To access the run-time configuration settings of a native application, you need to add an Application Configuration file to the project. Right-click the file in Solution Explorer, and click Edit to access the settings.
When you build an executable within Visual Studio, the build process automatically copies the application configuration file into the output folder and renames it to <executable-base-name>.exe.mfgcf. (For example, a project that compiles to a program1.exe also has a program1.exe.mfgcf file in the output folder.) The run-time system automatically loads the file when the executable starts.