>So if I understand correctly, you have a EXE and a set of DLLs which, depending on the configuration, may or may not be required for a specific installation?

The application executable is an EXE for a desktop application and a DLL for a Web and a Web Service applications.

Each applicable relies on the framework and its name is Framework.dll. So, at minimum, there is always two files for the application to execute. Then, based on the application, additional DLL (some tied to the framework) might have to be dropped into the Bin directory as well.

> It may be a bit hard to retro-fit but you could look at using something like MEF so that the EXE could discover, load and use the DLLs that were included in the installation?

What does MEF stand for?