Visual C++ 2008 Linking (specifically embedding manifest) taking too long

Question

Normally I would refrain from asking vague questions but in this case I cannot find enough information to even start looking into fixing the issue.

My project is small (to give you an idea: Vector/Matrix math, and some core data structures such as Arrays, Lists and Strings). Some other much bigger projects I tried link really quickly and do not spend too much time embedding the manifest.

I am compiling the debug version of the library. Release version exhibits the same problem.

I would appreciate pointing me in the right direction on where to find information regarding this (I don't even know what the manifest is apart from simple explanations).

Answer 1

As Hans Passant mentioned, the problem was caused by the virus scanner. Adding an exception to the folder and file extensions related to the compiler fixes the issue.