Unable to open AE/AO after Windows 11 24H2 update

After upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 or installing AE/AO in a new Windows 11 24H2 machine, you may see an error while opening AE/AO.

The log file located in %appdata%\ \MYOB\ClientFramework\Clientframework.log will show an error similar to

System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException. An error occurred creating the configuration section handler for nlog: Exception occurred when loading configuration from \\Servername>\MYOBAE\AESQL\Central\Deploy\ClientFrameWork.exe.Config

(\\<Servername>\MYOBAE\AESQL\Central\Deploy\ClientFrameWork.exe.Config line 336) NLog.NLogConfigurationException Exception occurred when loading configuration from

\\<Servername>\MYOBAE\AESQL\Central\Deploy\ClientFrameWork.exe.Config System.ArgumentException Target cannot be found: 'File'

Why is this error happening?

This is due to the 24H2 update disabling .Net 3.5.

To fix the issue

To fix the issue, follow the steps below to re-enable .Net 3.5

1. On the workstation, open Control panel.

   

2. Select Programs and Features.

3. On the left side, select Turn Windows features on or off.
   

   

4. In the Windows features window, tick the following

   1. .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)

      1. Windows Communication Foundation HTTP Activation

      2. Windows Communication Foundation Non-HTTP Activation

5. Click OK. Windows will search for the required files. Once found. Windows will install the .NET components.

6. When you see the Windows completed the requested changes message, click Close.

7. Go back to the Windows features window and make sure the features are ticked.
   

   

8. Open AE/AO to make sure you don’t see an error.