.NET 2.0 won't install Windows 98

I'm trying to install .NET Framework v2.0 on my Windows 98 PC, but when I run the installer, the following error dialog appears twice:

The INSTALL.EXE file is linked to missing export OLEAUT32.DLL: 314

Then, one more dialog appears with this message:

Error creating process <c:\windows\TEMP\IXP000.TMP\Install.exe>.
Reason: A device attached to the system is not functioning.

The computer does not have any other .NET versions installed. I have tried copying Oleaut32.dll to the C:\Windows directory and to C:\ but with no success. How can I fix this problem?

3 Answers

It may be that you have never installed some fairly standard support files and these are included in the following package;

VBRun60.exe installs Visual Basic 6.0 run-time files

Windows 95 original shipped without support for OLE Automation. IIRC, it didn't become available until 1996. Consequently, there were a lot of installers that deployed the missing files, oleaut32.dll was one of them. With the inevitable trouble this causes, they routinely overwrote the Windows 98 version of those DLLs. Windows file protection came around later to stop installers from doing this.

Or in other words, your Windows install is messed up. I'll leave the question on how to fix it to your imagination.

First of all check that you're not installing the x64 .NET 2.0 version. Ensure you download the x32 one.

Then, check the software requirements.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Service Pack 2

Required Software:

• Windows Installer 3.0 (except for Windows 98/ME, which require Windows Installer 2.0 or later). Windows Installer 3.1 or later is recommended.
• IE 5.01 or later: You must also be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later for all installations of the .NET Framework.

Disk Space Requirements: 280 MB (x86), 610 MB (x64)