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Is it possible to run a C# .NET Windows application (.exe) from pendrive or USB without installing the .NET framework on the client system?

If so, how can I make it work?

Adam Lear
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venkatesh0
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6 Answers6

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I came across this product a couple of years ago - Salamander .net Linker.

No idea if it actually works as I didn't test it but it claims to do what you want. I cam across a couple of other products that claim the same thing but they were all fairly expensive for my needs hence the lack of testing them out.

Chris W
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  • Seems promising. could you name some of the others, or what such apps are actually called so that maybe we could find an open source alternative! – Auxiliary Jan 26 '11 at 16:28
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    The product would just be referred to as a linker. I can't find any other examples on google now but it's possibly a grey area. Any tool that does this would probably need to get a license from Microsoft since they'd be redistributing the core .net libraries that will have their own Ts & Cs that you'd normally agree to when you install the framework/updates or the OS itself. – Chris W Jan 26 '11 at 18:56
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In order to run a C#.NET application in a computer you have to install de .NET framework on that target computer.

At this time any machine with Windows XP SP3 or higher windows version (Windows Vista or Windows 7) have the .NET framewok installed.

Doliveras
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.NET applications require the .NET Framework to be installed. However, there are some commercial "packers" that may be able to give you a deployable package that contains all the required dependencies. I'm not sure whether this would be a supported solution.

Sasha Goldshtein
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No, .NET sits on top of the windows API and needs the CLR and other dependencies to run. Installers aren't the problem. It does not matter if the exe runs from a pen drive, gets copied to the desktop or explicitly installed.

You could build a shell on another platform and have it call a .NET service, wcf API.

I'd question the security and integrity of any 3rd party hacks that try to bypass the need for .NET runtime. Especially if you plan to execute said product on a client's machine.

P.Brian.Mackey
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  • I am going to do project for Jewell shop. The client need to put data in pendrive and access it anywhere using the pendrive (using c# to achive some logical thing's and xml for DB purpose – venkatesh0 Jan 26 '11 at 16:17
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You may use so called ".NET Framework client profile" - reduced set of assemblies that may be deployed through ClickOnce installation. Anyway installation is required.

Tony Kh
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You can use VMware ThinApp. I used it a few years ago for a .Net application.

dlb
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