.net - How to run C++ executable in Windows PE?

Question

I have an executable I made using a CLI console application with Visual Basic 2010. I can run the program completely fine from my developer machine.

However, when I copy the executable over to another machine, re-boot to a pre-installation environment and run the executable again, nothing happens at all. There are no errors shown or anything.

My guess is the executable can't run without certain dependencies that aren't loaded at this environment, but I need it to work in a PE.

Any ideas on whats going on?

Answer 1

First of all, since the question is tagged "c++" and you mention C++/CLI several times, I assume that "Visual Basic 2010" is a typo for "Visual Studio 2010". But either way, whether you've written the application in Visual Basic (VB.NET) or C++/CLI, the problem is exactly the same.

My guess is the executable can't run without certain dependencies that aren't loaded at this environment, but I need it to work in a PE.

That's exactly correct. You've written an application that targets the .NET Framework. Somewhat like Java applications requiring a JVM, .NET applications require that the .NET Framework be installed in order to run (or a compatible alternative implementation, like Mono). Unfortunately, Windows PE does not support the .NET Framework.

Note that it is irrelevant whether you've written a WinForms, WPF, or Console application. Although they present their UI in very different ways, they all depend on the .NET Framework being installed.

You will need to (re-)write the application in a different programming language, one that generates native code without any dependencies on the .NET Framework. C and C++ are popular choices. If you choose to use C++, make sure that you create what Visual Studio calls a "Win32" project. This is one that targets the underlying operating system APIs directly (i.e. a native application) and does not have a dependency on the .NET Framework. Stay away from anything that has ".NET" or "CLR" in its description.

I don't really have a full comprehension of when an application is using .NET or not... I am just used to Linux C/C++ development. I hate Microsoft shit

It uses .NET whenever you use the .NET Framework libraries/classes in your code. I'm not really sure why this is so difficult to understand. The same problem could easily exist on Linux if you were using a third-party library that was not available in certain environments for whatever reason. This is not Microsoft's problem, it's an issue of using the wrong tools for the job. The .NET Framework is an object-oriented wrapper around the native APIs that makes it much easier for people to get up and running writing programs for Windows. But if you're "used to Linux C/C++ development", you should have little trouble writing a simple console application that targets the native APIs directly without using .NET.

If your hatred for "Microsoft shit" has turned into an allergy, you can avoid Visual Studio entirely and download MinGW, which is a Windows port of the GCC compiler you're probably used to. Combined with your favorite Windows port of Vi, you're working in an environment very similar to the one you're used to. And since GCC doesn't support C++/CLI or the .NET Framework, you won't have to worry about getting stuck picking the wrong option.