Sandboxie 5.1

“Sandboxing” an application means running it separately from the rest of the system. This is usually done when you are testing software and want to keep your system safe from unwanted modifications.

Thus, this procedure is very effective against malware and defective software. And this is what Sandboxie does: it creates an isolated space on your hard disk where all the changes take place without affecting other areas. Moreover, the application lets you create as many sandboxes as you need. These spaces can be easily managed with Sandboxie Control, a sort of headquarters of the tool.

Most of the time the application runs as a small icon in the corner of the screen which you can use to start a program or even delete all the contents of the sandbox. In addition, there is Sandboxie Start Menu which shows the same programs you can run from Windows Start Menu, but with a difference: all the applications you start from it will work in a sandbox. Finally, as Sandboxie is integrated into Windows shell, when you right-click on a program or its shortcut, you will be asked if you want it to run it in a sandbox as well.

Beside testing apps, you will probably find that Sandboxie is also good at protecting your computer from email and Internet-spread viruses. It’s as simple as sandboxing your e-mail client or Internet browser. And if you are worried about losing your work in these conditions, you should not, because the program lets you save the results to an out-of-the-sandbox location.

In general, although Sandboxie is not the only application that can do something like this, it is probably the easiest one to use, so I strongly recommend you to give it a try.