Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0

Question

I recently started getting this error on my WebAPI project on VS 2017. If I run the same project on another machine it works fine. I have tried reinstalling VS 2017, reinstalling .net 4.0 and 4.5. I also tried changing the project target to 4.7 in which nothing worked. This is a similar issue but I am not running .net core 2.0 (ASP.NET Core 2.0 Could not load file or assembly System.ServiceModel) Any help will be much appreciated.

I also tried adding this DLL to the project and adding it via the webconfig but didn't change anything.

The DLL is on my system -> C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\System.ServiceModel.dll

Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Assembly Load Trace: The following information can be helpful to determine why the assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' could not be loaded.

Assembly manager loaded from: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\clr.dll Running under executable C:\Program Files (x86)\IIS Express\iisexpress.exe --- A detailed error log follows.

=== Pre-bind state information === LOG: DisplayName = System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089 (Fully-specified) LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Users/Michael/Desktop/Project/API/ LOG: Initial PrivatePath = C:\Users\Michael\Desktop\Project\API\bin Calling assembly : (Unknown). === LOG: This bind starts in default load context. LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Users\Michael\Desktop\Project\API\web.config LOG: Using host configuration file: C:\Users\Michael\Documents\IISExpress\config\aspnet.config LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config. LOG: Post-policy reference: System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089

Stack Trace:

[BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.]
System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +0
System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +36
System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks) +152
System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean forIntrospection) +77
System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection) +21 System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString) +28
System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssemblyHelper(String assemblyName, Boolean starDirective) +38

[ConfigurationErrorsException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.]
System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssemblyHelper(String assemblyName, Boolean starDirective) +738
System.Web.Configuration.CompilationSection.LoadAssembly(AssemblyInfo ai) +57
System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetReferencedAssemblies(CompilationSection compConfig) +170
System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetPreStartInitMethodsFromReferencedAssemblies() +92 System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CallPreStartInitMethods(String preStartInitListPath, Boolean& isRefAssemblyLoaded) +290
System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.ExecutePreAppStart() +157
System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.Initialize(ApplicationManager appManager, IApplicationHost appHost, IConfigMapPathFactory configMapPathFactory, HostingEnvironmentParameters hostingParameters, PolicyLevel policyLevel, Exception appDomainCreationException) +549

[HttpException (0x80004005): Could not load file or assembly 'System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.]
System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +10042604 System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +95 System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +254

Answer 1

I ended up copying the "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET" directory from a friends computer and it worked fine after that. Very strange.