Run a .net application without installing .net client profile?

Question

I have built a c#.net application in framework 4.0, i have no objection in installing .net for client's pc, but its so big to install on client end, is this not possible that there is some small setup or redist package, which we install and helps to run .net application easily, because installing a full fledge framework for just small apps looks very awkward. Please help.

Thanks in advance Atif

Answer 1

If using .NET 4 specific features is less important than avoiding installation you can try to downgrade your app to .NET 2 or even .NET 1. Most modern versions of Windows come with older versions of .NET pre installed. The full list is here.

Answer 2

The .NET client profile is the small redist package. ("Small" by comparison to the full .NET framework install.) That's as small as .NET gets.