diff --git a/contrib/ext_manager/main.php b/contrib/ext_manager/main.php
index 3d99dd4d..317da020 100644
--- a/contrib/ext_manager/main.php
+++ b/contrib/ext_manager/main.php
@@ -16,9 +16,15 @@ class ExtManager extends Extension {
 		if(is_a($event, 'PageRequestEvent') && ($event->page_name == "ext_manager")) {
 			if($event->user->is_admin()) {
 				if($event->get_arg(0) == "set") {
-					$this->set_things($_POST);
-					$event->page->set_mode("redirect");
-					$event->page->set_redirect("ext_manager");
+					if(is_writable("ext")) {
+						$this->set_things($_POST);
+						$event->page->set_mode("redirect");
+						$event->page->set_redirect(make_link("ext_manager"));
+					}
+					else {
+						$this->theme->display_error($event->page, "File Operation Failed",
+							"The extension folder isn't writable by the web server :(");
+					}
 				}
 				else {
 					$this->theme->display_table($event->page, $this->get_extensions());
@@ -73,23 +79,34 @@ class ExtManager extends Extension {
 			preg_match("#contrib/(.*)/main.php#", $main, $matches);
 			$fname = $matches[1];
 
+			if(!isset($settings["ext_$fname"])) $settings["ext_$fname"] = 0;
 			$this->set_enabled($fname, $settings["ext_$fname"]);
 		}
 	}
+
 	private function set_enabled($fname, $enabled) {
 		if($enabled) {
 			// enable if currently disabled
 			if(!file_exists("ext/$fname")) {
-				symlink("../contrib/$fname", "ext/$fname");
+				$this->enable_extension($fname);
 			}
 		}
 		else {
 			// disable if currently enabled
 			if(file_exists("ext/$fname")) {
-				unlink("ext/$fname");
+				deltree("ext/$fname");
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
+	private function enable_extension($fname) {
+		if(function_exists("symlink")) {
+			symlink("../contrib/$fname", "ext/$fname");
+		}
+		else {
+			full_copy("contrib/$fname", "ext/$fname");
+		}
+	}
 }
 add_event_listener(new ExtManager());
 ?>
diff --git a/core/util.inc.php b/core/util.inc.php
index 2fcc32fb..c67402bb 100644
--- a/core/util.inc.php
+++ b/core/util.inc.php
@@ -364,6 +364,51 @@ function ip_in_range($IP, $CIDR) {
 	return ($ip_ip_net == $ip_net);
 }
 
+// from a patch by Christian Walde; only intended for use in the
+// "extension manager" extension, but it seems to fit better here
+function deltree($f) {
+	if (is_link($f)) {
+		unlink($f);
+	}
+	else if(is_dir($f)) {
+		foreach(glob($f.'/*') as $sf) {
+			if (is_dir($sf) && !is_link($sf)) {
+				deltree($sf);
+			} else {
+				unlink($sf);
+			}
+		}
+		rmdir($f);
+	}
+}
+
+// from a comment on http://uk.php.net/copy
+function full_copy($source, $target) {
+	if(is_dir($source)) {
+		@mkdir($target);
+
+		$d = dir($source);
+
+		while(FALSE !== ($entry = $d->read())) {
+			if($entry == '.' || $entry == '..') {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			$Entry = $source . '/' . $entry;          
+			if(is_dir($Entry)) {
+				full_copy($Entry, $target . '/' . $entry);
+				continue;
+			}
+			copy($Entry, $target . '/' . $entry);
+		}
+		$d->close();
+	}
+	else {
+		copy($source, $target);
+	}
+}
+
+
 /* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\
 * Event API                                                                 *
 \* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */