Which? Sandboxie, BufferZone Home or DeepFreeze

Couldn't agree more!.

I too have settled on Bufferzone and am extremely happy with it's performance. My newly acquired freebie ShadowSurfer will be installed on my girlfriend's computer.

 

WindowsFirewall; Next to having two active AntiVirus running, two Firewalls are near the top of the 'no-no' list and would expect that ZA would object to my having WFW running.. however have never seen any complaint..

I have Office 2002 (complete) and BufferZone 'Single-App' (for IE), I can open WordPad (or NotePad) inside BufferZone, but not MS Word or Excel (can't see a need to, so that not a problem for me).

Most applications WILL open inside BufferZone from a Right-Click menu and you can also mark them to "hide from BufferZone" Firefox runs in BufferZone as long as a non-BZ'd Firefox is not already open.

Comments about BZ Version 2.10 mention that it is important to remove Firefox before you ["Empty BufferZone"] to prevent loss of Firefox.exe..
Trustware is working on fix for that

My BufferZone is different in that it is just the {Free} SA and version 1.90, not the latest, the way BZ's installer works, a current install will be v2.10 and no option for older versions.

Like you said:

I have left excite.com's Cookies inside their Red Folders, as it now opens much faster.

US Customs 'buy an entry sticker' now only works in IE.
I completed a 'Log-on' and CC 'purchase' with my BZ'd IE for that, would that indicate a need to ["Empty BufferZone"]

I apologise for my lack of security knowledge (that is what brings me to Wilders Security Forum) but BZ's Tutorial only says

No sign of "Slow..." what do they mean by "DIRTY"??

 

Hello pilotart

Firstly, when i started with the free version, i found that any program that had to be manually added to run in the 'Bufferzone', had to be moved back out before cleaning or it would be deleted. With this new Home version i'm using now, i can add things through the GUI and happily they're still present after cleaning.
As far as being 'Dirty', this term probably relates to malware and/or items that for privacy concerns, would want them removed. I empty the Bufferzone daily
If you do not empty it on a regular basis, i would recommend you do so before and after any important online activity involving credit card, etc incase malware such as a keylogger was hiding in the Bufferzone.

 

Thank you,

That seems to be a good idea for protecting important data and goes along with the motive of using BZ in the 1st place.
A similar thought was mentioned on the BZ Forum:

and the reply from BZ was:

______________________________________________________________________________


AntiVir Update Logs often used to contain notes like below:

Never found out what that referred to

 

Well, that is just my interpretation so don't quote me on it!

 

This is the default option for the [Empty BufferZone]

Would think that the third option would be the one to use, or ALL of them??

 

I tick em all. Then there is a slight delay while it prepares the Bufferzone again the next time i start say 'Firefox'. Just remember you will probably loose any bookmarks, etc after cleaning. I always make sure i've moved all downloads out of the Bufferzone first. And temp. disable Bufferzone to apply new bookmarks, etc. But since it can be accomplished from the tray icon, i don't mind doing that.

 

Well, I tried Shadowsurfer and am back to Bufferzone. No problems with it, just didn't suit me all that well.

I went hunting and found a version of BZ 1.90.11 on the net, don't recall the url but it was an Italian site, and downloaded it. I don't know if it's free or what. It says limited version. Don't know how to do screen captures to show the page called Summary. On the right side it says Limited Version.

All I can say is it offers a lot more than the new free version (so far) and seems to be pretty complete, except that it won't let me change the maintenance. Or, I can check the box and set it to empty Bufferzone every day. I save it, and next time I start the computer, it's back to 30 days. There might be other things I can't do. Haven't gotten into it yet. In any case, I like it more than the newer version. Oh, and I can't set IE, Firefox, or my IM permanently in Bufferzone. They will open in BZ with a right click and select open in bZ but not permanent, with the red square around them. That's no big deal though.

One question for you BZ users: What is the purpose of the Bufferzone Desktop? What would it be used for? It doesn't explain anything about it in the help files.

 

Bufferzone free - In order to protect more than one application, you must run the downloaded installation file again, once for each application you want to protect.

Sandboxie - right click any app and run sandboxed.

Bufferzone - 8.72 meg download, 20 meg installed.

Sandboxie - 250 kb download, 1 meg installed.

Bufferzone - processess - don't know.

Sandboxie - processess - 3 - total 7 meg.

Protection is much the same judging from comments and reviews I have read.As for ease of use I would say most apps become easy to use given a bit of time.

Sandboxie tip.

The desktop shortcut - Run default web browser under Sandboxie - right click - rename to Firefox (or whatever),right click again - properties - change icon to suit.

Have a FF icon in quicklaunch that opens FF normally.

 

This may be a late post, but what I like about sandboxie is:

1) Small download
2) Can use it on demand. If not necessary, close it and it only has one process running at about 2mb's.
3) In one testing, only test it failed was that personal data could be accessed. jetico takes care of that.
4) free
5) runs about 10mb's on my system. Not bad for the hips or real-time scanners it replaced.

 

Forgot to add:

While bufferzone seems like a fine program, it has a conflict with Jetico. When I tried to download BF , it told me to either cancel or 86 Jetico. Since I like Jetico, it was BF that got the Saddam treatment.

 

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/BufferZone-Download-38603.html#download_locations
Link above should have BZ v1.90-11 (7.9MB)

I have used BZ v1.9 since September, never 'emptied' it until yesterday (see post above) and selected all three buttons.

Well... might have waited too long as after that, it took about an hour to never start IE. Restored to before that action, saved a copy and removed it to install 2.10-37.

New version seems fine for me (only want it for Internet Explorer) but 1.9 will easily open other apps from a right click menu. Version 2.1 has same menu, but did not try it.

One major annoyance is this window that keeps popping up, no such file has EVER existed on my system...
there must be an easy way to stop that (also has same window for a non existing ALPS Touchpad file, but it is just one time) Or I may revert back to 1.9 again.

edit:- for more on this issue, see: www.castlecops.com...BZv2_1_looking_for_Apwheel_exe.

 

BufferZone works differently than a 'sandbox' --->

from Trustware FAQ site

 

Sandboxie is quite flexible:

Sandboxie FAQ
http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?FrequentlyAskedQuestions#SandboxablePrograms

 

Hi, folks: When users choose to use these sandbox/virtualization apps, most have the foremost important element of wish, that is total security and complete safety; absolutely no compromises. If there is an issue of app flexibility or functionabilty dependence, then w/ any slip of anything, your are at risk which you have been trying to avoid. Flexibility w/ sandboxing products and trusted/alien programs concept still cast some doubts on my head re their total protection possibility. But, pls do not get me wrong, those apps have been proven to be as effective as been claimed, and have secured a good number of clients. IMO, I prefered a total and complete sandbox/virtualization app, no worry but sacrificing flexibility.

 

Hi Perman,

Did you ever find out what the malware was that broke out of the sandbox and shutdown your av was?

It must have been a something special to knock out your first and second lines of defense.

Maybe you could tell me how get my hands on it by pm.

 

Sandboxie works for me.
It is simple and trusty. No trusted things allowed or anything, everything is sandboxed that is run inside of it.

I do have to make my trusted bookmarks to my Firefox when running it outside Sandboxie, of course, otherwise it would not be a sandbox.
Them could be allowed of course trusted too, but that is to sacrifice security.

I changed to Avira Antivir from Avast that had proxy lookup for browsers and email clients. Avast is a really nice AV.
I am not really sure if I get guarded the same way as with Avast with Avira Classic with Sandboxie with email, since my email pop3 box is allowed to access.
I think it brings me that added protection though that email malware should have only access to my email Thunderbird box and not whole wide to my system.
Anyways I have switched to my gmail account more that can be used with web browser just fine without email client.

 

While i'm not 100%certain, it appears to be that while in 'Bufferzone Desktop', absolutely everything on your computer is run as 'untrusted', therefore, run in the Bufferzone. I've gone in and moved/deleted a number of things on both of my partitions and everything was returned to it's place after de-activating Bufferzone Desktop. What i really like is this was all accomplished without having to 'Reboot' though, 2 extra processes that are created when switching to Bufferzone Desktop, remain running in the Bufferzone until the system is rebooted. But this proved to me just how flexible Bufferzone is!

 

Thanks, tobacco. So, the ideal would be that while surfing to use the Bufferzone Desktop. Then, when finished simply turn it off.

I don't visit the dark side of the web or play games online, and consider myself a very - extremely in fact - safe surfer, BUT of late, even visiting supposedly safe sites have been hit with things. That tells me that no place is safe any more. Fortunately, nothing got into my machine.

I've been hesitant to give it a try, but think I will.

 

Can you describe these "things?" Do you still have the URLs?

Thanks,

-rich

________________________________________________________________
"Talking About Security Can Lead To Anxiety, Panic, And Dread...
Or Cool Assessments, Common Sense And Practical Planning..."

--Bruce Schneier​

 

No, i don't feel that is necessary. Running your browser in regular Bufferzone is fine!. To be honest, i haven't played around with Bufferzone Desktop enough to figure out all of it's advantages yet. 2 that come to mind are if you like to collect and run 'Malware' on your machine, then it might give you more piece of mind doing it through Bufferzone Desktop. Another, in my case, is when the neices are over and want to use my computer. I don't have to worry about something important getting deleted by accident.

 

Good points. I made the mistake of allowing a neighbor's son to use mine for some supposed high school research. I don't know what research he did, but do know some of it was on warez sites. Fortunately, again, my then antivirus caught some things. Others it didn't. Suffice to say, it took a while to clean out all the nasties. The good neighbor policy ended that day.

I also have grandchildren. I think the BZ desktop would be an ideal situation for when they're here.

 

Hi, folks: hi, franklin; I do not have any sort of problem since using DeePFreeze. The issue you raised here is likely post by other member on this thread or a similiar one. However, I did have a very bad encounter w/ malware. During pre-DF era, in spite of my heavy defense lineup, some very nasty thing made its way into my box. During one reboot, most of system files had memory errors, not opening at all. I sought the aid of FirstDefense-ISR, rebooting into secondary snapshot, then imaged the troubled one, the result was even worse, now these two had same fate. My last remedy was ATI, still to no avail. That was when I decided to enlist DF. No regret whatsoever since .

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the urls any longer. Most of my online time is visiting various forums ranging from political to security to history and historical research sites, and some forums on ghosts and hauntings since the books I write (fiction) often deal with the supernatural.

The viruses and trojans came, not from the forums, but from several research sites. Unfortunately again, I don't know which ones because I visit many. By the time I realized the computer was infected, I couldn't say which ones had the virus or trojan.

I think this is where either BZ in my case, or a good sandboxing program comes in handy, along with better antivirus than the one I was using then.

 

I really cannot understand that phrase, what does it really mean Perman?
w/ malware

?