New builds incorporate
all that has gone before. No need to install an older build before
downloading and using the latest build. No need to install
a Base build before downloading and using the latest Cutting Edge build.
This topic covers the legacy activation system used for older, out of date builds of Release 9, up to and including Release 9 Base build 9.0.174. It does not describe the simpler and easier activation system used with all modern builds of Release 9. For information on activation of up to date builds, see the Install and Activate, Manifold Activation, and Activation Reference topics.
Please review the Installations topic to learn about different Release 9 installation packages before proceeding. This topic covers conventional Windows installations using an .exe file, either for 32-bit or for 64-bit Windows systems.
This topic does not cover the use of portable installations, which are easy to use and are the right choice for work with Cutting Edge versions of Manifold and Viewer. See the Installations topic for a quick guide to using portable installations.
Video: To learn how to install and run a portable installation, see the Manifold Viewer - Install and Run video on YouTube. Using a portable installation is the same basic procedure for either Viewer or Manifold Release 9. Using a portable installation is easy. Avoiding Windows Installer hassles is such a delight that many people, once they learn how to use portable installations, will never go back to hassling with Windows Installer.
New builds incorporate
all that has gone before. No need to install an older build before
downloading and using the latest build. No need to install
a Base build before downloading and using the latest Cutting Edge build.
Manifold Viewer is a free product. Viewer uses the same installation instructions as Release 9, but there is no need for either a serial number or activation.
Installing or activating Release 9 will remove and de-activate any Radian Studio or Manifold Future installation. Release 9 is an upgrade from Radian Studio and replaces Radian Studio on your machine.
Release 9 is a completely new product with no connection to Manifold System Release 8.00 or any prior Manifold System product. Installing or activating Release 9 has no connection to and no effect on any Release 8.00 or prior Manifold System installation. If you have Release 8.00 installed on your machine you can install or uninstall Release 9 with no effect on your Release 8.00 installation, and likewise install or uninstall Release 8.00 with no effect on your Release 9 installation. You can run both products simultaneously at the same time.
To install Release 9 from an .exe file begin by downloading a Base installation file from the Release 9 Downloads page or the Viewer Downloads page on the Manifold web site. This example uses a typical Release 9 installation file. The file you install may show slightly different captions than illustrated. Installation of Manifold Viewer will be nearly identical. This topic uses Windows 10. Earlier Windows editions may be slightly different.
Important: Installation files do not contain viruses. Each file is published with an SHA1 checksum that you can use to verify the file you download is virus-free. See the Using SHA Checksums topic for step by step instructions on how to verify an SHA1 checksum.
Uninstall any prior installation before installing a new Manifold Release 9 installation. If Windows Installer reports any problems, read the Windows Installer Problems page for advice.
After installing, save the .exe file for future use. Do not delete it. Windows may need it some day to uninstall or to repair an installation.
Double-click the .exe file to begin installation. Windows 10 may complain:
The app and publisher are unrecognized because Manifold respectfully declines the terms and conditions of Microsoft programs that may result in harvesting of user identities or which may compromise user privacy. Manifold will cut no corners on user privacy, not even with a respected partner like Microsoft.
Press the More info link.
Press the Run anyway button.
On other systems Windows may complain in a different way:
Ignore the warning and press Run. If there is any doubt about the download, you can always check the SHA code published on the download page to make sure the installation file has not been altered since publication by Manifold.
That launches the Release 9 installation dialogs, a standard set of dialogs for .exe file installations like those used by Visual Studio redistributable files. Release 9 and Manifold Viewer use .exe style installation dialogs to enable installation of the Visual C++ Redistributable files automatically if they have not yet been installed on the Windows machine in use.
Installation dialogs are obvious and are almost identical for both Release 9 and Manifold Viewer. A typical installation will be similar to the following:
Read the EULA and then check the I agree to the license terms and conditions box. Press Install.
Windows thinks for a few seconds and then will pop open a confirmation box (not illustrated) that asks confirmation whether we wish to allow this new application to make changes to our system. Press Yes.
The installation will proceed automatically, installing the Visual C++
Redistributable if necessary and then installing Release 9. When
it is finished, press Close. Release
9 is now installed. 
Restarts - The .exe installation used for Base builds will automatically install or update required Microsoft facilities, such as the Visual C++ Redistributable. Depending on the Microsoft facilities that have been installed or updated, after installation the dialog may advise that the system must be restarted before operating the software. Software installation packages often recommend a restart in a routine way, just in case it is necessary, but in this case if the dialog says a restart is required it really is necessary.
To uninstall Manifold, launch the Windows Programs and Features applet, choose the entry for Manifold System 9 (it will be identified by the build number that was installed) and press Uninstall in the applet's menu.
Press Uninstall in the Manifold dialog.
Done!
Manifold System Release 9 requires a Release 9 serial number the first time it is launched. Serial numbers from other products, such as Release 8.00, will not work.
For 30 days after a serial number has been issued, that serial number can be used to enable launch of Manifold on as many machines as you want, with no need to activate. This initial 30 day period allows users to resolve any difficulties with software or hardware configuration on the machine they decide to use for the license. There are no limits at all: the software runs with all features enabled and no limitations. After 30 days, the Manifold installation must be activated to enable Manifold to run on the machine for which an activation key has been fetched.
Once Manifold Release 9 has been activated on a computer, we can uninstall and install Release 9 as many times as we want on that computer and activation will be remembered, with no need to activate each new installation. For example, we can install new updates to Release 9 (newer builds), or launch newer Release 9 portable installations on that machine. Activation will be remembered so long as no major changes requiring re-activation, such as changing the motherboard or a major reinstallation of Windows, have been done. Users usually run the same license for years without re-activating, installing new builds as they are issued every few weeks.
When installing Release 9 more than 30 days after the serial number has been issued Release 9 must be activated. To activate a Release 9 installation, you must have a valid Release 9 serial number with at least one activation remaining. To get ready to activate, find and open the serial number email that provided your Release 9 serial number. We will need it to copy the serial number so we can paste the serial number into the dialog.
For activation, Release 9 must be launched as administrator.
Click the Windows Start button. Drill down into your apps within the Manifold 9.0 heading and right-click onto the Manifold Release 9 entry:
or, if you have pinned the new Manifold installation to your Start menu, then right-click on the Manifold Release 9 icon:
And then choose More > Run as administrator.
When an installation of Release 9 that has not yet been activated is run, the Activation dialog automatically pops open.
Find the email message that provided your serial number. Open it and copy the serial number for Release 9 from the serial number email.
Make sure that the entire serial number is copied. Make sure to copy the Release 9 serial number and not some other product serial number if you have procured more than one product.
Paste the serial number into the Serial number box and then press the Get Activation Key via the Web button. There must be a working Internet connection for this operation.
If not connected to the web or if something blocks Release 9's access to the activation web site an error message advising that Activation servers cannot be reached will appear. In that case, use manual activation as discussed at length in the Activation Keys and Serial Numbers topic in the Release 8 manual.
Release 9 pops open a dialog to be sure we want to fetch an activation key. Press OK.
After a few seconds (be patient) an Activation key appears. Press Accept.
Release 9 will now launch. Before using Release 9 please review the short Read Me First topic.
To avoid using up Activation Keys by accident the same Activation Key is returned by the key servers for the same serial number for 24 hours. A Manifold license allows installing the same serial number on both a desktop computer and on a portable device, provided the two are not used at the same time. However, to avoid getting the same Activation Key on both machines (it will only work on one of them), after activating on one machine, wait at least 24 hours before activating on the second machine.
Manifold may be activated from a Windows command line. Command line activation options are a relatively limited tool and are only intended to be used to switch editions of Manifold that are installed on the same machine or to force a non-interactive edition (such as might be offered in future products) to raise the Activation dialog.
There are two command line switches for activation. One switch is for activation of Manifold System itself and the other switch is used to activate an extension:
manifold.exe /activate:serial,key Activate Manifold System.
manifold.exe /activateExt:serial,key Activate an extension.
In the above, serial is the serial number and key is the Activation key. Because a System ID must be noted in order to get an Activation key with a serial number, the user must be able to launch Manifold interactively at least once on a machine to obtain the System ID.
Supplying an invalid serial number or a valid serial number without an Activation key will pop open the Activation dialog. This is a handy way of using a command line to force a Manifold installation to raise the Activation dialog so that the System ID may be obtained. For example, using the command line switch:
manifold.exe /activate:dialog
...will pop open the Activation dialog since "dialog" is not a valid serial number.
To use Manifold in languages other than English, see the Localization topic.
See the Scripts topic for important information on scripting.
Five scripting languages are always available for use in every Manifold installation without requiring any additional installation of any kind, because they are automatically available as a result of Microsoft .NET facilities that are required for any Manifold installation.
Two additional languages, IronPython and IronRuby, are automatically supported by the Command Window when they are installed (installation is easy). Three more languages, F#, PerlScript and PythonScript, are supported when they are installed.
C#
JScript
JScript.NET
VB.NET
VBScript
The above always available languages are provide by Microsoft COM/.NET, which are required for Manifold installation.
IronPython
IronRuby
IronPython and IronRuby are supported by the Command Window just like SQL but they are not part of Manifold installations: IronPython and IronRuby are installed separately. See the Example of installing IronPython at the end of the Scripts topic.