In my recent post, I’ve touched upon the .NET feature in Windows. It is necessary for running many software in Windows, but it is disabled by default. If you try to require some software or app which requires .NET Framework 3.5, you might have faced the following message:

Now to enable it, you have to move to Windows Feature. This can be accessed via Control Panel >  Programs and Features. If you don’t have a strong internet connection on your system, the download of required files may take a bit long time, and thus overall process becomes too lengthy.

Many users also reported me that they received Error 0x800f0906 when they checked the first option in the above image and then pressed on OK. Also if you try to download the full setup of .NET, it is 291 MB in size, and you will obviously need a fast connection to do it quickly.

Enable .NET Framework 3.5.1 on Windows

1. Open the .iso file of Windows 8 CP with a compression / decompression software like 7-Zip. Open the Sources folder and find sxs folder. Now copy this folder to the following location:

C:\Temp

2. Next, run the Command Prompt as administrator, and type the following command:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:c:\temp\sxs /LimitAccess

That’s it!

Now reboot and check the Windows Feature window again. You’ll see the first option is automatically checked. You will now also be able to run software or app which requires .NET (like AutoCAD. etc.), without any problems.