Missing .NET Framework 4.0 in Visual Studio 2017 Prerequisites when publishing

Question

Hello, I need to publish my application with .NET Framework 4.0 (for windows XP support) but when trying to add it to the prerequisites it is missing. What can i do?

Answer 1

i used the old, free "Bootstrap Manifest Generator" tool, which is a bit hard to find nowadays. My steps were as follows:

1. I downloaded the .NET Framework 4.0 redistributable package: https://www.microsoft.com/en-za/download/confirmation.aspx?id=17718
2. To get the package to appear in the "Prerequisites" dialog box, i downloaded the "Bootstrap Manifest Generator" tool from SoftPedia (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programming/Other-Programming-Files/Bootstrapper-Manifest-Generator.shtml). I scanned my download with McAfee and it was safe.
3. I installed the package and ran it. The series of images below illustrate the options that i selected on the tool:

Select "New Project" and then the "Package Manifest" option - Fill-in the Project Name and Project Code, and then click the first icon above the white panel labeled "Package" - Browse to the redistributable package

Enter the "Display Name" and then click the second icon above the white panel. The output folder will be highlighted in blue.

Move the containing folder (navigate one level up to copy the "DotNETFX40" folder) to the location shown below (Note, i'm using VS2017 Community on Windows 10):

In my WPF application, in the "Prerequisites" dialog, i now see the DotNETFX40 folder, as highlighted below.

Now when i publish the application, the DotNETFX40 folder is published as well: