Questions about password manager without using .exe

  • 13 January 2014
  • 17 replies
  • 74 views

I have a few questions about the password manager aspect of webroot.
 
1) does it need to have the webroot.exe installed for the plugin to work?
      a) if so, I would have to install it on every computer I would like my passwords to be used on.. including work computers and library computers correct?
      b) how do install on those computers without using a key for each one?
 
2) if it does not need the webroot.exe installed how do I install the toolbar/pluggin without it?
 
 
Thank you for your time.
 
Edit:
 
Mike found a solution to my original posts question but not a solution to my specific problem. I.E. I was not specific enough for him to troubleshoot properly.
 
I need to install webroot password management without using an .exe to utilize the plugin. A true firefox plugin uses an .xpi file to install and this method allows installs for "normal users" aka non-elevated accounts (atleast in my instance).

17 replies

Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman - These are great questions!
 
You do not need to have Webroot installed on the machine to use the password manager. You can simply download it from here: Password Management Toolbar.
 
Also, if you use a browser like Google Chrome, the extension will be saved and you can enable it on other computers as long as you are signed into your Google Chrome account.
Fantastic information Mike. I can't wait to get home to try this out. You mentioned Chrome being able to do such functions but is there a work-around within firefox or IE? (I currently only have these two options in my work environment)
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
Welcome to the Community Forums...:D
 
Yes, there is the same functionality in IE & FF...I use the former and over 4 different machines in the family on which we have WSA installed I can access and apply passwords automatically based on the site I am signing into.
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick
Userlevel 7
Baldrick explained it for you! You can use the link I posted earlier in all of these browsers to install the extension.
Thank you Baldrick. This is outstanding news as I thought I would have to toss the password management of this program. Now I cant wait to test this out. Thank you for your time. Kudos to you both.
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
No problem.  That is what the Community Forums are here for...a place to come to when one has a question or believes one may have an issue but is not sure if Support should be contacted, etc....but is also a place to learn (and most of us do daily...and have fun doing it :D).
 
Be it the Webroot staff (like Mike and others) or the Community volunteers (like you & I) we aim to be one big happy family.  Hope that you stick around?
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick
Okay, so this has become my mission in life to complete.
 
These are the parameters I am working with:
 
 I have an IE option or a Firefox option (both are a little outdated and I am not at work to tell you what versions they are).
 
I do not have the option of installing anything with an .exe (permissions at work prevent it).
 
 
I can install some extensions and some addons.
 
When I am at home (right now) I can test solutions on my media center computer vs my main computer.
 
What I have tried so far:

I have tried firefox sync which to my knowledge does not xfer extensions
 
I have tried Siphon which does not recognize webroot as an installable extention it can transfer / sync with.
 
I am trying more extensions/addons as we speak but I thought two (or more) heads would be better than one. I will be checking back periodically to see if anyone has any ideas or has successfully used webroot password manager under these parameters. Feel free to throw out some ideas because I need all the help I can get.  Thank you for your time.
 
MtsMan
 
 
Edits:
 
1) I have read about Xmark and icloud so far and it seems both only do bookmarks and such. not addons/extensions. Still looking.
 
2) Siphon sees the webroot extension but once i click install it says "could not locate add-on installer"
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
Apologies if I sound a little dim but you mentioning extensions has got me confused,  The Password Manager, when it has been installed in a browser and you have signed into it, detects login events (& form fillig activities too) and offer the user the option to save the login data (usually username & password, etc.) as well as record options as to how the will be used when the Manager nexts detects the user visiting the site again, i.e., autofill the login data so the user does not need to.
 
The login data is held in the Cloud under the User's Webroot Account (and can be accessed centrally via the Web Console (MyAccount) and as such if the Password Manager Toolbar is installed (and the user is signed in ti the Password Manager) in a browser that they are using on another machine then the site will be detected as having previously stired login data and that will be applied (automatically if the Auto Fill option has been set/assocaited with that data).
 
The only extension related to this is the Password Manager Toobar which can be installed as a browser extension in IE, Chrome and/or FF.  So hopefully you can see  why I am cosnfused by this sudden move to discuss extensions.
 
Can yo advise me as to where I have got confused as to what you are doing...so that hopefully we can assist you further?
 
Thanks in anticipation. ;)
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick
okay, maybe I am a bit confused as well. These are the assumptions that I have made about webroot and the password manager.
 
I assume that, in order to get the password manager to function correctly that I must download/install the toolbar.exe that Mike suggested above  "You do not need to have Webroot installed on the machine to use the password manager. You can simply download it from here: Password Management Toolbar.".
 
This still provides a problem for me and my work computer as the password management toolbar is actually an .exe. I can not install executable files on my work machine due to restrictions the company puts on the average user (me). I would need an elevated account for an action like that.
 
This is where I assume webroot is lacking over lastpass (at this early stage of webroot password management) as lastpass has an extension within firefox/ie/chrome that you can install and operate that way (directly from ff/ie/chrome and not in .exe format). This bipasses the need to install an exe and operates within my companies parameters.

Maybe I am wrong and over thinking this whole issue (which I tend to do from time to time). Please shed some light on what I am missing.
 
Edit: 
 
added "(directly from ff/ie/chrome and not in .exe format)" for clarity
I am continuing with my train of thought until I get confirmation of another way as I really would like this to work by tomorrow morning to test at work.
 
FEBE addon looks promising. It stores the addon function as a .xpi which might allow me to install via my work machine tomorrow. I tried to use the webroot anywhere folder to back it up to but it seems I need to have webroot installed to have my anywhere folder installed on my desktop. I havent seen a function to dld off the information from the webroot webpage but I just glanced at it and have not really looked "deep" into the settings yet. If I cant make it work with webanywhere (trying to use mostly webroot functions to get this done) I could use a dropbox of sorts.
 
more to follow.
 
edit:
 
wow, talk about right in my face.  Right click the file in webroot anywhere and select download to get it to the new computer... yeah talk about over thinking things...
 
edit 2:
 
bah, unless i did something wrong FEBE exports/imports everything BUT the webroot password manager.  When I import the FEBE created .xpi (which is supposed to roll all addons into it and repack it via an xpi) it installs siphon and FEBE addons (the only addons besides webroot I have installed currently) but gives a generic java error for the webroot password manager. If anyone is interested in the error I can recreate it but I just assume move on to other plugins first until more brain power arrives and wants it.
for future reference my work computer has FF 17.0.11   and  IE 8.0.7601.17514.
 
I am at work now and will continue troubleshooting tonight.
okay.... I am utterly confussed.
 

I decided to login to my webroot anywhere folder online and try to install the FEBE .xpi to see if it would work. I saw instead that I had a webrootpasswordmanager [2.5.0].xpi created at midnight last night in my anywhere folder (I was asleep at that point). It was a pleasant but scary surprise as I use that to successfully install the webapp but I didnt put it there. Can someone explain what is going on and how I over complicated things once again?
 
Thanks
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
Apologies for the delay in gettiing back to you but I am domiciled in the UK (and assume that yo are in the USA or at least not the UK) and so our attendance in the Forum most likely leaves only a narrow window of communal attendance. :(
 
I think that the confusion is that unless one installs WSA (the full app which itself is a .exe) on the system in question, in which case the Password Manager in the Webroot Toolbar comes as part of that as addons for IE, Chrome & FF, you need to use the .exe that MikeR provided...so in the case of your work computer I think that given the bar on you running .exes you have no way of installing the addons (unless @ has some view given his experience with the business side/application of WSA).
 
Essentially once you have installed either WSA or run the Toolbar .exe the next time you go into one of the supported browsers you should be prompted to allow the Webroot-related extensions.  From what I can tell this has happened for you in FF (and the webrootpasswordmanager [2.5.0].xpi has been updated recently because it was orginally installed/allowed by you...checked on my system and mine shows the update to the new version on 04/01/14).
 
It is the bar on running .exes on your work PC that is the issue...I believe.
 
Hope that clarifies it for you, as I think that it has clarified the position for me?  Anyway, post back your thoughts and we will see if we can align on where we are re. this issue.
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick
Baldrick,
 
let me further clarify my confussion.  I have installed the .exe toolbar only on my home computer. Today I came into work and happened to check the anywhere folder for another program and I had an XPI based webrootpasswordmanager file in the cloud folder. I have not installed the .exe toolbar on this work computer but I used that XPI webroot file to install it manually on my work computer without using the exe based toolbar at work and it is now working on my work computer as an addon. My confusion now comes in how the XPI based file got into my anywhere folder and how I can recreate it if I was to ever lose it. I also am curious on why I would even need the EXE based toolbar installed if all I need is the XPI.
 
 
Edit:
 
I have not installed anything webroot related on this work computer except the webrootpasswordmanager.XPI that was in my anywhere folder on the cloud.
 
 
 
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
Well, kudos to you for the "...XPI webroot file to install it manually on my work computer without using the exe based toolbar at work". ;)
 
Perhaps the solution is the same for IE, in other word that we see if it is possible for Webroot Support to send you the extension files for IE NOT in a .exe file and then attempt to manually import into the browser.  I do not know if this is possible (@ @ would one of you knowledgable chaps be able to find out/advise if this is something that (i) is possible and (ii) Support would entertain doing if it is?) but if it is then the suggestion would be that you open a Support Ticket...but lets see if we can get an answer to that underlying question of feasability first.
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick
Thanks Baldrick,
 
Everything is working great with just the XPI  installed right now. The only thing I am confussed about is how that XPI file got placed in the anywhere folder. After I figure that out and can duplicate it (for future releases) I will be as happy as a clam. I would be more than happy to be a test bed for any other ideas that webroot has. Just let me know how I can be of help.
 
Thanks
Userlevel 7
Hi Mtsman
 
Glad to hear that you are a happier bunny...but not yet a clam. ;)
 
I think that the only way that yo will ever get an answer is to log a Support Ticket and ask the question.
 
In terms of your offer to be "...a test bed for any other ideas that webroot has. Just let me know how I can be of help." there is no longer a beta program but your are most welcome to stick around in the Community and help out with user issues & queries where you can...one learns a lot too and it is fun. 
 
Hope to see you around...and if yo do open that ticket and get a nswer, i.e., you become a clam ;) do post back and let us all know the answer.
 
Regards
 
 
Baldrick

Reply