Install on Windows

By the end of this page Virtue FX Manager will be installed as a REAPER extension and reachable from the REAPER Action List.

Virtue FX Manager for Windows ships as an installer built with Inno Setup. It installs a single REAPER extension file and needs no administrator rights for the standard per-user install path.

Close REAPER first

Quit REAPER completely before running the installer. REAPER loads extensions at startup and holds the old file open while running, so installing over a running REAPER produces an extension that will not load.

Who signed the installer

From version 1.2.3, the installer, the uninstaller it writes and the extension reaper_virtue.dll are code-signed and timestamped. The Windows security prompt therefore names a publisher:

Rodney Florencio da Costa

That is the name on the certificate — Rodney signs the Windows builds himself, under his own name rather than a company name. The certificate was issued by Certum Code Signing 2021 CA and runs until 19 December 2027. If the prompt shows any other publisher name, you are not running our file.

Installers for 1.2.2 and earlier were never signed, so on those Windows has no publisher to name and says the publisher is unknown. That is expected for an older download.

A SmartScreen warning can still appear

The signature is a standard code-signing certificate, which buys no automatic reputation. Windows Defender SmartScreen also scores a file by how many people have run it, and a new certificate starts that score at zero. For now, expect the blue “Windows protected your PC” screen the first time you run a new release, until the certificate builds reputation. The publisher line it shows after More info confirms the file is genuine. The steps below get you past it; if it does not appear, skip ahead to Install.

Get past the SmartScreen warning

SmartScreen shows a blue screen when it has not yet seen an installer run often enough. This is a reputation prompt, not a malware detection. The first blue screen shows no publisher line; that appears after the next click.

1. Click More info under the warning text.

   

2. The dialog now shows App and Publisher. Check that the publisher reads Rodney Florencio da Costa.

3. Click Run anyway at the bottom-right of the dialog.

Confirm you have the real file

The publisher name on the prompt tells you the file was signed by Rodney and has not been altered since. The checksum tells you it is the same file we published. Only run an installer downloaded from virtuecreativesystems.com, and check its SHA-256 against the checksum shown on the download page:

Get-FileHash .\vfxm-win.exe -Algorithm SHA256

Install

1. Confirm the REAPER path.

   The installer auto-detects your REAPER resource directory at %APPDATA%\REAPER. If you run a portable REAPER installation, browse to that folder instead — the extension must live inside the REAPER installation you actually launch.

   

2. Install.

   Click Next, then Install. The extension reaper_virtue.dll is copied into your UserPlugins folder.

   

3. Launch it in REAPER.

   Open REAPER, press ? to open the Action List, search for Virtue FX Manager, and run the action. The window opens over REAPER.

What the installer writes

Path	Contents
%APPDATA%\REAPER\UserPlugins\reaper_virtue.dll	The REAPER extension itself
%APPDATA%\REAPER\Virtue\	Your data: settings, favourites, thumbnails, notes, themes

The installer does not modify REAPER’s own program files. Updating or reinstalling preserves everything in the Virtue\ folder.

Next steps

• Activate your licence — start a trial or enter a purchased key.
• Quick start — first scan and first plugin insert.
• REAPER does not list the Virtue action — if the extension does not appear.