computers

Early this week I had an enlightening conversation with a friend at work.  We were talking about his wife’s laptop which is seriously sick with something.  Their near brand new laptop is dying and they don’t know why.  The techs they have brought it to can’t diagnose the problem properly.  Until today they don’t have an answer.  My suspicion is they got hit by a particularly mean and vicious malware.  Or a virus.  Something that dug its way into the BIOS of the laptop and so no matter what they do becomes an exercise in futility.

The whole conversation (as we were later joined by some friends) made me realize that few people use proper protection when surfing the world wild web.  Especially when they visit websites with unknown credibility.  They don’t read the URL on their browser’s address bar, either.  <shudder>

One of the solutions I brought up, if they ever get the chance to get their PC fixed, i.e., is to use a sandbox program.  Particularly when they surf new websites.  Or even if it’s just to test out a new program they’ve downloaded.  The whole concept was foreign to them I might as well have been speaking Klingon.

The whole concept of the sandbox is to let programs run in a box where data can be received and played with but will not do any damage to your overall system.  Think of a pest, a rat, for example.  You catch one and want to keep it for observation and study but you certainly don’t want it to run around amok destroying your home.  So you do the same with unknown or untested programs.  You put them in a cage where you can put food (data) in but nothing gets out.

One such program which I use and make sure is the first installed on a fresh new system is Sandboxie.  Sandboxie is a free program for personal use to ensure your system’s health and safety.  What it does is ensure the program you run sandboxed doesn’t do any damage to your system (as I described above) whether temporarily or permanently.

Download it.  Install it.  It’s easy to configure that it works right after you install it.  Run a program inside it and then let it rip.  Surf all the unsafe web you want.  Pr0n.  Games.  Whatever.  It will be guaranteed that once you’re done and close (throw away) the box, your system will have remained just the way it was.  No change at all.

This is just for individual programs.  There’s also a way for you to sandbox your entire computer system so that no matter how rough or carelessly you play with it, after a reboot is done, it will all be back to the way it was.  Perfect when you have kids who borrow your computer.  But that’s for a later post.

For more recommended programs go see my Mentat Bundle.  Be sure to share your thoughts below in the comments after you’ve given Sandboxie a spin.  As always, stay safe, everyone!  It’s a jungle out there.

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