When does this error show up?
You're installing some software — maybe a game, a developer tool, or an old driver — and bam, Windows throws up a dialog box. It says something like "Side-by-side configuration is incorrect" or "Manifest parse error." The event log shows ERROR_SXS_XML_E_BADCHARINSTRING with code 0X000036D2. I've seen this most often with Visual C++ redistributables and .NET Framework installers on Windows 10 version 22H2 and Windows 11 builds before 2023. It can also hit when you're updating a custom app that uses XML manifests.
What's the real cause?
Plain English: The manifest file (an XML file that tells Windows how to run the program) has a string literal — that's text between quotes — that contains a character XML doesn't like. Common culprits: an ampersand (&), a less-than sign (<), or a quote inside another quote. For example, if the manifest says description="Bob & Co.", the ampersand is illegal unless written as &. Windows SXS (Side-by-Side) loader is strict — one bad character and it gives up. This tripped me up the first time I edited a manifest manually.
Fix it step by step
Before you start: Back up any files you edit. And make sure you have administrator rights on the machine.
Step 1: Find the manifest file
Look in the program's install folder. Usually it's something like C:\Program Files\SomeApp\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\SomeApp\. The manifest file has a .manifest extension. For example, myapp.exe.manifest or setup.exe.manifest. If you can't find it there, check the Windows Side-by-Side cache: C:\Windows\WinSxS\. But that cache is dangerous to edit — only touch files you know belong to the failing app.
Step 2: Open the manifest in a good text editor
Don't use Notepad — it doesn't show encoding or special characters clearly. Use Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code. Open the .manifest file. If the file is inside an embedded resource (like an EXE or DLL), you'll need a tool like Resource Hacker or 7-Zip to extract it first. For most users, the file is loose.
Step 3: Look for the bad character
Search for these common offenders inside string values (text between double quotes):
&— must be written as&<— must be written as<>— must be written as>"— inside an attribute value, use"'— inside an attribute value, use'
Also check for non-ASCII characters like em dashes (—) or smart quotes (“ ”). XML only likes plain ASCII quotes. I once spent an hour tracing a problem to a curly apostrophe that got copy-pasted from a Word document.
Step 4: Fix the string literal
Replace the bad character with its XML escape sequence. For example, change description="Bob & Co." to description="Bob & Co.". If the string uses a double quote inside a double-quoted attribute, use ". Example: value="He said "Hello"". Save the file after fixing.
Step 5: Reinstall or run the program
If you edited the manifest file directly, try running the program again. If the error came during installation, run the installer again. For Visual C++ redistributables, download the latest version from Microsoft's site — the old one might have a corrupted manifest in the cache. Uninstall the old version first via Control Panel > Programs and Features, then install fresh.
What if it still fails?
If the fix didn't work, check these next:
- Check the system file integrity. Open Command Prompt as admin and run
sfc /scannow. Corrupted system files can mess up SXS parsing. - Look at the event log. Open Event Viewer, go to Windows Logs > Application, and find the error ID for this manifest failure. It might point to a different file than the one you edited.
- Try a clean boot. Some third-party software (like antivirus or shell extensions) can interfere with SXS loading. Disable startup programs via msconfig and reboot.
- Use Dependency Walker (depends.exe) on the failing EXE to see which manifest it's actually loading. Sometimes there's a manifest embedded in the EXE itself that overrides the loose file.
- Last resort: Uninstall the program completely, clean the registry with something like CCleaner, and reinstall with a fresh download. Corrupted installer packages are more common than you'd think.
I've seen this error resolve after a simple Windows Update — Microsoft patched a bug in the SXS loader in KB5027231 for Windows 11 and KB5028166 for Windows 10. If nothing else works, make sure your system is fully updated.