This is one way to resolve the 'UpdatePanel' element is not a known element error if you are using VS2008 or targeting previous frameworks.
You need to explicitly include the following controls / namespaces in the section of web.config pages contained in the system.web file.
<pages> <controls> <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> </controls> </pages>
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