Wake up fellas!

I just recently downloaded sandboxie and im having an issue with it. Because of my friends, I frequently get manpapered. If I leave them around my unsupervised computer for even a minute they always change my desktop background. I thought I had found the solution in sandboxie but I can still change the desktop background even when firefox/internet explorer is running in sandbox mode. If sandboxie lets this kind of behavior through, will it not potentially let other malicious programs access my computer? Or am I just being paranoid?

 

well login as a limited account when your freinds are around so they cant change anything.
lodore

 

You are doing something wrong, Sandboxie should handle this and I would suggest you visit their forums for help.

 

And by the way, I have found Sandboxie a hell of a lot more stable then Power Shadow.

 

You wouldn't happen to own a red stapler by any chance, would you?
All kidding aside - what's wrong with logging out when you leave your PC?
Simple, yet effective.

 

If your friends change my desktop background, I get mine back after reboot.
I've put Windows + Applications in a big sandbox

 

its unpractical for most people thou.
lodore

 

It is my opinion that few users are going to go for a sandbox or many of the applications recommended here. All they are going to put with is an AV and maybe an AS program.
I also admit that I am not too far from that also. If my AV and AS won't do the job then I am in trouble, although I do use several as my signature shows.

Regards,
Jerry

 

Jerry, I have found that Sandboxie, a good AV, 'Avira" and AS are about the best you can get today.

 

Guys, just out of curiosity - how often do you actually have any kind of virus/ trojan/ malware penetration that you fix with Sandboxie or similar?
I may have been lucky but on my main pc relying on Nod, a firewall and being behind a router I cannot even remember when anything popped up last.
I am somewhat paranoid about the dangers lurking out there but I never personally encountered them. Are you using Sandboxie (and similar) primarily if/when you surf to suspicious sites? Maybe I never do that and that's why I am unconvinced that for daily use it is necessary for everyone.

 

i use to have tons of antispyware and antimalware apps.
including spysweeper in realtime.
but i cut down since they where just wasting space and resources.
they never found anything.
lodore

 

It's very possible that im doing something wrong. But it seems to block everything else. And if I don't change the background image back to what I had it before, it resets after I reboot.

 

I used to run several anti-malware apps too. Since switching to Vista I have been just using NIS for all-around protection. A couple of weeks ago the SysAdmin at work gave me a copy of SpySweeper (he ordered 5 but got 10 copies instead, lol). I installed it but only use it for on-demand scanning. Only thing it has found is a few cookies.

I have ran different online scanners--Trend, BitDefender, DrWeb--but none has found anything.

So with NIS '07 and running as a Standard User in Vista, I feel reasonably safe.

 

Just curious, how do you get make sandboxie prevent desktop wallpaper changes?

 

i was gonna say the same

 

Hi Lodore,
My experience also. I got caught up in the layering upon layering because so many security programs were recommended and used.
In about 8 years now of owning computers I only recall about 3 attempts at infection, and the AV I was using caught them and prevented execution. None of the other applications caught anything, except some cookies.

I have about decided that a good AV, firewall, and one AS is all I need. I must add Win Patrol as it does some good things like showing start up and active programs. I can disable programs as I desire.

I am probably overly layered on my laptop. The only security applications I have active on my desktop are Avira, WP, LnS firewall and at times SAS.

I suppose I might have to learn the hard way, but until I get infected I remain unconvinced for the need of many security programs. That is somewhat influenced by the fact that the people I personally know normally don't have anything except AVG or the AV that came on the system, and AdAware and Spybot, and the Windows firewall. They never seem to have problems, and I cannot say the same for most of us here with a number of applications that sometimes conflict and cause problems.

Best,
Jerry

 

I was pretty stunned when our college senior moved back home for his last semester (no job, no money to pay rent, etc.) and we set up a wireless connection for him and when I looked and found an old Sygate Firewall and no AV or AS on his computer, I immediately ran online scans and there was no virus or malware on his laptop! Although I must admit that I added a free AV on his laptop. I'm thinking this kid is okay, he's not going to questionable sites, playing games, etc. Go figure...and here I have AV, AS, Anti-Trojan, etc., on my computer. Sometimes I do wonder if we carry things a bit far.

 

I'm wondering that too. Now that I'm running standard account in Vista, I'm trying to figure out what I really need while trying not to go overboard.

I'm using Avira (free version) with Vista's firewall (public), and I've played around with DefenseWall, but still not sure if I need it with my setup. Almost forgot, I'm also behind a router with NAT enabled. Downloading and installing trial programs is my biggest risk. Just not sure what's really necessary.

 

Wouldn't password protecting your admin account and enabling a guest account when your away from your computer protect things like your wallpaper? I guess there are ways around that too, but you could always limit the ways. I honestly don't know much about the guest account, I'm just guessing.

I'm beginning to agree about the need for an excessive amount of security software. It's kinda fun playing with new ones and getting the latest versions. I remember my first nasty virus. My computer kept slowing and the hard disk was almost running constantly. I had Norton, I should be protected right? I did a scan and found nothing. Ahha, I updated the definitions and found over 2000 infected files. My toy was broken. That was 2001, I'm much wiser today thanks to forums such as this one.

 

Seen a couple of references in this thread to "doesn't go to questionable sites". Servers for the most reputable sites in the world can be hacked and that could put you at risk if you visit them. (until they fix them).

 

Oooooh, that is the secret of Sandboxie.

 

Wait, what? Is there a FAQ someplace that explains how to do this?

 

Hello,
pbernard, Poet, you really do not need much to avoid getting infected, even if you go to "questionable" sites, playing games etc. You can safely IM, P2P, game and porn, and there's no reason to get infected.
Mrk

 

It was a joke. Just as my orginal post was assine. Sandboxie cant do this. It would benefit me to read all posts before making a fool out of myself. Sorry.

 

Sorry, I didn't catch the joke (lack of sleep + my medication = alot of ). For a while there I thought you new a secret you didn't want to share. I really need to start paying more attention.