Freeware Sandboxie Alternative?

I also would have replaced Sandboxie with Bufferzone, but aside from Sandboxie's stability and reliability, you can get support on Sandboxie from the developer himself and also the community of Sandboxie is also helpful. Go to Trustware's forums and you'll see a "wasteland".

 

Same at SB forums.

 

I can't, it really messed up my machine. Left phantom files around. All my favorites were messed up. I couldn't connect to some vpn's, the list goes on and on. And as the previous poster said, their forum was barren. I really don't think there is a freeware solution to SBIE. Maybe someday.

Ice

 

@TheMozart

I have had many quests like the one you are currently on, covering a wide range of topics/ideas. We all have I think. In this instance specifically, I think you are going to find that there is no real alternative to a product that has no alternative. You can find similar tools that can give you security like SBIE can, but I don't think you will find a sandbox alternative that is the same. Others share the same sentiment - SBIE is in a class of its own, for many reasons.

To me the parts of SBIE that give me the warm fuzzies are that it is very small footprint/resource, very stable, updated very frequently, used by a large enough number of users that help is readily available and finally, highly tweakable. In short, it just works for most of us.

Whatever alternative you find might come with its own set of positive features, but IMO you won't find one to replace SBIE features. Maybe you will have to make a concession to use another product. I have tried most of them, and for myself decided I was not willing to make those concessions, so I stuck with SBIE.

I still think that you might be able to be more creative in finding an answer to your SBIE problems, but that is up to you to decide

Sul.

 

Ice, I am surprised at your comments, close minded in fact, because you should know better than what happened almost 1 year ago with you and Bufferzone is no reflection on what happens today. That would be like me saying to people that I refuse to install and try Sandboxie because 1 year ago I had a problem with it.

Times change, PC configurations change, Operating Systems change and how certain programs behave change in different environments.

Your loss Ice, Bufferzone PRO Freeware is very impressive, and I will continue using that and wave goodbye to SB and tzuk.

 

Thank you Sul for your comments, however, at the end of the day, I do not go by comments or product claims, I go by performance and how a certain behaves for me personally on my personal PC. And I can tell you, SB by tzuk behaves poorly and even crashes my whole W7 when I am doing a lot of multitasking. I have never ever had W7 crash on me, ONLY EVER HAPPENED WHEN I WAS RUNNING SB.

Suffice to say, I am now happily using Bufferzone PRO Freeware and it doesn't crash my W7

W7 never crashed and froze the screen before I began using SB and it never has since I removed SB, so what's that tell you?

Cheers Sul.

 

Are you using BZ stock or custom settings?

 

Out of the box, but I did add a folder to the "Confidential Files".

Why you asking? Got some ideas what I should do with BZ?

 

To each his own. I had too many problems using bufferzone. It would freeze on me and throw a few BSOD's. I've never had that problem with sandboxie. Of course everyone's system is different. What might work for you, might not work for me.

 

How long ago? What version of BZ PRO were you using then?

 

The current one that came out about 4 months ago. I don't think that they've had any further major updates.

 

True, it is closed minded. I'm just to lazy to try it again. Maybe it is much better than when I tried it. I'm happy with the security setup I have now. Good Luck using BZ Pro!

Ice

 

I agree, comments and claims are not the determining factor, but stabilty and useability to me are. (as well as performance etc) It is the right call to use what works best for you, every time.

That tells me that you have an issue. Windows 7 should be the same on your machine as it is on mine. If a program works on mine, it should on yours. If the developer made it work on a testbed, it should work on all production machines. That is just the way it is.

I am not saying you are stating SBIE is junk, so don't take it that way. What I am saying is that any program that is used by the majority, that does not exhibit problems, to me that is to be considered the norm. When the program exhibits unique behaviour, it is not the fault of the program, but of the system it is running on. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a generic one. So, it tells me you have something going on with your machine that is not normal. That is neither good nor bad, just how it is.

I cannot defend Tzuk if he is rude. But neither can I condemn him if he has not been rude to me. I don't plan on taking that crusade because it really doesn't matter. I understand that developing a program is multi-faceted. And I also understand that a programmer may not be as good at relations as he is at programming, so I feel some leeway must be given. Not excused, but understanding each ones strengths and weaknesses allows one to deal with weak areas better.

Personally, I applaud the man for how he maintains the application, for how he is from what I have seen, very responsive to issues that develop. In your case, I think you have something going on that is abnormal. As a developer, it is nigh on impossible to make something that will work 100% of the time on systems that can be so varied. This is especially true in the home segment, where we each install what we want. The sheer amount of variability is staggering. The development is done on an up to date OS, with very little 3rd party applications installed is my bet. And in that environment, the program works well. The fact that the majority have no issues to me is amazing, considering how many variables there are at play.

You have something different. I cannot say what, just that whatever it is, effects SBIE in some way. You should be seeking other alternatives if you don't want to start over. But, on the other hand, if you do want to use SBIE, you have to find what is different in your system that causes it to give problems.

It doesn't matter either way really. You are the only one who can determine if you want to make concessions to keep using SBIE. I just don't think you can blame the program for what it is doing on your machine. (I am not saying you are, just using YOU metaphorically because of the content of this thread)

Sul.

 

What OS were you using? And what kind of problems did you experience?

I have no problems at all with Bufferzone pro, but with Sandboxie I did.

I am running W7 Home Premium, what were you running 4 months ago when you used Bufferzone pro?

And did you know that the same version of Bufferzone pro may behave and run differently TODAY than 4 months ago, seeing your Windows OS has been UPDATED and you may not be running the exact same programs/drivers that you were 4 months ago! Do you understand that and how it works? Do you get it? OR want me to explain it to you?

 

No worries, and I am glad you admitted that you cannot judge a program today by how you experienced it in the past, because programs do change versions, and even if you are using the SAME version of Bufferzone pro, that doesn't mean you will experience the same problems now as back then, because the Windows OS changes files and updates, and your system may be running completely new programs/drivers now, and you may have removed programs that you were using in the past that may have conflicted with BZPRO, which can have an affect on how programs run? True or False?

 

Sul, you cannot be serious? lol, Where you been living, under a rock?

Don't you realise and understand that just because you and I may be running the exact same Windows OS, that our systems may behave very differently, because we may have very different drivers and programs installed.

Do you understand this or you want me to explain this to you?

 

I really don't care for the way your responding. I'm very aware how things can change after 4 months. I don't believe that bufferzone has come out with a major change in the past 4 months. If they haven't then my results would still be the same.

I'm running the same. Win 7 premium 32 bit.
The problems that I was having was it would drag to open a browser. Also when I opened firefox the window wouldn't maximize to full screen.
When I had left it running at one point, I came back to see a BSOD. I couldn't get the error off the screen quick enough so I'm unsure what happened.
That was enough for me. I won't use any program that causes a BSOD. Like I've said before, there are way too many options for security software to settle for something.
I'm glad that Bufferzone works for you but it doesn't give you the right to push something.

 

You still don't get it!

You can install the EXACT same program on Windows 4-6 months ago and then install the EXACT same program today, and it may behave completely differently, due to your Windows AV programs, other programs etc, and drivers etc having CHANGED and being UPDATED and perhaps you have removed certain programs/drivers in the last 4-6 months etc that may contribute to the EXACT SAME program version of Bufferzone and how it behaves and runs today.

BZ doesn't give me any BSOD, even when I do exactly as you have described. So if I were you, I would open my mind, toss your pride aside, and try it again and see.

 

@kjdemuth

Sorry for being off topic here, but I like your setup...Looks very strong

 

I have tried Bufferzone Pro...It's a nice program, but just not my cup of tea.

Here are my reasons:

1. Memory usage can get a tad bit high
2. Too many processes for not running anything in the sandbox, even more when running an application sandboxed.
3. Not enough leg room for tweaking, at least for my tastes
4. Bufferzone doesn't seem to like Firewalls, it can be a pain to get going if you're using a third party Firewall. Windows Firewall seems to play nice though
5. The software lacks improvements/updates. It stays stagnate for too long.

Some will like it, Some won't

I fall under the category of liking it, but not enough to run it all the time.

And yes, I have used the latest and greatest of Bufferzone Pro (About a month ago)

 

1. You must be joking? In this day and age with 4GB+ being normal, you think 8-10MB of Mem usage is too high? You cannot be serious?

2. Name them all, because I don't get that many. And explain what the problem is them running?

3. What kind of tweaking you want to do?

4. What firewalls don't play nice with BZ and why aren't you just using the Windows one? And don't you have a properly setup router?

5. What improvements/updates needs to be done to it? Do you have any support or evidence where BZ fails?

 

Good thinking

Oh, change of mind

"wasteland" I have never seen such support from any company, Tzuk is highly respected, not just for his creation, but also, his dedication for improvement and personal support.

 

Yes changed my mind and went with BufferZone. It does everything I want and need and more. Very happy, and thank goodness, I no longer have to have my Laptop freezing since I removed Sandboxie.

Maybe Sandboxie is OK for the average user, but for power users or people who have many windows open at same time doing many different things, then Sandboxie is no good and can freeze a system.

And you said "Tzuk is highly respected", but that depends whom you ask, not everyone respects the man, I certainly do not and so do many others not respect him, even some on this forum. I can never respect a man who gets rude and defensive and even condescending towards someone who finds a bug in his program, or questions it regarding a challenge they experienced, and reports it. Instead of humbly accepting the report, the man goes into a proud "defense mode" and starts personally attacking the person and trying to shift blame on the person, rather than humbly investigating the problem. I have experienced this first hand, so have many others.

Respect is earned by not just what a man achieves, but how he responds to and treats others.

Cheers.

 

1. If you show all the processes running....It uses more than 10MB. It uses a little bit more than Sandboxie (Which is one of the reasons why I switched). Memory sizes can also differ from time to time (Small or Large footprint) on any system. It isn't always going to be 10MB as you claim. The more the program does, the more the memory will fluctuate. Why should I use Bufferzone, when another program can function better for me? and yes that includes having a smaller footprint. Plus if you go back and read my other post, I said it gets a Tad bit high

2. I don't have Bufferzone Pro installed anymore, but I will tell you...It uses a few more than Sandboxie

3. I use Sandboxie, which gives ME a lot more control of what I need to do, for MY setup

4. Comodo Firewall as well as Online Armor have been known to have problems with Bufferzone....As for others (I couldn't tell ya). I don't use Windows Firewall, because I like Comodo and Online Armor (Comodo a bit more). I like having more control. But of course, I do sometimes use Windows Firewall with different setups (I change a few thing's in my setup from time to time)

5. Trust me, Bufferzone could use a lot more features, but because it is freeware...it's understandable that it doesn't

Like I said, I am basing this off the way I feel. I am expressing my views on why I don't use the product. There is no need for debate. If you like it and want to use it, by all means go right ahead.

Your posts seem somewhat guarded/defensive, there is no need for that. Like I said, these are my views and my opinions (And that is all I am basing my posts on).

Plus, if you go back to page one of this thread....Who initially pointed you to Bufferzone Pro? It was skudo12 and I.

 

Could you? That would be great.

I thought that when someone made a program, they made it on a system that would be normally found for thier customers. I guess I figured your win7 and my win7 would be the same, in its default state.

If it is soley due to drivers and hardware being different, why does most others seem to work but yours doesn't?

Is it common for software not to work on your machine because you have different hardware from others? Or, will software that works on your machine not work on mine because I have different hardware and drivers than you.
I am lost now...

Sul.