Fixing broken Framework 1.1 on Windows 2003 Server

Although the current version of .NET Framework is the 4th generation of this technology (3.0, with 3.5 beta available), the release introduced with Windows 2003 Server is still quite commonly used.

The problem is when the installation gets somehow broken and the framework and applications based on it don't run properly. Since it is part of the OS, it cannot be easily removed and reinstalled like in Windows XP. There is however a neat trick how to fix this.

1. Create file netfx_repair.inf and put these lines inside:

[Version]
Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=10/01/2002,5.2.3790.0

[Components]
netfx=netfxocm.dll,UrtOcmProc,netfxocm.inf,,7

2. Run the following command:

sysocmgr /i:<full path to netfx_repair.inf>

This will add entry for .NET Framework 1.1 to Add/Remove Windows Components setup and you can then easily reinstall it.

I had to do it couple of times already and it always worked.