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Does visual studio require .net framework

I'm new to .net framework. Have few queries.
Does visual studio requires .net framework to be pre installed in the system.
Does visual studio comes with .net framework within it. So no need to install separately.
If .net framework comes within visual studio, is it different version for different vs versions.
I have seen that in application tab we have target framework, may I know from where all these different versions of .net framework visual studio has.
Application developed with one version say 4.5 , can this run on 4.0 and do we have to modify this version first to 4.0 and then run it.

When you're installing VS it's automatically install default version of .net framework for current Visual Studio , but you can additionally install any other versions if you need, it's like an additional nozzle to the vacuum cleaner :-)

How to create .NET Platform Standard project

I read up on the new .NET Platform Standard concept replacing the old Portable Class Libraries, which seems nice. However, I can't seem to figure out how to create such a library, yet.
Is there a Project Template for Visual Studio where I could choose the target generation / netstandard? Or do I have to manually change a PCL project.json file for this?
(Got VS15, Update 3 installed)

If you create a PCL project and then double click properties, you should see an option to change your target platform. That will let you choose a .net standard version. Same thing as doing it yourself in the project.json but is the closest thing I have found so far to having a VS template do it for you

You can follow this Create .NET Standard Packages with Visual Studio 2015
From the article:
This guide will walk you through creating a nuget package targeting
.NET Standard Library 1.4. This will work across .NET Framework 4.6.1,
Universal Windows Platform 10, .NET Core, and Mono/Xamarin.

On Visual Studio 2019 it is possible to create projects that target .NET standard, just as you create another type of project. To do so, you just need to add new project, and then if you search for .net standard it will show several types of projects in which you can target .NET standard, as shown below.

You can also create new .NET Platform Standard projects from a template by using Visual Studio 2017 RC.

How to generate installation requirements for my program?

I have a program in C# that was developed on a PC that has several of installed .NET frameworks, Service Packs, etc. How can I understand what are the minimal installation requirements in order to distribute the program to users? Should I start with a clean PC and test one-by-one .NET frameworks or is there a better approach?

Start by looking at the .NET version that your application is targeting.
If for example, you are targeting .NET 3.5 you will need to also include .NET 2.0
.NET 4.0 and 4.5 are self contained, so including earlier versions is not necessary for them.
You can check the version that you are targeting by going to the properties of your project (right click, properties in the solution explorer), clicking on the Build tab and looking for Target Framework
Microsoft recommends that you look for features that your application requires in the operating systems rather than look for which version of Windows you are targeting. So its better to list those out and tackle them one by one. I find this to be a bit overkill sometimes, but it does help once you get to logo certification.

check Target Framework in your Project Properties
Note :- Step for open project Solution
(Open Your Project in Visual Studio and then open solution explorer and Right click on Properties)
Some link to more Help you
1 : Retrieve Target Framework Version and Target Framework Profile from a .Net Assembly
2 : How to find the .NET framework version of a Visual Studio project?

should i use Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express to create a .Net 3.5 targeted, WPF Application?

i want to use Visual C# 2010 Express to create a .Net Framework 3.5 using WPF Application- this is due to the comfort that 2010 version gives to its user... (me)
So should I use version 2010 to create a WPF Application in .Net Framework 3.5? if yes, than how do i do that?
Thanks,
Din

You can target a previous version of the .NET Framework in Visual Studio 2010 (and 2008), for more info, see the MSDN How To article.

Creating your assembly like this is just fine, if you are not yet comfortable working the the new .Net revision. You can always retarget to .Net 4.0 later if you want to, and rewrite any code that could benefit from new additions to the Framework or language.
In corporate environments, it's not uncommon for older versions of .Net to be the desktop standard, and in that case you would have to target the specific version of the framework.

Install (activate) .NET 3.0 Framework with an application in Vista

if i have an application that requires .net 3.0, what is the proper way to make an install file out of it, that will install the application and then install (activate) the .net 3.0? i tried publishing my project through visual studio 2008 (c#) which created the installer and the .net activator, but it didn't work properly on computers other than my own, when the .net 3.0 was not present.
i though i could bundle http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F5-25634C3BF043&displaylang=en with the application, which would download and install .net 3.0 if needed. this could work ok on non-vista systems, but on vista, the redist package reports an error: you must use turn windows features on or off in the control panel to install or configure microsoft .net framework 3.0

The key is to install the .net framework if it is not there - regardless of the OS. Also, just go ahead and install the .Net 3.5 framework if you are going to install one of them.
Anyway, if you are using the built in installer that comes with Visual Studio, this is a real pain in the butt. You would be better off, and saner if you went with a different installer package. Install Shield, Wise, InstallAware will all do it for you. I believe you can also find better guidance on how to do this with Wix and NullSoft Installer.
http://www.improve.dk/blog/2007/06/10/creating-a-dotnet-bootstrapped-installer-using-nsis
How can I detect .NET 3.5 in WiX?

Windows Vista has already .NET Framework 3.0 installed.
Now if you wanted for example to have .NET Framework 3.5 installed you could create a Setup Project and then right click and go to View->Launch Conditions. There will be a .NET Framework launch condition where you can specify the required version of the framework and an URL to download from.
Here's a post about Launch Conditions in a Setup Project.