I haven't simmed in about a year, and in that time I've had to reinstall my operating system (Windows 10). Almost everything's in working order, however, I like to play with a lot of CC and build custom lots, so I've always been an avid user of Mootilda's Clean Installer and LotAdjuster 3.6. They are amazing tools and essential to my gameplay

However, it seams that in a recent Windows update, they included a new version of .NET framework baked-in and I can no longer use these tools as they require .NET 3.5 to install and run properly, and the current version is 4.8. Whenever I try to install a previous version of .NET, I get this error code: 0x80070424.

I've tried to find a workaround for a few days and have not been able to fix this issue. I've tried to uninstall the newer version and replace it with the 3.5 version; have digged through many official and unofficial windows forums, tried anything they recommended, but I keep getting the same error code. I know that in the download post for Clean Installer, Mootilda mentions that it should still be compatible with .NET 4.0, and I DO have the latest versions of both tools.

I understand that these are older tools, and that as Windows has been evolving, they've phased out a lot of backward-compatibility (which sucks, but there's not much to do there), however, I've always been able to find patches or fixes made by the amazing simming community and I wanted to see if anybody else had had this issue and maybe found a workaround specific to this game/these tools.

I don't have the option to install this game/tools in a secondary computer with a previous version of Windows, nor do I have the memory to run a virtual machine. But I really want to keep simming and building, and was actually in the middle of making a post to upload some interesting building I'd been creating when I ran into this problem

ok I tried doing some checking. It sounds like you have 3.5 installed, but it was installed for an earlier version of windows, because you have upgraded correct? So I found this. https://www.winchatsupport.com/0x80...r%20if%20needed. There are several things on the page, but this was highlighted.

Error Code 0x80070424 Causes:
Disclaimers: Before you attempt to fix an issue with the windows update, we highly recommend you to take a registry backup and create a system restore point as a precaution method. In case if something goes wrong, we can restore your computer to the same stage and fix the issues. (In case if you not sure how to back it up, talk to an expert for assistance.)

This .NET Framework 3.5 for Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 won’t come with pre-installed .Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, and must be separately enabled to run applications that depend on it. To enable the .NET Framework 3.5 in Control Panel to avoid error code 0x80070424.

ok see you reinstalled, still worth a shot.

Note: Make sure you have set the correct Date and time on your computer, try to install pending updates through other available networks. Run windows update troubleshooter.

Solution Steps Error Code 0x80070424:
Control Panel> Programs and Features.
Turn Windows features on or off then check .NET framework 3.5 . The pre-requisites should installed.
If it is not successful uninstall the KB’s related to .NET framework 3.5 and then re-install them.
Restart your computer if needed.
If the windows update error code 0x80070424 still exists, follow some more steps to fix the issue and install/upgrade/update your operating system.

Thank you so so much for the quick response!
I had stumbled upon that forum post, and tried enabling the Windows feature for .NET 3.5 but hit a wall there as the same error popped up over and over. It never allowed me to actually enable that feature

At the moment, I've hit a possible workaround, but it requires poking around a bit with powershell, so, I'll give it a go first and report back if I manage anything.
But thanks for the reminder to create a system restore point, I had not done so yet

-Stellmaria

ALRIGHT FOLKS, I FIXED THE ISSUE!

I am not at all surprised that I managed to find an actual solution a mere hour after posting for help, even if I've been on this for a couple of days. It's just how it goes, but I'm going to leave this here just in case anybody else has similar issues or managed to resolve them using another workaround.

In the end, I managed to enable the .NET 3.5 framework using this helpful tutorial, which includes a video walk-though. Now, even though you do have to poke around with system files, it is pretty simple, straightforward and uncomplicated.

I did make a System Restore Point as I mentioned in my previous answer, just in case I messed something up, but in the end did not need it.

The only thing that I would add is that the tutorial asks for you to run powershell as administrator and didn't include how to do that, to which Google kindly supplied the following:



Happy simming!

P.S.: While I was searching for solutions I came upon a forum post for Installing Sims 2 in Windows 11. That's how I found out Windows 11 existed and I am now terrified of the day my PC forces me to update. Mom, come get me please.