Dotnet 4.8.1 Offline Installer |best| -

Furthermore, the .NET Framework 4.8.1 offline installer carries a legacy burden: it requires the presence of the .NET Framework 4.0 or 4.5 "runtime" to be present in the Windows component store before it can install. This leads to obscure error codes (e.g., 0x800713ec) when attempted on a severely stripped-down Windows image. Seasoned administrators know to first ensure the "Windows Communication Foundation" and "HTTP Activation" features are enabled via DISM.