An application tells me I need .NET Framework 2.0.50727?

Use the Windows Features UI to install it.

  1. Open the Start Menu
  2. Type "Windows Features"
  3. Select Settings on the search pane
  4. Click on "Turn Windows Features On and Off"
  5. Find and click on .Net Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)
  6. Complete the install wizard (it will download the appropriate bits)

You can get the 32-bit installer here and the 64-bit installer here.

These will install 2.0 as well as 3.0, Windows 8 should already have 1.0 and 4.0 as well as 4.5 beta.