follow the instructions.
The only thing to keep in mind since you've developed for .NET 4.0 is that there are two versions of this framework: the full version and the "Client Profile". The Client Profile is an attempt to do exactly as you mention and install only the portions of the framework that are used by the typical application. You have to first figure out of this is a deployment option for you. If your program uses classes that are not available in the Client Profile, you need to install the full version. Otherwise, you can consider installing the Client Profile, which is the default for all new projects targeting .NET 4.0 in VS 2010. Check the "Target Framework" settings for your application, under the project Properties. If it's not set to Client Profile already, try changing it and see if it will compile. That's the quickest way to tell if this deployment option is available to you. But there's only about a 15% difference in size between the two frameworks, so it isn't really that big of a deal if you must deploy the full version.
Either way, the setup project will automatically determine and bundle the correct version for your app. Definitely don't make the user download and run the .NET installer separately. Use the setup project and do this for them automatically. If you don't have VS or don't want to use the one it provides, investigate alternatives, like Inno Setup, which also support deploying and installing the .NET runtime with an app.

In many cases you do not need the entire .NET Framework 4.0 and can use the much smaller .NET Framework Client Profile. You can then use an installer to bundle the client profile installer with your app into a single deployment.
You cannot run a .NET app without the framework. If this is a deployment issue for your customers, you should consider either a Click-Once installer (web-based automated installation and updating) or porting the app to Silverlight.

For the sake of completeness, there is also the possibility for .NET Core release deploy Self-Contained Deployments (SCD) nowadays. When you create a self-contained deployment, .NET Core tools automatically include the latest serviced runtime of the .NET Core version that your application targets.
Deploying a Self-contained deployment has two major advantages:
You have sole control of the version of .NET Core that is deployed with your app. .NET Core can be serviced only by you.
You can be assured that the target system can run your .NET Core app, since you're providing the version of .NET Core that it will run on.
Here is a small guide from Scott Hanselman.