Installation bug report

[SteveEisner]

I was trying to install Paint.NET on Win7 (first install, not reinstall), and it would silently fail to install. No error message, etc.

Looking into the extracted files while the installer was running, I deduced it was the MSI install of .NET that was failing, which I guess in turn caused a silent fail in the paint.net installer.

I downloaded .NET 3.51sp1 manually and ran it, got the message "You must use Add / Remove Windows Features to install .NET 3.5"

In that control panel area it turned out that I had a (partially-checked) .NET 3.5 installation.

When I unchecked that (to uninstall it) and re-ran the Paint.NET installer, it worked again.

I looked at the FAQs here and didn't see this as a known issue, but I might have missed something.

I wasted 2 hours of my time trying to figure out the solution, so I hope this saves someone else the trouble.

Steve

[SteveEisner]

Bummer. I take it back - was typing this mail as the .NET installer was running in the background, and assumed success because it got past the part where it used to silently fail.

But after 10 minutes of .NET installation, the installer silently failed again.

New scenario:

- run the installer

- message box: "The following will be installed: * .NET 3.5 SP1 * Paint.NET" -> OK

- .NET "Installing .NET client framework"

- Takes about 10 minutes moving stuff around

- Then goes into "rolling back", rewinds the progress bar, and exits the installer; Paint.NET installation doesn't continue or mention any error.

Thought I was saving someone some time, but now it looks like I'm back to being stuck.

Steve

(all of this is with Paint.NET 3.55 installer + Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium)

[Rick Brewster]

That's the thing ... on Win7 you shouldn't need to install .NET 3.5 SP1. It comes with the OS.

[Valerie]

To StevenEisner,

As a suggestion, read this MS support post (as the comments apply to Windows 7):

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/b479c64e-ff92-40fc-9e0b-ee2410c72bfd

While the original question is related to Vista and the support board is supposed to be for Vista, Microsoft Support provided detailed instructions on how to repair .NET 3.5 and the installer on Windows 7. Starting at the top of the post, look for the first post by Naman R., Microsoft Support, Moderator, and follow-up posts with similar info.

Based on your comments, it sounds like you turned .NET 3.5 off completely and didn't re-enable it. If you follow the linked instructions, it does provide the proper method of repairing the framework and installer. I hope the link helps in some way.