some questions about returnil free

Hi.

Sandboxie
Avast antivirus
Comodo fw/d+
Malwarebytes antimalware
Firefox-adblock plus, betterprivacy and bitdefender quickscan
Panda usb vaccine
Easeus todo backup

All are free!

Acer Aspire One netbook.
Win xp sp3 32bit
1GB RAM
1.66GHz
160GB HDD

Will returnil free fit into the setup? will it conflict with any of the apps? will adding returnil free to the setup be simply an overkill? will it crash my pc?

 

I have a very similar setup with Returnil and have had no trouble. It is a Dell laptop with a 1.7 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram and a 160 gb hard drive. I have Avast, Sandboxie, Outpost Firewall and Returnil and they all seem to play nice together. One thing I would suggest is to install Returnil first. I have had problems with Returnil in the past if I installed the AV and firewall first.

 

You have Sandboxie and Avast AutoSandbox. Returnil isn't needed.

 

I don't agree with this. Sandboxie isolates the browser and the Avast sandbox works similar from what I have read. Returnil shields the whole system. If I accidentally mess something up and can't figure out how to undo it all I have to do is reboot and I'm back where I was. Also if I let someone else use the computer I can enable Returnil and not have to worry about them messing anything up.

 

Avast AutoSandbox isolates suspicious programs automatically, or asks you. Hence, it can protect the whole system, along with its other shields. Therefore, Returnil is redundant.

 

I think it can be usefull if you quite often try new software. You can always try new application in virtual mode and when something go wrong, you can just do reboot. Your system will be clean.

 

Indeed

 

You can do that with Sandboxie and Avast Sandbox as well.

 

I wasn't aware that Sandboxie would isolate the entire system. Is that for the free version too?

 

Just install the program in either sandboxes. Sandboxie works for most of them, but cannot install drivers. Avast will automatically sandbox suspicious programs, but not all of them.

 

So if I mess up my computer Sandboxie will revert it back like it was the way Returnil does? If so I may have to look more into this.

 

Yes, after simply closing the program and emptying the sandbox.

 

And therefore I think that Returnil could be a very good solution

 

Hi J_L,
Actually Avast! is the redundant factor in this discussion. If you have RSS Pro you don't need the other programs, but we strive to make it compatible with them so customers can still get full use of any current licensing they may have.

And I believe that ichito sums up the reality of the situation quite nicely...

Kind regards
Mike

 

Thanks Coldmoon

 

In reality, the redundant factor is the one that duplicates the features in existing software.

 

What about the MBR? Returnil protects the MBR while in virtual mode. Does Sandboxie do that too?

 

Of course. If not, then it's not a complete sandbox.

 

Thanks for the info. It sounds like Returnil and Sandboxie are nearly the same which is not the impression I got from reviews I have read.

 

Returnil and Sandboxie are not nearly the same: they are in fact quite different.

Sandboxie is an application sandbox that will isolate and contain any applications you choose to run in the sandbox environment, but only those applications. It provides no protection for applications running outside the sandbox. Sandboxie works at the level of the Windows file system.

Returnil is light virtualisation software that will virtualise the entire system partition (usually drive C). When the virtualisation is enabled, all changes to the system partition are discarded upon reboot. Returnil works at the disk level - below the level of the Windows file system - tracking changes to disk sectors. This involves locking the disk which is why a reboot is necessary when exiting the virtual mode in order to unlock the disk again for normal use.

Because Returnil doesn't have to enforce the boundary walls of an application sandbox, drivers and services can be installed while in the virtual mode, something an application sandbox can't allow because it would enable the sandbox to be breached. This in turn enables a wider class of software to be tested using Returnil than is possible with Sandboxie.

Both applications combine virtualisation with policy restriction features. Sandboxie has a comprehensive set of policy restriction features which is partly why, when properly configured, it can provide such strong protection for individual applications such as browsers. Returnil has an anti-executable which can prevent unknown processes from running while in the virtual mode.

It's precisely because Returnil and Sandboxie are so different in the way they work that they can safely be used together without any risk of conflict.

 

That is not what I get from JL's post. Based on what I have read about it I thought like you do but after his post I thought maybe I just don't understand Sandboxie even though I thought I did. This thread has confused me concerning Sandboxie and just what it does.

 

I never said they were similar, only that Returnil is redundant.

 

J_L,
It depends on what type of virtualization the user is most interested in; potentially high resource micromanagement or high performance macro-management.

SBIE is an application based approach which is also the reason Tzuk had difficulty porting his technology to 64 bit. RSS/RVS are system level virtualization solutions that don't care what Windows or your applications are doing, have done, or will do; it simply works to remove any/all changes at restart of the computer.

RVS/RSS also have additional protections that SBIE does not have which in turn means that you will need to use additional (REDUNDANT) security applications to achieve a layered security approach with SBIE, whereas with RSS you can get the job done, and done well with a single application.

If you do not like our solutions or wish to use them, that is your choice. I am however loosing my patience with your insistence on trying to convince others that RSS/RVS are inadequate to the task of providing world-class protection for those that see the benefits and strength of our approach to PC and network protection.

One important question I would ask - have you actually tried our software and also put it to the test? If not, please go test and then come back with your results; otherwise you are wasting people's valuable time...

Mike

 

But by saying it is redundant you are implying that they both perform similar functions so that one is not needed. Everything I brought up in the thread that Returnil did you also said that Sandboxie does also so for someone reading the thread the logical deduction based on your comments was that these are two similar products. That may not have been what you meant but it is what came across in the thread.

 

Returnil has its own virus guard (based on F-Prot antivirus) you will need to disable if you want to keep your current antivirus. Also if you want to keep its Virtual Mode on all the time, you might not be able to update avast properly (the Access Real Disk feature is available in payed versions only).