title: Manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened.
body: <p>I know it is a very commonly faced problem. But, there is a slight difference, my WPF installs perfectly and runs on Windows 7 and Windows 8 OSes. But, when tried to install on a VM running Windows XP, it gives the following Error:</p>
  
  <p>Cannot continue. The application is improperly formatted. <strong>Details</strong>:</p>
  
  <p><strong>PLATFORM VERSION INFO</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>Windows             : 5.1.2600.196608 (Win32NT)
      Common Language Runtime     : 4.0.30319.1
      System.Deployment.dll       : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
      clr.dll             : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
      dfdll.dll           : 4.0.30319.1 (RTMRel.030319-0100)
      dfshim.dll          : 4.0.31106.0 (Main.031106-0000)
  
  SOURCES
      Deployment url          : file:///S:/K3FrontEnd_NET4/Karacell3.application
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>ERROR SUMMARY</strong></p>
  
  <p>Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.</p>
  
  <pre><code>* Activation of S:\K3FrontEnd_NET4\Karacell3.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
          + Exception reading manifest from file:///S:/K3FrontEnd_NET4/Karacell3.application: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened.
          + Manifest XML signature is not valid.
          + SignatureDescription could not be created for the signature algorithm supplied.
  
  COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION FAILURE SUMMARY
      No transaction error was detected.
  
  WARNINGS
      There were no warnings during this operation.
  
  OPERATION PROGRESS STATUS
      * [4/3/2013 2:58:13 PM] : Activation of S:\K3FrontEnd_NET4\Karacell3.application has started.
  
  ERROR DETAILS
      Following errors were detected during this operation.
      * [4/3/2013 2:58:14 PM] System.Deployment.Application.InvalidDeploymentException (ManifestParse)
          - Exception reading manifest from file:///S:/K3FrontEnd_NET4/Karacell3.application: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened.
          - Source: System.Deployment
          - Stack trace:
              at System.Deployment.Application.ManifestReader.FromDocument(String localPath, ManifestType manifestType, Uri sourceUri)
              at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestDirectBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri&amp; sourceUri, TempFile&amp; tempFile, SubscriptionState&amp; subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options, ServerInformation&amp; serverInformation)
              at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri&amp; sourceUri, TempFile&amp; tempFile, SubscriptionState&amp; subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options)
              at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.PerformDeploymentActivation(Uri activationUri, Boolean isShortcut, String textualSubId, String deploymentProviderUrlFromExtension, BrowserSettings browserSettings, String&amp; errorPageUrl)
              at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.ActivateDeploymentWorker(Object state)
          --- Inner Exception ---
          System.Deployment.Application.InvalidDeploymentException (SignatureValidation)
          - Manifest XML signature is not valid.
          - Source: System.Deployment
          - Stack trace:
              at System.Deployment.Application.Manifest.AssemblyManifest.ValidateSignature(Stream s)
              at System.Deployment.Application.ManifestReader.FromDocument(String localPath, ManifestType manifestType, Uri sourceUri)
          --- Inner Exception ---
          System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException
          - SignatureDescription could not be created for the signature algorithm supplied.
          - Source: System.Security
          - Stack trace:
              at System.Security.Cryptography.Xml.SignedXml.CheckSignedInfo(AsymmetricAlgorithm key)
              at System.Security.Cryptography.Xml.SignedXml.CheckSignature(AsymmetricAlgorithm key)
              at System.Security.Cryptography.Xml.SignedXml.CheckSignatureReturningKey(AsymmetricAlgorithm&amp; signingKey)
              at System.Deployment.Internal.CodeSigning.SignedCmiManifest.Verify(CmiManifestVerifyFlags verifyFlags)
              at System.Deployment.Application.Manifest.AssemblyManifest.ValidateSignature(Stream s)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION DETAILS</strong></p>
  
  <p>No transaction information is available.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>I re-signed the application with a valid key</li>
  <li>I have installed on multiple PCs and it installs and works fine.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Please help me enumerate possible cause of this error.</p>