Sandboxie: A Free, Virtual Environment that Helps Protect Your Computer

For anyone who uses the Internet regularly, protecting your computer is a top priority. And, for those who are new to surfing the Internet, or who isn't tech savvy, it can also seem like a complicated and intimidating issue.

Surfing the Internet unprotected can have all sorts of annoying, and sometimes damaging, consequences. Software you never asked for and don't could end up being installed on your computer, and doing who knows what to your system. Your computer settings could be changed. You could end up being plagued by pop ups every time you try to go online. And, sometimes, the results can be even worse.

There are many things you can and should do to protect your computer, like using anti-virus software. And one security solution you might not have heard a lot about is called a "sandbox." And, if you have Windows 2000 or later, you should consider using Sandboxie.

What Is Sandboxie?

Imagine there's a sandbox on a playground.

When you put a child in the sandbox, they can play to their hearts content. They can throw there toys around, spill their juice, crumble up their crackers. But, while their having fun making a mess, everything outside of the sandbox stays neat and clean. At least in theory.

That's how Sandboxie works.

Sandboxie creates a virtual environment, called a sandbox, in which you can browse the Internet using your favorite Internet browsers. You don't have to worry about visiting unsafe websites that will somehow damage your computer, or downloading dangerous software because nothing that happens in the sandbox can have an affect on the rest of your computer, any of your important files on your computer, or your operating system.

There's nothing complicated about using Sandboxie. Once the program is installed, you can launch your default web browser as quickly as you would if you weren't using the program.

Once you are finished browsing the web, you can delete the sandbox session. And any trojans, keyloggers, malware or spyware that would normally have infected your computer will be deleted right along with it.

Does Sandboxie Have Any Drawback?

The biggest drawback of using Sandboxie is remembering to save things you want to keep before you delete a sandbox session. If you download a lot of software that you know is safe, and you delete the sandbox session before you move those downloads out of the virtual environment, they will be lost, and you'll have to go back and collect them all later.

But Sandboxie can remind you to save any downloads before you delete a sandbox session.

And, really, losing a freeware or shareware program that you can probably go back and download again later is a minor convenience when compared to the safety and security Sandboxie offers to those browsing the Internet.