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Only one executable? Seriously? No DLLs or extra files?

  • 11 July 2012
  • 6 replies
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All I can find is a single file called "WRSA.exe" in "C:Program FilesWebroot" on my 64-bit machine?  Seriously?  Only one executable?  No DLLs or extra files?
 
I'm very surprised here.  Other software I've used has tons of other files including DLLs, driver files, etc.
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Best answer by JimM 11 July 2012, 16:29

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Userlevel 7
Hi trparky,
 
Welcome to the Community!  That's a great question, and it's actually one that has come up before, so we created a knowledgebase article for it, which you can find here.  It's true that the Webroot installation overall is pretty tiny compared to other antivirus software.  To answer your specific question, the driver for the program is actually kept in the WindowsSystem32Drivers directory, and the DLL is either in WindowsSystem32 or WindowsSysWow64, depending on whether you're running a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows.  The rest of the file locations are detailed in the linked article as well.  Did you know Webroot takes up 141X less space than Symantec?  😃
Userlevel 5
Badge +23
What makes me laugh is that a bitmap screenshot of the UI is larger than the exe file itself!
Did you know Webroot takes up 141X less space than Symantec?

Yeah, I've noted that.  It also seems to be sucking down less system resources than NIS2012 which I used to run before Webroot.
 
So much for NIS2012 being light on its feet, Webroot seems even more so to the point that I hardly notice it running and effecting machine performance.
 
Granted, I shouldn't really have to worry about system performance with my Core i7 and 12 GBs of RAM but I really don't like stuff taking up RAM and wasting it.  I'd rather have my 12 GBs of RAM for stuff that I want my computer to do, like run my programs and games.
Userlevel 7
Badge +56
Hello trparky,
 
Glad to here your giving WSA a go as we were talking about it on DSLR! ;)
 
Cheers,
 
TH
Userlevel 7
I'll add the Welcome to Here from DSLR-Land greetings!  I've been so heavily engaged in technical combat with my ISP's techs that I don't dare go onto DSLR recently or a rant of epic proportions, the likes of which would break the interwebs, would ensue. XD
 
Anyway, the next fun fact:
The kernel driver and the DLL are both packed inside the WRSA.exe file as well.
 
All of the rest of the data used for and by the AV system is generated on your system, for your system, and stored in WRData.  On the average system, WRData consumes under 50MB of space, though it can be smaller and will also generally be bigger on the systems of power users, beta testers, and people who are on top of the cutting edge of technology.
 
As for light, we got the gold AV-Test Performance rankings and wiped the slate with the Passmark rankings. 
 
Though I only have 8GB of RAM myself at home (Dual channel and 16 would be overkill), I still agree that my computer should belong to me, not mostly to me except this chunk for security.
Userlevel 5
Badge +23
Happy to see the Webroot Twitter team used my screenshot example post to promote WSA!

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