How to prevent embedded manifest from being used?

Question

I am working on many apps that uses RegFree COM Activation, everything works well except that one of the application is ran using an older technology that uses a JIT-type compiler.

To get RegFree COM working, i have to provide a manifest to the launching executable (correct me if i'm wrong) with my dependencies listed. All my other applications are built in-house and i have full control over my manifest (authoring and if i embed it, if i leave it Side-By-Side, etc). But this JIT-compiler (ala Java JRE) isn't mine and it already contains (embedded) a manifest.

I've extracted the manifest (using MT with -inputresource and -outfile), modified it and re-embedded it. It works like expected. However, having no ownership over this executable, i am worried about the legality of such a manipulation (modifying a third party's executable and redistributing it!) and would like to avoid having to do such a thing. Also, i am worried that at some point this executable may be signed by the third-party and thus modifying the embedded manifest is going to break the signature.

Is there a way to have the sxs-loader look for another manifest first? It seems that if it finds one embedded, it takes it by default (which under most cases is fine). Can i provide a configuration file or anything that would skip the embedded manifest and go for my side-by-side provided one (myExe.exe.manifest, instead of RT_MANIFEST resource inside myExe.exe) ?

Answer 1

You can only do that system wide as far as I know. Add that to the registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide]
"PreferExternalManifest"=dword:00000001

Make sure to trip activation context cache by updating last modified date on your executable, otherwise your manifest changes won't be picked up (renaming and renaming it back seems to work).

On Win XP external manifest is preferred over internal, but since Windows server 2003 Service Pack 1 they changed it to opposite.