Can't enable .NET Environment in Windows 10 1903

Anonymous
2019-04-10T07:18:57+00:00

Well, this is a showstopper for me. I'm in the Release Preview ring & installed 1903 (18362.30) yesterday . Update went fine. No issues experienced.

Got a Cumulative Update to install today (KB4495666). Installed it & rebooted. Build is now at 18362.53. .NET framework was disabled & 90% of my applications will no longer run! In "Control Panel/Programs and Features/Turn Windows Features on or off", ".NET Environment" is unchecked. If I check it & hit "OK" it take about 10 seconds & says "Windows completed the requested changes". The .NET Environment, however, is still unchecked when I go back to "Turn Windows Features on or off" & >NET applications still don't work.

I've uninstalled all of the updates installed today (KB4495666 & KB4493478), but .NET is still utterly broken. I've read that this was an issue prior to the release of 18362 to the Release Preview ring but was supposed to have been fixed. Looks like this MAJOR bug was reintroduced with the cumulative update?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-05-01T23:04:26+00:00

    Wow, I found a DISM command that appears to have fixed this.  It worked on 18362.86 that was showing the same symptoms, with NetFx3 unknown, etc. and the strange list of Features in optionalfeatures.exe.

    If anyone still has a system in this state you can try it. It involves using a single command to enable 5 of the still-listed NetFx Features at once.  Below is all one line:

    DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /All /NoRestart /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-NetFx3-OC-Package /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-NetFx4-US-OC-Package /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-Client-EmbeddedExp-Package /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-NetFx3-WCF-OC-Package /FeatureName:Microsoft-Windows-NetFx4-WCF-US-OC-Package

    You can see the list of the 5 features at the top of the below screenshot, with the required command at the bottom.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-05-01T22:50:27+00:00

    My method is very extreme and would not happen under normal circumstances.

    Wouldn't be too sure about that Don. There is something happening during some upgrades & updates that is managing to remove all of the .NET features in some (probably rare) circumstances. This has been happening since at least 1803 & there is yet to be any acknowledgement from Microsoft.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-05-01T22:32:09+00:00

    After trying harder, by removing every enabled Feature with PowerShell (including the -Remove option) I was indeed still able to replicate this issue, even on 18362.86.

    My method is very extreme and would not happen under normal circumstances.  However, I do not think that a user should be able to change the list of Optional Windows Features (and end up removing standard items like NetFx3 which cannot be reinstalled).

    I am going to try it again, but without the -Remove option, as this at least is closer to what the optionalfeatures.exe normally does, when you simply uncheck an item in that list.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-05-01T20:01:17+00:00

    Also, note that you can upgrade directly from 18362.30 to 18362.86 via Windows Update.  You should not see, nor require, the superseded KB4495666.

    Most users, specially Fast ring Insiders didn't have that choice. :)

    Good news about .Net, kudos!

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-05-01T19:50:32+00:00

    So far, I am happy to report that after installing KB4497093 (18362.86) I am no longer able to replicate the failed .NET situation.  I have attempted to entirely remove and replace .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.x and Windows was able to restore them via Windows Update. The Parent services displayed in optionalfeatures.exe did not vanish and create the unusual list of sub-features that have been shown in this thread.

    I do not believe that this repairs .NET on a device that has this condition, but it does provide a potentially stable .NET, as long as you can get the workstation to 18362.86 with .NET intact (after a clean install).

    Also, note that you can upgrade directly from 18362.30 to 18362.86 via Windows Update.  You should not see, nor require, the superseded KB4495666.

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