The security of a PC is an important factor, it is not discriminating if we use the PC for personal or professional. Usually what threatens the security of our PC is surfing the Internet, but also when you install the software you are exposed to the danger. This is because we want to install the software that may have been taken from a source of questionable origin or because its installer is to make changes in your Windows registry without knowing exactly which ones.
The question that arises then is: what can be done to reduce risks damage to our pc?
Ideally, you can surf the Internet or install our applications in an environment similar to that of our pc but not the real environment. In this way we conduct our business according to quiet PC and not harm our environment to repeat real only when we are sure that there was no damage.
One way to accomplish this is to make use of virtualization on your PC or create a machine very similar to the real thing, but physically it is not. As an example of this solution just think products like VirtualBox or VMWare.
Another way that you can go is to have available a protected area where we can run or install our applications. Everything that happens, for better or for worse, within this area remains safe inside and not going to touch our system.
If we follow this path the solution to our case is Sandboxie.
This is a proprietary software also available as freeware that lets you create isolated operating environments (known in technical jargon sandbox) in which you can run or install applications without making any permanent change in the real operating environment ( our real PC, I mean).
Understanding how a sandbox is very simple.
Usually when you run an application (such as our web browser) that performs the read and write directly on your hard drive, so going to act on different areas of Windows, the registry and so on. Instead, when the same application runs in a sandbox can read the information on the system but the write operations are performed only in the same sandbox.
Sandboxie we need to create their own sandbox in which to run or install applications.
Once we are certain that your application is secure we can decide to transfer real environment.
The freeware version of Sandboxie is a unregistered version allows us to enjoy all the features of the full version except for some where you need to make a registration fee (30 €) to get a personal key. Once this key is indeed possible to remove all the window shown after 30 days of use, you can create and use more sandbox at the same time and can be run automatically in sandbox folders and / or applications.
Having a tool like this available to us for free (or at a very affordable price after all) makes our life much more peaceful living computer. With a little effort we can dramatically reduce the risks to our computer, especially if for various reasons, we provide frequent application installations (perhaps of dubious origin or functionality).
If you hold the security and integrity of our car Sandbox is a tool to have in our "survival kit".
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