Shadow defender, How good is it?

Hi all, I would like to know how good is shadow defener, do you recomend it? and why? Thanks.

 

I use it and recommend it. It is simple and fast to set up and it works.

 

Absolutely! Been operating quietly at peak perfection here since ver.325 and what brief time so far that the latest one for my Windows 8 x64 is been working, in my opinion its performing amazingly flawless. No matters of any real concern have surfaced that i can point to yet.

 

Well, since I didn't try it before yesterday, and I couldn't install it on my system, I anyway want to say: do SD work - also as GesWall does, that is sandboxing a single application, browser, WMP..., or it virtualizes all the system ?

 

@blacknight

It virtualizes based on partitions. You can choose which partitions you want to put under "Shadow Mode".

 

Thanks . So it's impossible ti use it only to sandbox a single application.

 

I'm very, very happy with Shadow Defender and what I like the most about it is that I've not had any conflicts with other software. It's also being improved with updates coming out regularly.

 

To sandbox applications, you should get the best, Sandboxie. Shadow Defender is a light virtualization program not an application sandbox.

Bo

 

I've spent quite a bit of money on security since I joined Wilders, and most of the time it was really wasted for all sorts of reasons. The only programs I feel they were worth every dollar paid for them were Shadow Defender and Sandboxie which incidentally work very well together if required.

I don't think SD has any flaws except that in some computers (very few judging from Wilders records) it seems to have some conflicts, therefore using the trial period before buying is important.

 

I haven't tried Shadow Defender (SD), but I did use Comodo Time Machine (CTM). Are the two programs similar? I eventually uninstalled CTM because of the issues related to defrag and backup. There was also a serious problem where sometimes the uninstall would corrupt the MBR and make the system unbootable. Does SD have any of these issues?

 

Victec, the two programs are very different in design and operation. CTM has to modify the MBR in order to function (just as Rollback Rx does) but that brings about problems such as those which you have had. SD does not modify the MBR, so those problems never occur. SD is far more reliable than CTM (or Rx) insofar as causing potential system problems. Just remember that when SD virtualizes a disk volume (Shadow Mode) anything that you (or others) do to that volume will be undone upon restart*. That includes defragging!

TS

*SD does allow you to intentionally commit specifed changes (files) to your 'real' system, or to add specific folders to an exclusion list so that they will not be virtualized when Shadow Mode is enabled, but I prefer not to use those options.

 

Getting back to the OP, imho SD is a great program in that it...

...is very simple to understand and operate.
...provides a very good security 'shell' (although it is not a complete security solution).
...can be used to test apps (those which not require a restart to complete their installation).
...is now again under active development.

TS

 

Come to think of it, is it possible for Shadow Defender to leak? I know you can tear up lots of holes with Sandboxie if you didn't configure it properly (like allowing direct access to anything). That's another reason why I stopped using it. Can Shadow Defender be weakened like that?

Oh, can Shadow Defender be used in small netbooks too?

 

Adding to what The Shadow said, I have a license for Rollback Rx (similar to CTM) but I really had to abandon it because it really takes over your computer, I couldn't stand it in the long run. Shadow Defender is unobtrusive.

The only thing to learn when using it, is to commit important files otherwise they are lost with the next reboot. As to make the system 'unbootable' I've never had or heard of such a situation, you can hard start the system anytime (it happened to me several times), and it will always reboot according to your settings.

 

Easter here chiming in.

I can confirm beyond any suspicion that Shawdow Defender newest version is as steady and flawlessly operational and functions to perfection.

On my Windows 8 x64 i ran into the usual basic issues while testing different comodo security versions in ShadowMode. At times my system totally went numb and stalled forcing a direct as they call it, hard reset which is not recommended but sometimes its unavoidable.
Well, SD flushed away the frozen session just as normal. No issues or even a hint of any reason for concern. My opinion? A tried and proven steady performer!

 

If you allow direct access to the wrong file or folder is your fault not Sandboxies. The setting is available to make things convenient or to make programs work better along Sandboxie but you as a user makes the decision when you want sandboxing to be bypassed. If you want things real tight, just don't allow nothing but bookmarks and you ll be OK. This also applies to programs like Shadow defender.

Bo

 

I'm sorry Bo. Didn't mean to badmouth Sandboxie.

That's just the minor reason actually. I'm just afraid that it's not compatible with Chrome's sandbox. And I have a lot of programs that would trigger Sandboxie's software compatibility alert. Wouldn't that weakens Sandboxie's protection?

 

This settings are created to make other software compatible with SBIE but sometimes they are not necessary to be enabled in order for SBIE to work well alongside a particular program. You can try using SBIE without enabling this settings and only enable them if its really required to do so in your PC. For example, in my computers, SBIE shows a Software compatibility setting for 7Zip and even though I don't have enabled it, 7Zip has always worked perfectly sandboxed. In theory we open holes when we put Software compatibility settings in place but if it was really dangerous to enable any of those settings, they wouuld not be available or Sandboxie will give us a warning about being so.

Bo

 

Hey guys,

What's the recommended way to utilize SD? Is it regarded as a real time always on security app used alongside AV and other security apps? Also is it best to just Shadow Mode the C: drive and commit on a case by case basis?

Thanks!

 

Personally I use Shadow Defender, (as I need it), alongside Sandboxie, an anti-virus (Avast 4.8 )...(I like that version and not the later ones) using Malwarebytes just on demand in Explorer right click
Also use a program No Autorun to protect usb sticks
I tend to just use right click Windows Explorer commit when I want to save a file in shadow mode to my real system.
Some people run Shadow Defender all the time going in to real mode only to update virus definitions etc.
Others make exceptions in Shadow Defender to do that job ( I find it easier to just leave Shadow Mode to update)
Some run Shadow Defender like me as needed for amounts of time from short periods of time to whenever, as needed.
Some people use Shadow Defender to test new software before using it that doesn't require reboot before allowing the software onto the machine permanently.
Some use Shadow Defender when allowing others to use the pc so that they can't break things.
My own setup is windows xp sp 3
C: as my main drive my second drive E: I regularly clone C: to E: using a program called Casper 7.0
(If C:\ drive suddenly physically broken, I can use E:\ as complete C: straight away put in another E:\ and repeat my process)
I have a third (usb) drive (which I store safely out of the machine) to do the same operation. So it's belt and braces.
I hope that this is helpful in some way, I know that it doesn't "read" that well .

 

Thank you SDMod. It does help provide me with a little better picture and idea of possible uses. I had originally planned on using this Full time and all the time, but I'm not real keen on all the reboots when going in and out of Shadow Mode. I currently use Comodo Browser Sandbox when surfing and am loving that. I find using SD with Comodo's browser sandbox works just fine together.

If Shadow Defender didn't require a reboot to come out of it I think I'd like it much better, but I'll play around with things and see how it works out. I do a little gaming sometimes (EVE, WOW, SCII etc) and I'm a little concerned about trying to run games with SD on so I'm currently just using SD "on demand", but trying to keep it on as much as possible to get used to it. Anyway,

Thanks again and have a great 4th of July!

 

Yup- I agree!

The only other program that impressed me is GesWall,otherwise Sandboxie and ShadowDefender all the way!

 

I don't play any kind of games using the computer but it should be fine for you to run games that are installed in your computer in Shadow mode. If you are wary about what would happen if something goes wrong if you are playing a game while in shadow mode, you don't need to worry about that because even if a BSOD happens while in shadow mode, changes will be gone once you reboot.

I think, as a first time user, it is a good idea to use SD as you are doing now, that way you ll find how to get the most out the program based on your own personal case. Myself, I use it on demand and strictly for trying programs or changes in my computer. If I want to save files while in shadow mode, I do as sdmod and right click on the file and commit. The only exclusion that I have enabled are for Firefox bookmarks, that way if I am browsing in shadow mode using Firefox and want to save a bookmark, it wiill survive the reboot.

Bo

 

Awesome thanks Bo

 

Thank you Boost. I'm glad to see nearly all good comments for SD.





Note by LowWaterMark: Several Q&A posts made here, while the same members were also exchanging posts in the main SD thread, have been moved to that thread. This thread is closed since we don't need multiple threads running in parallel fielding the same questions.