Sandboxie 4.06 released

that equates to roughly a dollar per feature, and even then they only stay for as long as you pay your subs.......not much of an incentive to buy.........................

 

....or you could say $15 well spent supporting development of a diamond little product that you've used for free because of Tzuk's efforts and his goodwill.

He could easily have had a scenario (as many of his fellow 'one man band' developers have done) where you get the full product on trial or purchase only - no freeware - then an annual fee. He didn't. Instead he put his programming skills at you service free of charge in the hope you might support him by buying a licence which is for the first time annual. He could have reneged on his lifetime licences and asked us to pay annually, again he didn't and deserves credit for that. What the future will bring we don't know but there really is no point in speculation. Tzuk tends to buck the trend so lets wait and see.

Really the whole thing is simple - any item you purchase is worth what you're willing to pay for it. You're not willing to pay for the product with the current licence agreement. Fine, your choice. There really is no need to debate it further.

In general though I've never been able to understand this feeling of entitlement where people think they can have free access to another persons intellectual property rights without there being some payback. In Tzuk's case that pay back is minimal. Let's be honest here, if you don't pay you get slightly limited functionality. You still get (very frequent) upgrades, you still get the latest protection, you just don't get the nice to haves like forced processes and multiple simultaneous sandboxes. And all for free. For goodness sake give the man a break and be thankfull he's still offering a free product with a rich feature set. Not many 'one man bands' still doing that nowadays.

Personally I'd be happy to pay each year (even though I don't have to) to ensure the continued future of the product. Value for money means different things to different people. I believe it is still excellent value (although agree with Osaban he should have a multi-PC deal). You don't, so don't buy.

Cheers

 

Hi Peter, I think, for people like you that see Sandboxie as a browser in a sandbox, the free version is enough. I was like that for the first six months that I used the program but eventually I started sandboxing my email client and later on my PDF reader and Office files. Now I sandbox everything, I don't care what it is, if a file is gonna run in my computer, is gonna be run sandboxed until the day it gets deleted.

I can do that comfortably because of the two features that are available in the paid version. To you, they might not be important but to me they are what SBIE is about. Remember, the Sandbboxie motto goes "Trust no program", it doesn't say "Trust no browser".

Sandboxie should not be view as a replacement for a firewall or an antivirus but because of how I use those features, I ended up using nothing but Sandboxie and the Windows firewall. I enjoy computing a lot more because I don't have to be updating programs every day or every week. Sometimes, I can go a month without updating anything. And I don't even have to worry or think about what to replace this or that program with. Conflicts as well as malware don't exist for me. The features that we are talking about is what makes this possible.

Bo

 

Hi Bo,

Knowing that you are also a Shadow Defender user (along with Sandboxie) I find it interesting that you 'sandbox everything'. Isn't that the epitome of overkill?

Cruise

 

Hey Cruise, I dont use Shadow defender for security, I only use it to try programs out or changes in the system. I don't view both programs as similar. I use SD about once a month while I use SBIE at all times when my computers are running.

Bo

 

By "everything", I mean All programs. I don't sandbox the system, thats not what SBIE is for. In very specific situations, I use a sandboxed Windows explorer to navigate to a file but I have never used SBIE to sandbox the system. If I wanted to do that, then I would use SD every day.

Bo

 

Let me start off by saying that I agree with the arguments that the life-time licenses, though great when working with on and off again users, is just not sustainable. Even with the support of veteran users buying and gifting or using license. Many companies are shifting to a subscription based service, which in this economy has pushed some users to pursue free solutions. Really the only motivator not to kick their paid anti-virus has been this notion that paid is better than free. I've had mild success in getting people to adopt best practices and to start using sandboxie alongside other free solutions.

My concern is that, the developers are not going to continue forward if this work is not economically feasible. On the other hand, I think its going to be hard to sell users on paying annually for a subscription based service. If the license does not allow for a reasonable number of uses across say a home network (mom, pop, etc.) then users are not going to foot a higher and/or repetitive cost on the license. Instead they are going to do things such as: (1) go back to paid solutions, (2) pirate and key-gen paid solutions, (3) risk running free software, (4) switch operating systems and upgrade to something like a Mac. I have neighbors that went the later route with all but one computer. They use the Windows machine for some stuff like gaming, etc. and banked on the virus free reputation of Mac.

Another option might be to switch to a paid update model, which seems more economically feasible from a developer's perspective. The problem here is that users will still seek to cut expenses, so unless you cripple the program (which would driver users away) or bring back annoyances (which users grow numb to over time). It just doesn't seem like that good of a solution. I ran sandboxie for almost a year before buying my license. Sure it was annoying at first, but you learn to work annoyances into your schedule. Right click browser to run sandboxed, go get more drink from fridge while it counts down, return and browse.

There is also the concern that sandboxie would need to simplify itself to appeal to basic users. I don't think this would be too difficult considering advanced configuration is already possible by editing the configuration with a text editor. Basic users are more likely to pay for a install and forget software. That means, you should scan the software on my system and generate specialized sandboxes for those applications. Namely internet facing applications like browsers, media players, etc. Users should already have quick recovery enabled, so even if they plug in a thumb drive or download something from their browser it is easily retrievable. A major blow to security if you dumb it down too much, but the application would certainly sell better.

Finally, the last option that I could see happening, is the developer looks at producing another product line. You finance continued develop of sandboxie by marketing something like an anti-virus, firewall, etc. Personally, I think other companies would benefit by acquiring sandboxie and allowing Tzuk do his thing. But I'm pretty sure they expect him, as previously mentioned, to simplify the software. As long as they don't mess with advanced configuration via the text editor then I don't see this as a terrible blow for more advanced users. Seems like a win-win.

 

I allways put Avast free on PC's of friends when they ask me for a free solution (now with execellent reputation scanning and whitelisting). I team this up with Chrome for daily browsing and provide a 'secured' browser solution with SandboxIE (on IE) Free.

I think the free version has a lot of configuration options. It perfectly serves the purpose of a dodgy browsing solution (limiting program start/internet access). So considering how much money is earned with on-line adult content, I guess there should be a solid market for a Safe_InPrivate_Browser based on Sandboxie.

GesWall also offered a free solution for webbrowser only, and a paid for system wide. They did not succeed in converting free users to paid users (otherwise they werestill in business). I think the concern with adult content surfers is in the browser session being safe and sound, not the rest of the system. IMO one should never offer a free solution which covers webbrowsers. Most of my friends asking for the "you know what browser add-on" don't have the PC knowledge to use it for other applications. They just want their ass covered and are willing to pay for it. Ideally also offering a safe banking option, to justify the money spend on sandboxie's Safe_InPrivate_Browser solution. Safe_Banking_Browser for on-line shopping for her, Safe_InPrivate_Banking for him

 

Ditto, for me it comes down to Avast, MSE, and Panda. Avast is great for those looking to keep functionality and MSE is really simple to setup and use. I have noticed the baby-boomers do better with windows apps (MSE, Firewall, MSE, etc.) and the younger generations are a bit warmer to newer things like Avast or Chrome. Probably my biggest complain with browsers has been lack of compatibility by schools. I've been forced on more than one occasion to use internet explorer to complete an assignment or lab. I definitely wish sandboxie the best here. Finding sandboxie has been like winning the lottery for me.

 

HEY! I resemble that remark

 

You can say that again!

 

guess i'm keeping 3.76 for a long time....

 

I'm with v. 3.68 for a long time ago...

 

I used sandboxie free for a long time, but then eventually paid for it.

Thing is I travel for work and obviously need to go online from hotels, corporate etc - so I use it a lot to be able to isolate that 'worry' from my machine.

Great program, worth supporting by paying for it imho - although it took me a while to do so

(im 4.04 no problems)

 

4.06 is working great for me

 

Immediate recovery is not working here... when i download something i don't get the immediate recovery window. Previously i was giving direct access to download folder, but i removed that setting. Anyone else with the same problem? thanks

Edit: i found a topic about this problem.
http://www.sandboxie.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=16798
I'll try to upgrade Sandboxie now.

Edit: solved by installing version 4.07.03.
http://www.sandboxie.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=16838

 

The problem with GesWall was that it was relying on Windows internal security mechanisms-the same problem Chrome has too, so this is the main reason why I don't rely on both of them anymore.

However, I need to ask you your professional opinion:
Although I don't use Avast or any other antivirus, what is better for file detection-for a very long time I've been using Avira free, but I'm not sure how good Avast free is?
I heard from my colleagues that Avast has actually let them down several times, while Avira did not.
What is your experience with Avira and Avast?
Also, I'm asking this because i'm not sure if i should have any antivirus on my home computer or not...
I use windows xp restrictions in registry to protect myself from let's removable drives infections and NoAutorun application with write-protection, just in case.
Cheers and thanks.

 

What problem would that be?

Personally, if I were to ask myself if I need an AV and I'm not sure about the answer, then safe bet is to get one.

 

Well, I already mentioned it-relying on Windows internal security mechanisms.

Well, I'm still not sure about using an AV, I'm still in doubt, I mean I have SBIE for web-browsing, all I have to be careful with removable drives infections.

 

Even if you have most of your folders and programs forced to run inside SBIE It's easy to make a mistake, like opening your browser unsandboxed to update it and forget it as so for hours: it happened to me more than once.
Avast or Avira are free, light and effective. Can't see a reason not to use one of them.

 

I feel relaxed using computers and the internet without an AV and actually feel safer because I don't have one on, I think you should sort of feel that way before you stop using an AV. If you have doubts or have to think about it, you should use one.

Joxx, mistakes can happen but when you get used to opening all files and programs in a sandbox, it's hard to make one. I probably make two or three a year, not enough to put an AV back on, IMO. I strictly follow my own rule of sandboxing all files that go into my computers until the day they get deleted. There are almost no exception. It might seem hard to do but its actually easy and comfortable. You get used to it quick.

Bo

 

Here's a quick question from a person learning Sandboxie. I put my browser in Sandboxie, which I can tell is on, because I have the screen surrounded by a yellow line. I access a few web sites and then click Delete Contents, exit then reboot. Then I access my browser history and see that the history lists the web sites I accessed while in the sandbox. Shouldn't the history be blank if I'm out of the sandbox?

 

Hi TWL845, which browser are you using? (probably IE10 or 11). If you are using Firefox, if you allow bookmarks to be saved out of the sandbox, history will be saved also. To get rid of history and still be able to save bookmarks out of the sandbox, set Firefox to "Never remember history".

Go in Sandbox settings>Applications>Web browser and take a look in there to see if you ticked any of the settings to allow (save out of the sandbox) direct access to history.

Bo

 

Bo, Thanks for the tip! I did as you said in Options of Cyberfox, and found nothing ticked in settings of Sandboxie. I am using Cyberfox but it's not listed, so I guess checking Firefox will do the trick when needed. They list Waterfox, and Palemoon, so I guess Cyberfox will appear in a later version of Sandboxie. I'll test and see if that solved my problem.

 

I guess you did get rid of history, Right? if you didn't, in Cyberfox, go to Tools>Options>Privacy, select "Never remember history". If you like to save bookmarks out of the sandbox, use Firefox settings in Sandbox settings>Applications, they might work for Cyberfox..

If you cant allow bookmarks out of the sandbox using Firefox settings, try doing it by allowing direct access to places.sqlite. You ll find this file in your Cyberfox profile folder in AppData.

Sandbox settings>Resource access>File access>Direct access, Click Add, navigate to places.sqlite and OK.

Bo