Sandboxie is a small utility that isolates and runs programs in a "sandbox" so program data, rogue scripts, trojans or viruses cannot access your computer (they are trapped in the "sandbox" until you approve or delete them).
This is an excellent, if somewhat novel, way to protect your computer against outside attack. By opening programs, like your Web browser, in Sandboxie those programs run in a protected state, working normally except that data cannot be written to your computer (except to the protected "sandbox").
This means, for example, you could run a game and not have the high scores recorded, or you could run your Web browser and not have the cookies saved.
More importantly, it acts as a barrier against malicious activity, trapping backdoor-type programs and preventing them from accessing your computer.
Sandboxie has a learning curve and we suggest you read the on-line documentation carefully to get the best from this tool. The author points out that it is suitable only for 32-bit programs, it does not run well in a 64-bit environment.
We were most impressed with the concept and execution of Sandboxie.
We were less impressed with the automatic addition to the Registry so that it always starts with Windows, and also places itself in the QuickLaunch bar every time it opens – but this can be prevented by using the Shell Integration command options in the Configure menu.
That aside, it is not just for the paranoid but delivers another layer of protection beyond anti-virus programs, spyware detectors, etc.
Impressive!
Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME.
Below: the desktray icon, showing the right-click context menu
Below: the main window with Firefox running in protected mode
Below: viewing the "sandboxed" files
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Desktop Utils