NETCheck

Just because you successfully install an application on your computer doesn’t mean it’s got all chances to work. Some also rely on different third-party components, and libraries, which you either need to manually grab, or it’s found in the application’s deployment package. To skip some effort when end-users install your programs, NETCheck can be bundled to check whether or not .NET Framework is found on the target PC.

This isn’t really an application which is any good alone, and this is because it needs to be bundled with the program you develop. What it does is check the target PC for .NET Framework, and downloads it in case it’s not found. This makes your product more reliable, and saves some effort while installing it.

Another advantage is that there’s no code writing involved in order to have the check automatically performed. All you need to do is set the NETCheck.EXE file to deploy with your own program’s executable, and configure the shortcut to automatically run with a custom parameter.

This makes the check automatically start silently. A popup box shows up in both cases, letting you know whether or not .NET Framework is on your computer, downloading it if it’s not. However, you might want to keep an eye on the framework version, and what this application checks, so everything goes smooth.

The application can check for .NET Framework versions up to 4.0, but there’s no possibility to make it look only for a specific version. On the other hand, this can only be an issue if you’re building your program with support for initial .NET Framework versions, since having the last one installed doesn’t make all packages available.

In conclusion, NETCheck is a practical utility which can be bundled in your projects to check the target PC for different versions of .NET Framework, and grab them if they’re not installed. No coding is involved, with required effort only consisting of writing down a special parameter, and bundling one more file in your product’s installation package.