[Semi-Guide] When you need to reinstall the .NET framework

[Apoc]

NEVER​

There are only a very very small handful of exceptions to this rule:

1. You have been infected by a virus, and other .NET based applications fail to work.
2. You uninstalled an 'old' version of the framework. (E.g. upgrading from .NET 1.1, to .NET 3.5 SP1)
3. You have just recently installed your new OS.

Seriously guys, there's no reason to assume .NET is 'broken' when there are exceptions being thrown, or other such things. Chances are; it's a bug in the HB code, or your CC/Plugin code.

This is mainly for those who keep telling people to run some repair tool, and reinstall .NET. DON'T DO IT. I can't stress it enough how it won't do anything, and how the 'repair' tool can actually corrupt your .NET installation.

.NET has been around for quite a while now, and has been tested in far more than 'bot writing'. It's fairly feature-complete, and backed by a multi-billion dollar company. You can bet that it works correctly 99.9999999% of the time. (And no, I highly doubt you're in that 0.00000001%)

If you're seriously paranoid about your .NET installation being corrupt, run the .NET installer again (for the same version of the framework you originally installed), and select 'Repair'. Chances are; it won't even do anything, other than flush your GAC, and a few other minor-maintenance things that have no effect on anything else.

If you see exceptions being thrown from 'mscorlib', it's perfectly normal. It's the base .NET library. And it means the developer (HB, CC, or Plugin developer) failed to catch an exception that is thrown in the core .NET framework. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOUR INSTALLATION IS CORRUPT.

 

[znuffie]

I'd like to add:

DON'T JUST INSTALL THE LATEST VERSION! THE LATEST VERSION IS 4.0. HB SAYS PRETTY CLEAR THAT IT NEEDS 3.5!

Don't assume that it will work.