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[UTIL] Easy manifest


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Most people here probably know about manifest files, but for those who don't, they are settings files which are most often used in win95 apps to make them look like XP. They can muck up some parts of some applications, which can be fixed by deleting the .manifest file. This is for those of you who do not know how to/can't be bothered copy-pasting manifest files. It includes an easy to navigate interface and both XPing and unXPing functions. Oh, and for those of you who like mucking around, use it on VB6.exe. works fine.

-anthonycara

/PS: Includes source, exe and manifest. EXE REQUIRES VB6 RUNTIMES.

Look_xp.zip

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When you say 'manifest' files, do you mean those '*.manifest" files in Windows XP - like 'WindowsShell.Manifest'? I'm curious about this rather-new-to-XP '*.manifest' files. Care to elaborate more? Thanks

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When you run an EXE in Windows XP, the OS looks for a file called programname.exe.manifest in the same location as programname.exe. This manifest file is an XML file that tells the system which versions of shared libraries to use (specifically, non-.NET libraries - .NET assemblies are covered by the .exe.config file instead). With a manifest file, you can specify (among other things) the newest version of the Windows Common Controls (EXEs without a manifest use the Windows 2000 version by default, even on Windows XP).

So basically, adding a manifest file to an application tells Windows that it is safe to skin the application -- which, incidentally, is exactly the reason why you shouldn't use a tool like this. Since you didn't write the application, you can't make that assertion. But a lot of people are theme-crazy these days and feel some compelling need to skin everything on their system whether they should or not... hence the existence of this kind of tool (there have been several of these tools floating around the Internet since XP's launch).

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I found lots of *.manifest files in my Windows XP. Question is, are they safe to be deleted and will they be created again (if deleted, much like the prefetch files)?

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Any that you put on there yourself are safe to delete. Any that were installed with the system or with an application you should leave alone. Themes aren't the only things those files control, so you could really cause some problems if you delete the wrong one.

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Any that you put on there yourself are safe to delete. Any that were installed with the system or with an application you should leave alone. Themes aren't the only things those files control, so you could really cause some problems if you delete the wrong one.

Thanks for the info

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