Create a standalone exe without the need to install .NET framework

Question

I'm a student and at the moment i'm doing an internship at a company. This internship is about analysing a project. For this project I have made a demo to show to the Marketing director. The demo I have made is a simple project created in Visual Studio 2010 in c# with Windows Forms and a connection to an Access database.

So now i have to show this demo to this director in a presentation but after this presentation the director wants the project on his computer so he can try and use it. The problem is now that the computers here in this company don't have .NET framework 4.0 and the computers are so protected over here that we can't install anything new. To install something you have to go through a procedure that takes weeks.

I have looked al over the internet but all i find is how to install the .NET framework.

Is there any possible way that I can create an standalone exe without the need to install .NET framework? Please help!

Answer 1

If you want to execute an application that is developed using Net Framework 4, you will need to have installed .Net Framework 4 on client computer.

Your application is compiled in CIL (Common Intermediate Language), so it needs to be interpreted by the framework engine.

It is the same if you want to execute a Java program. You will have to install the Java Machine.

The only way you don't need to install frameworks is programming native applications with C, C++.

Answer 2

C# now supports this with .NET Native.

Instead of compiling to intermediate language, it will compile to native code and run with statically linked .NET libraries. Therefore, there will be no .Net Runtime requirements for end-users.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/dn642499.aspx

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn584397(v=vs.110).aspx

Only works for Windows 10

Answer 3

You can't build a C# executable without .NET Framework. Even if some resources indicate that you can, that only works in theory.

But you could use an older version of .NET Framework like .NET 4.0. If this doesn't work for you, you have to choose a language like C++ which doesn't require CLR at all.

Update 2018:

Do not target .NET 2.0 or 3.5. It's not compatible with the 4.x version. However, .NET 4.0 targeted binaries work with .NET Framework 4.0, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 and so on. So to reach maximum compatibility, compile with .NET 4.0. You will have to accept that some features will not be available, however, your binary will run virtually anywhere.

(2018: By now, .NET 2.0 - 3.5 has much lower distribution than 4.x)

Answer 4

Delphi is your solution, deploy native bin executables

Answer 5

YES, THIS IS POSSIBLE!

At least 3 ways exist:

1.you can check all OSes that you planning to run your app and build with such version of .NET. As Windows have a built-in framework libs.

Vista -.NET v3.0 -- All service packs

Windows 7 - .NET v3.5 -- All versions and service packs

Windows 8 - .NET v4.0 [Best choice if you are not sure]

Windows 8.1 - .Net v4.5

Windows 10 - .Net v4.6

as they are already pre-installed by default -- no extra install will be needed.

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2.For windows 10 you can compile it into native code (but not into CIL) with ".NET Native". This is means that there are no .Net Framework will be needed for apps.

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3.There is Turbo Studio (earlier Spoon and earlier XenoCode) that can wrap everything that your app needs and runs it in as a standalone.

From their site:

Turbo Studio

Run .NET Without .NET. Easily embed runtime dependencies such as .NET, Java, and SQL directly into virtual applications. Launch reliably on any desktop, regardless of underlying component installs.

Answer 6

You can use Mono and statically link you program, so your program don't need .NET CLR runtime and act as standalone program.

Mono Project

Answer 7

In more modern versions of .NET such as 5 and 6 and even with releases of .NET Core it had become a supported scenario to produce what is referred to as a single-file executable as well as a self-contained application.

As I understand it, these technologies take place of and build upon some of the capabilities that had been in the Mono development stack for a while now. Typically I've seen this feature used for applications which would be deployed to servers such as web sites and microservices however it could be used for scenarios such as the one that the original poster illustrates.

Using the .NET SDK publishing (producing the executable) for a single-file executable can be done using a command as the one below which comes directly from the documentation.

dotnet publish -r win-x64 -p:PublishSingleFile=true --self-contained true

For more details see Single file deployment and executable in the Microsoft .NET documentation site.

Answer 8

To be honest, it really isnt a problem nowadays. the .NET framework is found on almost every single computer nowadays, and you can even make a installer with Advanced Installer that silently install the .NET framework on your computer when you are installing the programme.