I think I'll take the Sandboxie plunge! A few questions.

While sand boxed, will I be able to post in forums? I have advertised 5 mbps cable broadband, which I normally approach (48++ kbps) during light traffic periods and one gig of RAM. While sand boxed, will I notice a decrease in web page rendering time? Do you normally just "turn" it on before you open a browser and then turn it off after ending a session? All of my security apps are set for auto updating, so I presume as long as Sandboxie is turned off after browsing sessions, they'll just update like they always do. Any other comments appreciated! Thank You!

 

Roger that...in compare with Returnil(also a great app) you can browse securely and in the mean time AV or similar has access to normal updates...If you want to lock sys partiton for whatever reason you can add Returnil personal free,when turned on all updates have to be remade after reboot...Well,that´s my opinion for the moment...(There´s a lot of things going on in this field)...

 

Sandboxie is a great program. I set the service to start when I open my browser (it's a personal preference). It takes a little longer to open the browser, but the security you get is well worth the small trade off. I also have 1 gig of RAM and I don't notice a slowdown. I would recommend reading the tutorial and FAQs at their site. http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?HelpTopics You are making a good move sandboxing/isolating your browser/s .

 

Thank you!

 

Sandboxie would be my first choice of security software period.

 

Hi Guys,

Messrs Innerpeace, Osip - what do you guys do on line where you require so much protection? My surfing habits are not outrageous, so Prevx, NOD32, router, Comodo keep me from becoming infected. I've toyed with the idea of Sandboxing myself, but it just does not seem to worth the effort. Anyway your thoughts on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

Take Care
Rico

 

Hi Rico, I'm not using Returnil or PS most of the time. I only activate one of them when I'm unsure of a site, going places that are known to be unsafe or trying a new app. My setup is a bit overkill, but I have a few licenses to play with, so I am . Another reason for my setup is that I'm slowly gaining knowledge of what the "real" threats are instead of the FUD were always exposed to.

To be honest with you, for what I do daily, I think I could get by with my router, OA2 for outbounds/misc. threats, Avira PE, Sandboxie and Firefox. Even that is overkill with the proper knowledge. Right now, I have just enough knowledge to make me dangerous .

innerpeace

 

Hi Innerpeace,

I have confidence in passive defense mechanisms, to help keep me safe, often times, there very underrated:

MVPS Host, Spywareblaster, IE-SpyAd, LinkScanner or SiteAdvisor, free stuff that keeps you away from, or aware of the bad places, takes the load off my real defenses.

Thanks & Take Care
Rico

 

Hi Rico,

I consider Sandboxie very important in my setup. My router would be first followed by OA2 then Sandboxie and Firefox with NoScript and AdBlock Plus. An Av and anti-malware are next.

I also have many passive protections and tools that I didn't mention. MVPS hosts file, Spyware Blaster and Spybot immunization. I search online with Scandoo and enter unfamiliar sites online at SiteAdvisor. I also use CCleaner, on-demand scanners, and other tools that I don't know how to use Lol.

Are setups are fairly similar except for Sandboxie. It protects my system from my mistakes and new malwares. If I knew more about Windows and HIPS, Peters setup is nice, plus he has the benefit of having both snapshots and images.

Cheers, innerpeace

 

Since this latest version of Sandboxie i found it invaluable and well worth it's purchase price. I couple it with EQSecure or SSM, and of course my ole trustyPower Shadow Master which i can't turn away from. All this within FD-ISR snapshots makes for pretty tight & comfortable nights of sleep anytime.

Sandboxie is a really nice app and doesn't seem to make for any conflicts here with XP Pro.

 

First line - FF with Noscript and Adblockplus.

Second line - Sandboxie.

Third line - Returnil.

Fourth line - Ghost Images.

Fifth line - Cloned hard drives.

Sixth line - Spare computers x 3

And like some others I run no realtime blacklist scanners but I do run the odd online scan with Kav or one the others for a checkup and which haven't found a thing in a very long time.

Sandboxie is installed on both my XP and Vista installs with no probs.

 

Same here, plus spare Hard Drives. NOTHING, and i mean NOTHING can leave you begging for reliable system operation so long as you have a stockpile
Even a small one.

 

That question is indeed valid...In my case I rarely use any AS anymore,they just left on my pc and very rarely used on demand...probably I will uninstall when that mood enters my mind...
Winpatrol I find light and useful for info.AdMuncher is just the best popup blocker and also stops all url redirections and hidden links, great for speeding up browsing...
Concerning imaging and restoring apps they just happen to be an "addiction"...

My own sec setup these days are based on sandboxie/returnil and ATI/EazFix for restoring and works very well here...

Also,having a light AV/FW/sec suite as ESS/Avira or similar does´nt harm...on the contrary useful to know what´s going on...

 

Well I'm using it and indeed its amazingly simple. I too may purchase it so I don't have to teach my wife (lol) how to open the browser and enable Sandboxie via right click.

 

Hi ratchet, You can create an icon that opens your browser with sandboxie. I'm still using version 2.86 and the setting is in Sandboxie Control - Options - Install desktop shortcut for web browser. Then all you would have to do is get used to using that icon instead of your default browser icon.

innerpeace

 

@Rico and ratchet

Heh heh heh
Come this way.....

Of course: nothing. lol.

With the FF and NoScript sandboxed I can follow links here and there and have 99.99999% confidence in Sboxie to protect me, can head off anywhere with confidence ( and clear conscience heh)

It's the threat that you or your tools CANNOT be precognizant of that will bite you.
ARe you absolutely sure that you safe hex all the time: iframes in websites etc etc

Remember that HIPS and AV can and will read the sandboxed files as they appear for extra security.

For secure browsing I regard this little gem as an absolute standout.
Fantastic value for what you get.
Prolly equally happy with Dw or BufferZone when I get around to getting more familiar with them.
I really do want to be able to roam without getting mugged.

Peter has interesting baseline combo there: applied logic

i also have other "back-ups" : images etc.

There have been some interesting threads at sboxie recently re possible escapes, tzuk has responded well and the config file allows real granular control over options.

regards.

 

Thanks innerpeace!

 

I can't say as I'm as thrilled with the newest version of Sandboxie. I just spent the better part of yesterday afternoon reformatting and reinstalling my OS because of this little gem. The only thing is did for me was to cause me multiple BSOD's. It also caused another BSOD when I tried to uninstall it. I had to boot into Safe Mode to uninstall the program, then after uninstalling it, I could not boot into normal Windows mode any longer (running XP SP2). I contacted several computer techs and they all told me the same thing: flatten and rebuild.. so I did. Since this is far more problems than any malware has caused me, I think I will just stick with my former setup and forget the sandboxing aspect. The former versions of Sandboxie worked fine for me, but the latest build was bad news for me.

 

Thanks for that report KDNeese.

Not Good Unfortunately. Is there anything at all that you might could add to the above that you suspect might have caused such a severe failure?

Just one user's failed experience is enough to throw up red flags in my camp, especially when it means a full reformat was the result.

So far it seems to have worked OK on this end but now your issue gives rise to some serious concern. The last thing i need right now is to have to do (2) wipe & reformats. I already have one chalked full of research data thats going to take some time to transfer off disk i'm not looking forward to because the drive is fairly monstrous in size.

 

You can right the click - rename the SB icon to your browser and also change the icon to suit.

Have been beta testing SB for quite a bit now with the latest version being rock solid on all my my XP and Vista installs.

If any users do experience a prob or need help Sandboxie does have a decent support forum where you can post as a guest without needing to register.

http://sandboxie.com/phpbb/

 

I feel much better now after your reply. Sandboxie is been doing a great bang up job for me so far with this latest version on XP Pro.

Rock Solid

 

I think with most software some users do have problems.

Even windows updates have caused probs for some.

If only users would use a decent backup system such as images and or instant recovery type apps they could save themselves a lot of grief.

 

This is actually one of the reasons why I decided not to use SBIE as a realtime (browser) protection tool, I hate the 5 seconds or so added startup time. And I was also thinking, in fact SBIE is almost the same as classical HIPS when it comes to restricting apps but it also adds file & registry virtualization, so if your browser gets comprimised, malware is stuck in the sandbox. However, I think that with a good HIPS it´s highly unlikely that some zero day browser bug will ever be able to do any damage anyway.