When an error occurs in Windows, it’s usually described by a brief error message that in many cases doesn’t provide much detailed in­for­ma­tion. The message includes an error code con­sist­ing of an eight-digit hexa­dec­i­mal number. The code helps de­vel­op­ers and ad­min­is­tra­tors search for a clear technical de­scrip­tion of the error on the Microsoft website. However, the de­scrip­tion usually not easily un­der­stand­able for the average Windows user. In this article, we will show you how to trou­bleshoot error 0x800f0954.

Error 0x800f0954: Problem in­stalling the .NET Framework

Error code 0x800f0954 usually appears when you're at­tempt­ing to install the .NET Framework or sub-com­po­nents of the framework. In most cases, Windows will display the following message text in addition to the code:

The following feature couldn’t be installed: .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 und 3.0).
Note

The .NET Framework, often referred to as NetFx, contains de­vel­op­ment tools, in­ter­faces, and class libraries that are used in many Windows ap­pli­ca­tions and can also be employed by software de­vel­op­ers as part of their own software projects. The framework includes features for using the file system, features for accessing the Internet, and local networks and important elements of the graphical user interface.

Most Windows programs that use the .NET Framework are designed to provide the required com­po­nents or au­to­mat­i­cal­ly download and install them. If problems occur during this process, error message 0x800f0954 will appear. What can you do to fix this problem?

Fixing 0x800f0954 by re­in­stalling the .NET Framework

In some cases, all you have to do is turn off the .NET Framework and turn it back on again. This will remove the current in­stal­la­tion of the framework from the system and replace it with a fresh in­stal­la­tion.

Note

You must have ad­min­is­tra­tor priv­i­leges to disable or enable basic Windows com­po­nents such as the .NET Framework.

To do this, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the Control Panel from the Start menu or the search box.
  2. Choose “Programs” and then click Programs and Features.
  3. Select Turn Windows features on or off from the menu at the top left of the screen.
  4. Clear the check box next to “.NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)” and click “OK.”

The system then searches for the affected files and unin­stalls or disables them. Finally, restart your PC. After restart­ing, install the framework in the same way. This time, select the checkbox next to the framework and choose “OK.”

Fixing error 0x800f0954 using the DISM command line program

If this simple method doesn't help and the 0x800f0954 problem persists (or if the error still occurs when you turn off the framework), you can try repairing the .NET Framework using the DISM command line tool. To do this, you need the original .NET Framework in­stal­la­tion files on the Windows in­stal­la­tion media or an ISO file. DISM is a pre-installed trou­bleshoot­ing tool in Windows that can be run from the command line and requires ad­min­is­tra­tor priv­i­leges.

Proceed as follows to fix error 0x800f0954 using the command line (if you already have the in­stal­la­tion media, you can skip to step 3):

Step 1: If you don’t have the original Microsoft DVD, you can create an ISO file using the Windows Media Creation Tool. Click the link to download the tool.

Step 2: Once you’ve created the ISO file, double-click it to add it as a new drive. You can access this drive from the File Explorer in the usual way. The name of the drive is ESD-ISO.

Step 3: Open the Start menu by right-clicking the Windows Logo in the taskbar. Select “Command Prompt (Admin) or “Windows Pow­er­Shell (Admin).” Only one of these options will be displayed depending on your Windows con­fig­u­ra­tion and version.

Step 4: Type the following command into the command line tool:

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:X:\sources\sxs

Replace the drive letter “X:” with the drive letter of your DVD drive or ISO file drive. Press Enter to run the command.

Step 6: The .NET Framework will be restored from the original files. This process can take several minutes. Once you've recovered the framework, you can start using it right away without having to restart your PC.

Note

Always download the Windows Media Creation Tool directly from Microsoft. Some un­trust­wor­thy vendors offer fake versions of this program that may contain malware.

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