4.2. Windows

In the table below, <ProgramDir> refers to the Windows programs folder. This is usually “C:\Program Files” but may also be a different path, e.g. “D:\Programmi”. Likewise, <SystemDir> refers to the Windows system directory. Be sure to read the notes below the table, especially if you’re running Firebird on a 64-bit Windows system.

Table 2. Firebird 3.0 component locations on Windows
ComponentFile NameDefault Location

Installation directory (referred to hereafter as $(install))

-

<ProgramDir>\Firebird\Firebird_3_0

Configuration files

firebird.conf, databases.conf, etc.

$(install)

Release Notes and other documentation

Various files

$(install)\doc

Firebird server

firebird.exe

$(install)

Command-line tools

isql.exe, gbak.exe, nbackup.exe, gfix.exe, gstat.exe, etc.

$(install)

Plugins (new in Firebird 3)

engine12.dll, srp.dll, udr_engine.dll, etc.

$(install)\plugins

Sample database

employee.fdb

$(install)\examples\empbuild

Internationalisation

fbintl.conf, fbintl.dll

$(install)\intl

User-defined function (UDF) libraries

ib_udf.dll, fbudf.dll

$(install)\UDF

Additional server-side libraries

icu*.dll, ib_util.dll

$(install)

Client connection libraries

fbclient.dll (with an optional gds32.dll, to support legacy apps)

$(install) (with an optional copy in <SystemDir> — see note below table)

Some necessary Microsoft runtime libs

msvcp100.dll, msvcr100.dll

$(install)

32-bit library versions for use with 64-bit Firebird

fbclient.dll, msvcp100.dll, msvcr100.dll

$(install)\WOW64 (with an optional copy in SysWOW64 — see second note below table)

The Windows system directory

A typical location for the Windows system directory — on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems — is C:\Windows\System32

If you run Firebird on a 64-bit system, make sure to also read the next note.

Important notice for 64-bit Windows users

On 64-bit Windows systems, the “Program Files” directory is reserved for 64-bit programs. If you try to install a 32-bit application into that folder, it will be auto-redirected to a directory which — in English versions — is called “Program Files (x86)”. In other language versions the name may be different.

In the same vein, the System32 directory is reserved for 64-bit libraries. 32-bit libraries go into SysWOW64. That’s right: 64-bit libraries are in System32, 32-bit libraries in SysWOW64.

If you’re not aware of this, you may have a hard time locating your 32-bit Firebird components on a 64-bit Windows system.

(Incidentally, WOW stands for Windows on Windows. Now you can work out for yourself what LOL means.)