What does error code 0xc0000135 mean when starting a .NET application?

Solution 1:

From the ntstatus.h SDK header file:

//
// MessageId: STATUS_DLL_NOT_FOUND
//
// MessageText:
//
// The program can't start because %hs is missing from your computer. 
// Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
//
#define STATUS_DLL_NOT_FOUND             ((NTSTATUS)0xC0000135L)    // winnt

The "try reinstalling the program" advice is solid, it is however up to you to figure out exactly what needs to be installed. If you have no idea whatsoever then use SysInternals' ProcMon utility, you'll see Windows searching for the DLL and failing to find it. The name of the DLL should be a good lead. If it is mscoree.dll then you forgot to install .NET on the target machine.

Solution 2:

This error is caused when the .NET framework is not installed on the target computer, or when the version(s) installed are not sufficient to run the application. The resolution is obvious: install the correct version of the .NET framework before running the application.