title: How to prevent embedded manifest from being used?
body: <p>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.</p>
  
  <p>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.</p>
  
  <p>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.</p>
  
  <p>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) ?</p>