variants

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title: Variants permalink: /variants nav_order: 5

Variants: Dokan vs. WinFsp

SimpleZipDrive is published as two executables. They share the entire core (archive engine, caches, settings, logging) and the UI; the difference is the user-mode filesystem driver used to present the virtual drive.

Comparison

Capability	SimpleZipDrive (Dokan)	SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp (WinFsp)
Executable	SimpleZipDrive.exe	SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp.exe
Required driver	Dokan v2	WinFsp 2.1 or newer (older versions are blocked with a "WinFsp version mismatch" dialog; 2.2.x betas work)
Driver service	Dokan driver loads on demand	Requires the WinFsp.Launcher service to be Running (checked before every mount)
Drive-letter mounts (M–Q)	✔	✔
Folder mounts	✔ (folder must exist)	✔ (folder is created if missing, write-tested first)
Cross-integrity mounting	—	✔ (see below)
Mount implementation	In-process via DokanNet (DokanInstanceBuilder)	In-process via FileSystemHost.Mount
Mount volume style	RemovableDrive	Standard host volume
Pre-mount driver check	DokanVersion() P/Invoke + architecture check	Native DLL preload, registry version check, service check
Retries on driver error	2 retries with 1 s delay (skipped for "Can't install")	Maps NTSTATUS codes to specific messages (see Mounting)
Admin warning	Logs a warning when not elevated	No warning; elevation triggers cross-integrity mode instead

Cross-integrity mounting (WinFsp only)

Windows isolates resources between integrity levels: a drive mounted by an elevated (Administrator) process is normally invisible or inaccessible to standard-user processes, and vice versa.

The WinFsp variant solves this with cross-integrity folder mounts:

• The archive is mounted on a folder instead of a drive letter — by default under %LOCALAPPDATA%\SimpleZipDrive\Mounts\<ArchiveName> (configurable, see Configuration).
• A permissive security descriptor (D:P(A;;FA;;;WD) — Everyone: Full Access, protected DACL) is applied so both standard and elevated processes can read the mount.
• It is used automatically when:
  • the app runs as Administrator (forced, so your standard-user apps can see the drive), or
  • the Cross-integrity mount setting is enabled.
• In cross-integrity mode, requested drive letters are redirected to the folder with the log line "Cross-integrity mode: Drive letter mounts are not supported. Redirecting to folder mount."

See Mounting for the mechanics and Security & Privacy for the security implications.

Which one should you use?

• Default recommendation: Dokan. Long-established driver, simplest setup, identical core features.
• Choose WinFsp if you need:
  • mounting by elevated processes that must remain accessible to normal apps (or vice versa),
  • automatic creation of fresh mount folders,
  • the WinFsp ecosystem (e.g. you already use other WinFsp-based filesystems).
• Driver version discipline (WinFsp): keep the native driver at 2.1 stable or a 2.2+ beta. The app deliberately uses the 2.1 managed interop because newer interop packages reject the stable 2.1 driver with "incorrect dll version (need 2.2, have 2.1)". If you upgrade the native driver to a 2.2+ beta, the app continues to work.

You can install both variants side by side — they use separate executables and separate driver stacks, but only one mount at a time per instance.