Sandboxie creates an isolated environment on your computer. An isolated environment or sandbox is an environment where running programs do not have direct access to system files and important computer settings.
Processes occurring in a running program are isolated from the rest of the system. At the same time, the operating system is protected from changes that may occur when running a potentially dangerous program.
You can use an isolated environment to run a program unknown to you, or after launching your browser, visit a potentially dangerous site without risk to your computer.
If a malicious program does get onto your computer, it will not have access to system files to change them. And when you exit the sandbox, all files that entered the sandbox will be deleted.
You can create your own isolated environment using specialized programs that restrict access to system files. One such program is Sandboxie.
The Sandboxie program is a sandbox for potentially dangerous and unfamiliar programs, as well as for safe surfing the Internet.
The Sandboxie program has shareware status. Upon completion of 30 days of working with the program, the program will ask you to upgrade to the paid version. But most of the program’s functions will work in free mode for as long as you like. Only some features of this program will be disabled (for example, running multiple sandboxes at the same time).
You can download the Sandboxie program from the manufacturer's official website.
sandboxie download
After downloading the Sandboxie program to your computer, run its installation. In the program installation window, select Russian language.
In the next window, you agree to install the driver for the Sandboxie program, and then click on the “Next” button. In the last program installation window, click on the “Finish” button.
The program can be launched from the Start menu => All Programs => Sandboxie. There are several points for launching the program for specific purposes.
The Sandboxie program can also be launched from the Notification Panel (tray) by clicking on the program icon. From a shortcut on the Desktop, you can launch the browser in the “sandbox”, the one that is selected as the default browser on your system.
Launch Sandboxie to make a few program settings. The main window of the program displays the isolated environment created by default - “sandbox”.
Now let's consider this question: how to configure Sandboxie.
Setting up Sandboxie
To configure the program, right-click on the sandbox name. After that, in the context menu, click on the “Sandbox Settings” item.
In the sandbox settings window - “DefaultBox”, in the “Behavior” section, you can check the box next to “Do not show the Sandboxie indicator in the window title” if you do not want the windows of programs open in the sandbox to be marked with a special icon. You can do this at your own discretion.
When you click on the yellow field in the “Color” window that opens, you can select a color to display a thin border around the window of the program running in the sandbox. After these settings, if you changed anything in the program settings, click on the “Apply” button.
In the "Recovery" section, in the "Quick Recovery" subsection, you can select folders for quick recovery if you want to change the program's default settings.
In the Immediate Recovery subsection, you can exclude files, folders, or file extension types from immediate recovery if these files are saved by a program running in the sandbox.
In the “Delete” section, in the “Deletion Suggestion” subsection, you can check the box “Never delete this sandbox or clear its contents” in order not to lose the data stored in the sandbox.
In the “Restrictions” section, in the “Internet Access” subsection, you can add programs to the list or remove programs from the list of programs that can access the Internet. You can allow or block programs from accessing the Internet when they are in a secure environment. If you click on the Block all programs button, then all programs running in the sandbox will be blocked from accessing the Internet.
In the "Applications" section, you can select rules of conduct for various programs running in the Sandboxie program.
In the “Sandbox” menu section, by clicking on the “Set storage folder” item, you can change the drive on which the sandboxes will be stored if you have little space on the “C” drive.
After clicking on the “Create a new sandbox” item, you can create an unlimited number of sandboxes, each with its own settings, to run programs with different behavior settings from your sandbox.
This mode of launching several sandboxes simultaneously, works only in the paid version of the program, after completing the trial period of working with the program.
Each virtual space operates separately, sandboxes are isolated from the system and from each other. By default, the application offers one isolated Sandbox DefaultBox space.
How to use Sandboxie
First way. In order to run the program in safe mode, right-click on the name of the “sandbox” and in the context menu click on the “Run in sandbox” item. In the list of launch items, you can select the appropriate item to launch the program.
You can launch your browser, your default email client, and any program from here or from the Start menu. You can also launch Explorer in a safe environment if you click on “Launch Windows Explorer.”
After this, Explorer will be launched in a secure environment. To shut down Explorer, in the “Manage Sandboxie” window, right-click on the program folder and select “End Program” in the context menu, or simply close Explorer in the usual way for programs by clicking on the red button.
Second way. It’s even easier to launch a program in Sandboxie by simply clicking on the program’s folder or shortcut, and then selecting “Run in Sandbox” from the context menu.
If you have created several sandboxes, Sandboxie will prompt you to select the desired sandbox to run the program. Select an isolated environment, and then click on the “OK” button.
After this, the program runs in an isolated environment. When you hover your mouse over a program running in a sandbox, a thin colored border will be visible around the program window.
Recovering files in Sandboxie
Sandboxie does not allow files from programs running in the sandbox to enter the operating system without your permission. All files created by the program or downloaded from the Internet will be deleted by default after the sandbox is closed.
Working in the Sandboxie program, you can create and save files in regular folders on your computer. These files will not be visible until you give Sandboxie permission to move the data from the sandboxed environment to the regular environment.
After you have downloaded some files from the Internet using a browser running in an isolated environment, these files will be located in the place where downloads are saved on your computer.
But, you will not see these files while they are in the sandbox. You will need to move these files from the sandboxed environment to the regular environment.
Sandboxie calls this "recovery" of files. There are three file recovery modes: Immediate Recovery, Quick Recovery and Manual Recovery.
Immediate recovery in Sandboxie
This is the best recovery method as it can automatically call the recovery function as soon as the files are created. By default, the program pays especially close attention to the Downloads, Documents, Favorites, and Desktop folders.
You can add other folders to these folders at your discretion in the program settings (right-click on the sandbox folder => “Sandbox settings” => “Recovery”).
Once the file is saved to your computer, Sandboxie will immediately display the "Instant Recovery" window. You can click on the “Restore” button, and if you click on the “Restart” button, then “Restore and Explore” or “Restore and Run”.
Fast recovery in Sandboxie
With fast recovery, files are transferred from a sandboxed environment in a quick, manual process. You can configure the program to recover files saved in the sandbox when accessing this mode.
Manual recovery in Sandboxie
If you want to clear the sandbox, right-click on the sandbox name and select the “Delete Contents” context menu item. After this, the “Delete sandbox” window appears.
In this window, you can “Restore to the same folder”, “Recover to any folder” or “Add folder” for files located in the isolated environment. If you click on the “Delete sandbox” button, all processes in it are terminated and all its contents are deleted.
Using Sandboxie allows you to be more secure when using your computer. You can safely run some programs in an isolated environment, surf the Internet safely.
Some antivirus programs also have sandboxing tools, such as .
Conclusions of the article
Sandboxie runs applications in a sandbox, thereby preventing possible dangerous components from entering the system. You can also use this program to test new programs without installing them on your computer.
