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Slow - very slow - too slow - for about a decade now - 12,000 forum results concur

  • 26 June 2022
  • 8 replies
  • 1349 views

Userlevel 1

Hello,

I’ve used Webroot for almost a decade. It absolutely the strongest protection out there. I have never, ever, not even once, had a virus infection that I had to remove. It always blocks it. I love Webroot… except….

The bad news… it DOES cause Windows slow down a LOT. This has plagued Webroot for years… really ever since I initially recommended it to a former employer and convinced them to switch to it back in 2013. They now have it deployed to several thousand endpoints.

I would really like Webroot to focus on improving the speed. There are unnecessary things that occur in the WR client, such as when there is a directory exclusion set in the console, the WR client re-scans the entire directory every so often, finds all EXEs, and re-determines its status even if the directory is excluded. Many processes are tracked, whether excluded or not, and it still runs through its system, it just doesn’t alert on the issue. This is just one example of unnecessary processing power.

Sadly I am reminded of how fast my computer really is when I remove Webroot for one reason or another. This time I’m removing it to diagnose a compatibility issue.

With all that being said, I have not stopped using Webroot, but only because of its ability to truly block infections.

The speed issue is a night and day difference though when WR is removed from a computer. Seriously… that’s the ONLY thing that changes…. and the computer flies.

I’ve been considering switching my company away from Webroot for this very problem. There are many other great endpoint products that users do not report the sluggish issues. I hate to recommend to my MSP clients to use another product, but there’s really no other option when the speed improves 20-40% when Webroot is removed, even with Windows Defender enabled.

I’ve worked with WR support for years, opened many tickets, and unfortunately that’s the response many employees give. It’s a proper one from a support standpoint, but the issue is not with the computers that WR is on - it’s not the operating systems - it’s not the third party software - it’s not the network - it’s with the code itself. This isn’t just a bug at this point, it’s a business issue that I foresee causing WR as a company, financial loss, as more people switch away due to the sluggishness. I am not sure if management is not aware of this issue, if the development team is unaware, or if it’s a topic that is purposely not discussed for some reason or another. I really like Webroot, I want to stay on your team as a client, but it’s … no bueno and hasn’t improved. :-/

The issue has persisted from Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and now 11.

I have taken advantage of the exclusions heavily… extremely heavily. Nearly a third of the apps that we use on a day to day basis are blocked. Nothing fancy either - Photoshop, ISO files, Acronis backup files, various tools. The exclusions do help, but only about 15% with speed.

I love it otherwise. :-/

 

Googling “webroot endpoint protection slow”:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=webroot%20endpoint%20protection%20slow

Googling “webroot endpoint protection sluggish”:

https://www.google.com/search?q=webroot+endpoint+protection+sluggish

If you just search the word “slow” in the forums, there are over 12,000 results.

https://community.webroot.com/search?q=slow

 

Hoping for the best outcome for this matter, I know everyone will be happy! 😀

Thanks!

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Best answer by jhartnerd123 27 June 2022, 15:26

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8 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +24

@asheroto

I’m sorry you are having specific issues with slowness on your computer. How have you confirmed with support that it is Webroot that is causing this issue? We have literally been the fastest security solution for years based on 3rd party testing. We are industry known for being the security software that DOESN’T slow down your computer and have proven results on this claim. See the Passmark testing results which specifically test the performance of a computer during a number of tests including: memory, CPU, network throughput, file copy/write, file de/compression, app launch, browser speed, etc - all tested during installation, during scan, during idle. 

^these are the most recent, but we’ve also held this title for almost a decade

^9 years ago

 

I am by no means doubting your claim that your computer had seen an impact and that your experience has you concluding it’s Webroot, but I believe there is a reason for this. I’m sure logs could be analyzed to pinpoint the issue as I’ve only seen slowdown if Webroot encounters a process that has not been whitelisted and it is monitoring it at certain levels. I don’t see any support tickets with the email you have used here, but if you want to DM me the email you did use for support, I could look into this for you. 

 

You can also submit a ticket from the computer in question with a description of your issue and logs would automatically be uploaded and we can take a fresh look at this https://www.webroot.com/us/en/support/contact

Userlevel 7
Badge +33

@asheroto 

I have our MSP deployed the Webroot agent to over 10K endpoints with no major complaints of slowness due to the agent being installed itself. 

Based on what you mention with regards to using exclusions all the time, I think that itself is your main reason (also could be due to policy settings), that’s causing your problems.

You shouldn't need exclusions for the common software like Acronis, Photoshop etc. unless you have Photoshop extensions. 

Setting A LOT of exclusions WILL slow your agent down as it has to keep referencing the exclusions each time it goes through a regular scan or you use the software that the exclusion is set for. 

It’s best to NOT use exclusions at all but instead contact support to have the files/programs whitelisted so that the agent itself already knows it is safe to use. 

We try and avoid exclusions and in over 10K endpoints, might have only a few clients with a couple of extensions. 

I’d go that route first and get rid of all your exclusions and actually whitelist the programs.

Hope this helps

Regards
John

Userlevel 1

Thank you for your replies, will do. :-)

Userlevel 2
Badge +9

I am going to take a moment, as he mention, to remind everyone that there is no such thing as a true exclude in Webroot. It scans everything excluded or not. If it finds something that is in the Exclude list it simply won’t report it. A total waste of resources. Other issues I had (and why I for rid of webroot:

  1. Every time a feature update came out for Windows it would create a new, different endpoint. It was a mess trying to clean them up.
  2. Agents would randomly disconnect from the console for no rhyme or reason.
  3. It would not install itself in add/remove programs even when told to do so.
  4. Uninstalling was an absolute disaster. Could not be done remotely and even when trying it on site it was a mess.

There were several other things but it has been so long I have forgotten. It basically took way too much time to keep it running right. That was 3-4 years ago. Have the above issues been addressed?

 

** I do agree. Webroot support seemed to blame everything else for the problems. It was never a Webroot issue. 

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

I’ve used every AV out there and Webroot is actually one of the very lowest impacts upon my daily computer use, that’s the reason I bought it again recently after a long absence. Everything else gives me some kind of issue whilst today’s WR seems to be quite flawless.

Userlevel 7
Badge +24

I’ve used every AV out there and Webroot is actually one of the very lowest impacts upon my daily computer use, that’s the reason I bought it again recently after a long absence. Everything else gives me some kind of issue whilst today’s WR seems to be quite flawless.

Glad you’re a fan of our super low impact on resources 😎

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

I’ve used every AV out there and Webroot is actually one of the very lowest impacts upon my daily computer use, that’s the reason I bought it again recently after a long absence. Everything else gives me some kind of issue whilst today’s WR seems to be quite flawless.

Glad you’re a fan of our super low impact on resources 😎

There not much not to like about WR, I’ve been using this product on and off since it was Prevx many moons ago.

The only downside is that I’d prefer WR would quarantine anything suspicious rather than isolating it and seeing what happens, and relying on roll-back if a situation does head south.

The interface could also do with a slight refresh, although not full of of empty spaces like too many modern UI designers prefer.

Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I am going to take a moment, as he mention, to remind everyone that there is no such thing as a true exclude in Webroot. It scans everything excluded or not. If it finds something that is in the Exclude list it simply won’t report it. A total waste of resources. Other issues I had (and why I for rid of webroot:

  1. Every time a feature update came out for Windows it would create a new, different endpoint. It was a mess trying to clean them up.
  2. Agents would randomly disconnect from the console for no rhyme or reason.
  3. It would not install itself in add/remove programs even when told to do so.
  4. Uninstalling was an absolute disaster. Could not be done remotely and even when trying it on site it was a mess.

There were several other things but it has been so long I have forgotten. It basically took way too much time to keep it running right. That was 3-4 years ago. Have the above issues been addressed?

 

** I do agree. Webroot support seemed to blame everything else for the problems. It was never a Webroot issue. 

Not to argue here, but since we have adopted Webroot as the product to use, and rolled that out across our customer base, there has been times where certain machines have had some issues on. Every time I have contacted Webroot support, and provided the log files to them, there has always been a logical explanation  for the issues, as well as a solution to follow to get the issues resolved.  I think only once I have did not get the solution and pushed it back to support and worked with support on the issue, and it was resolved. To many exclusions is also not always the way to go, as that create clutter and can in itself slow things down. In just the past 5 years we have had less restores that were required than in a single week before we had Webroot rolled out to our customers. 

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