.NET stand alone

Is there any way possible to run vb.net programs without the .net framework installed.
Copy dlls and that stuff to the program directory to get it work?

From what I understand, the framework needs to be installed.

There are installers out there that will claim to only include those parts of the framework that you require, but that isn't worth the complexity. It's best just to give them a link to the framework to download.

I just wonder if that is possible to give customers a single zip file which they extract and its ready to use.
Is it possible if I include all the .net dll:s to the directory it will run without the framework?

No, the framework needs to be installed.

You can install all the files your program needs, but the one dll you aren't installing is the .net dll - which we call the .net framework - it's one huge link library.

You can include the framework with your installation package using the bootstrapper plugin for 2003. 2005 has built in support for this I believe. This will at least prevent the user from having to do a lengthy download but will also possibly giving the user a false sense that their framework is updated as if any SP's come out they will need to download the patches for that too.

include:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

then shell it with a silent install ..
dotnetfx.exe /q /c:"install.exe /q"


http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...bd(VS.80).aspx

Why do things the hard way. Just add a Setup Project to your solution and configure it for your app (very easy) and compile. Viola! A professional looking installation package. Then if you use the bootstrapper plugin as you didnt specify which version you are actually writting in, it can include the FW for you. If you are running 2002 or 2003 then it can "use" 2.0 but there will be some compatibility issues as 2.0 is not fully backwards compatible. If you are running 2005 then it should be ok.