Lighten up Shawn (Spoken in a very bad Bill Murray ala Stripes impression).

Everyone makes mistakes, no one knows it all, you included. I admit I was incorrect on the default behaviour of DNN & ASP.NET and the entry in the config file.

This is a discussion board and discussion is good, there was no need to take anything personal out of it.

Joe,

I can now see that the <add assembly="*"/>  is indeed in the web.config in the framework folder.

My bad. In version 1.x of the framework, this setting was right in the machine.config. In the current version, its right there in the web.config file of the framework installation folder.

I think you could implement a secondary CustomModules/bin folder for custom modules and then in the web.config use:

<runtime>
  <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
    <probing privatePath="CustomModules/bin" />
  </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

This would be a big change I know, but I believe its possible and would get around the preloading of all assemblies issue for installed modules, whether their in use or not.

You aware if this directive is still supported Joe?

Perhaps Nina's "won't work" phrase was a bit too strong, but in general I have to agree with her precautionary narrative. I've been using and updating DNN for about the same length of time as she - three years or so - and have installed and upgraded DNN numerous times. Starting with 4.3.5 and filesystem privileges and issues which seemed fine in a development instance but really messed up in production, both upgrades and new installs of DNN have been rather hellish.

With the upgrade to 4.3.5, the file system on my portals was messed up to the point that links were pointing at files on different portals. Not good, and lots of late nights and manual effort. I'm still not convinced that this particular installation is entirely healthy though I have scrutinized folder by folder and file by file and portal by portal.

With DNN 4.4.1, I have a fresh install with one child portal and have continual issues with 'object not found for object reference' errors. I have uninstalled totally and reinstalled a number of times to ensure that I don't have a corrupted install. I have removed compression entirely and that seems to ease the problem - it still happens but not as soon or as often. Also, I cannot install the core modules; I select one and attempt to install it, and the module definitions page simply refreshes, no errors in log, no installation. I'm attempting to do some development in 4.4.1 but having a rough time getting much done.

I have always been rather amazed at the ease of upgrading DNN, and am excited about the new performance emphasis in 4.1.1, but when I read about the total success of upgrades and installs of 4.4.1 from other users, I am just envious! It isn't happening that way for me. I'd love to migrate entirely to 4.4.1 and have all my DNN work on the same page, but given my experiences that would not be a wise move at this juncture.