Will .NET Framework 4 Slow Down My Computer?

Surely you have seen some software (such as X-Ray) requires .NET Framework to run and hated the idea to install something to run something. The good thing about .NET Framework is it comes with a lot of code which can be called without the programmer rewriting it from scratch. This makes it easier and faster to code a software. Think of it like Adobe Flash Player where it is required to play flash animations, or Java Runtime to run JAR packaged software. In fact these common frameworks (.NET, Java, Flash) are the first thing that I would install on a customer’s computer after installing Windows so that they won’t call me up to complain why they couldn’t play online games, view YouTube videos, run certain programs and etc.

.NET Framework 3.5 comes pre-installed in Windows 7 and the latest version is .NET Framework 4. If you go to Windows Update, you would see it listed under Optional and wondered if it is necessary to install and will .NET Framework 4 slow down your computer? I would “guess” no and wouldn’t tell the whole world about it because I don’t have concrete proof on that. So I have decided to run a couple of benchmark tests to see if .NET Framework 4 will slow down your computer.

To run this test, I have to create a baseline. Installed a clean Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit with all latest updates except .NET Framework 4. Disabled Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, User Account Control and followed by creating a backup system image. The following benchmarking software are used to test the speed of the computer without and with .NET Framework 4. Unfortunately PCMark 7 and SiSoftware Sandra 2012 are not included in the benchmark because they require .NET Framework 4 to run the software.

AIDA64 Extreme v2.00.1700

Dacris Benchmarks v8.1

PassMark PerformanceTest v7.0.1025

PC Wizard 2010 v1.961

PC World WorldBench 6

Windows Performance Toolkit (Measure Boot Time)

I install one of the benchmarking software, run a full benchmark and followed by a restart when it has been completed. This goes on for 3 times to get an average score. The computer is then being restored to baseline, install .NET Framework 4 Client Profile via Windows Update with all latest patches. The same benchmark is ran for 3 times. Before moving on to the next benchmarking software, the test computer will be again restored to baseline. The methodology above allows me to obtain an average score for every benchmarking software with and without .NET Framework 4.

After spending nearly 2 full days in benchmarking .NET Framework 4, I hardly see any noticeable slow down after installing .NET Framework 4 with its latest patches.

I can conclude that installing Microsoft .NET Framework 4 will slow down their computer is a myth. Microsoft .NET Framework 4 will not slow down your computer UNLESS the installation is faulty such as not installed properly or you may have accidentally removed some of the important files with an uninstaller and etc. Do note that this is tested on .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and not the full version. Other than that, it is installed via Windows Update and not through the redistributable installer.