Sandboxie 3.54 (x86)

Sandboxie 3.54 [x86] Incl Patch | 2,08Mb

Tired of dealing with rogue software, spyware and malware?
Spent too many hours removing unsolicited software?
Worried about clicking unfamiliar Web links?

Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

When you run a program on your computer, data flows from the hard disk to the program via read operations. The data is then processed and displayed, and finally flows back from the progam to the hard disk via write operations. For example, if you run the Freecell program to play a game, it starts by reading the previously recorded statistics, displaying and altering them as you play the game, and finally writing them back to disk for future reference. Sandboxie changes the rules such that write operations do not make it back to your hard disk.

Protecting your Freecell statistics using Sandboxie may be a good idea when a less qualified player comes along, but you will probably want to play most of your games outside the sandbox. On the other hand, you may want to run your Web browser inside the sandbox most of the time. This way any incoming, unsolicited software (spyware, malware and the like) that you download, is trapped in the sandbox. Changes made to your list of Favorites or Bookmarks, hijacking of your preferred start page, new and unwanted icons on your desktop -- all these, and more, are trapped in and bound to the sandbox.

The red arrows indicate changes flowing from a running program into your computer. The box labeled Hard disk (no sandbox) shows changes by a program running normally. The box labeled Hard disk (with sandbox) shows changes by a program running under Sandboxie. The animation illustrates that Sandboxie is able to intercept the changes and isolate them within a sandbox, depicted as a yellow rectangle. It also illustrates that grouping the changes together makes it easy to delete all of them at once.

You could also try a new toolbar add-on, browser extension or just about any kind of software. If you don't like it, you throw away the sandbox, and start again with a fresh sandbox. On the other hand, if you do like the new piece of software, you can re-install it outside the sandbox so it becomes a permanent part of your system. Sandboxie intercepts changes to both your files and registry settings, making it virtually impossible for any software to reach outside the sandbox. Sandboxie traps cached browser items into the sandbox as a by-product of normal operation, so when you throw away the sandbox, all the history records and other side-effects of your browsing disappear as well.

The ActiveX mechanism lets Web sites run little programs in your computer. These are mostly well-natured programs, for example automatic download managers or automatic toolbar installation. Some not-so-well-natured Web sites use this mechanism to install spyware into your computer. You could browse with ActiveX disabled (by turning it off, or by switching to a browser that doesn't offer support for ActiveX), but you would be trading security over functionality. With Sandboxie, you can keep ActiveX turned on, and have both security and functionality.

Benefits of the Isolated Sandbox

Secure Web Browsing: Running your Web browser under the protection of Sandboxie means that all malicious software downloaded by the browser is trapped in the sandbox and can be discarded trivially.
Enhanced Privacy: Browsing history, cookies, and cached temporary files collected while Web browsing stay in the sandbox and don't leak into Windows.
Secure E-mail: Viruses and other malicious software that might be hiding in your email can't break out of the sandbox and can't infect your real system.
Windows Stays Lean: Prevent wear-and-tear in Windows by installing software into an isolated sandbox.