missing /VC/redist folder

it may help for me to give a bit of extra info:
the error that i'm getting from the event log is:

Resolve Partial Assembly failed for Microsoft.VC80.CRT. Reference error message: The referenced assembly is not installed on your system.

and the embeded manifest from my app is:

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.VC80.CRT" version="8.0.50608.0" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b"></assemblyIdentity>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
</assembly>

the filename of my VC80.CRT manifest is:

x86_Microsoft.VC80.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_8.0.50727.42_x-ww_0de06acd.manifest

i find it interesting that the version numbers dont match, but i know that my app is using this, because if i remove it from my /windows/winsxs directory, i get that error. I tried sending the manifest and corresponding dlls to a friend to try placing in their winsxs directory, but it did not resolve the issue. Thanks again.

oh and one other thing, (sorry for all the edits)
this is what my redist.txt reads

"For your convenience, we have provided the following folders for use when redistributing VC++ runtime files. Subject to the license terms for the software, you may redistribute the folder (unmodified) in the application local folder as a sub-folder with no change to the folder name. You may also redistribute all the files (*.dll and *.manifest) within a folder, listed below the folder for your convenience, as an entire set.

...

\VC\redist\x86\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\
msvcm80.dll
msvcp80.dll
msvcr80.dll
Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest"

but of course i dont have a redist directory in my installation...help!

[2613 byte] By [MichaelBoehm] at [2007-12-17]