Installation of .NET Framework 2.0 - “Error: Cannot install on a 64 bit operating system.”

In late December of 2009, a 74-year old neighbor purchased a Dell Inspron 400 (zinohd):

AMD Athlon2850e (1.8GHZ,512K), 3gb DDR2 sdram AT 800mhz, 320GB Serial ATA Hard drive (7200rpm), Windows 7, Service tag

He had a number of problems that I have helped him cure.  But one issue remains.  Each time he turns on the computer he gets a notification that he needs to load and run .Net Framework 2.0. However, when he goes to the referenced site and tries to download and run the program he gets an error message stating: “Error: Cannot install on a 64 bit operating system.”  Ignoring this message doesn’t appear to adversely affect the operation of the system but he has not used the computer for long and he fears there may be issues downstream.

He is an older gentleman, not at all computer savy and has been very frustrated by this and his inability to get help from Dell or Microsoft.  He is considering returning the product. 

In an effort to help him out, I have looked into this problem through the Internet.  I am an experienced PC user and can normally handle most issues like this but I’m not yet familiar with Windows 7.  I understand that Windows 7 includes the .NET Framework 3.5.1 as an OS component. I believe this means you will get the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1 plus a few post 3.5 SP1 bug fixes.  Thus, you don't need to manually download .NET Framework 2.0 and install it on Windows 7.  I have run the Verification Tool found on the Internet by searching “cannot install on a 64 bit operating system " 2.0 net framework on Google to verify the existence of these .Net Framework versions.  The all are verified successfully.

How can we eliminate the initial popup notification from appearing at power-on?  What am I missing?

joesig1

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