How to find the version of the .Net (dotnet) frame work installed

To find which version(s) and service pack level(s) of the Microsoft .NET Framework is/are installed in your system do the following:

Checking in Registry

Click Start, then type regedit in the Search programs and files box (Vista, Windows 7), then press Enter.

Click Run then type regedit in the Run Dialog box (Windows XP), then press Enter.

You can check for .Net Framework version(s) in two locations in Windows registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP

Option 1 yields following result

The second option shows following result

Checking in the File System

We can also find the version(s) of the .NetFramework installed in the system by navigating to the directory where it is installed, usually it is in
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework. Each version is contained in its own directory.

Another way of navigating to the concerned directory is by running the following command in either Search programs and files box (Vista, Windows 7) or Run Dialog box (Windows XP).

%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework

If everything works, a window will open as following showing the version(s) of .Netframework installed.

Checking for .Netframework in installed programs

We can also examine the list of installed programs to find out which version(s) of .Netframework is installed in our system. For that, we have to go to Control Panel then select “Add Remove Program” for Windows Xp. If you are using Vista or Windows 7 click on “Uninstall a program” under “Program”.

This is how it looks in Windows Vista.