Snapshots-type feature
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:42 am
I can't say how many users are like myself and happen to keep some programs as persistent boxes but I'm hoping I won't be the only one. I like to keep my system clean and have ended up using sandboxie this way for quite a few programs along with ease-of-use as I usually re-install my OS every few months after alterations. Using it this way negates some of the security/privacy features we receive from auto-deleting the boxes though and I'd love to get them back. I've managed to workaround this by installing the program and then saving the entire box to an archive and then manually delete/copy it back occasionally.
What I'm thinking isn't something as fancy as a full virtual machine type snapshot, just a few new options and UI elements being added to automate this archive/restore process rather than having only the auto-delete function. For instance say I install and set up a browser inside of sandboxie, the auto-delete obviously wouldn't be enabled or I'd lose it all upon exit. I'd like to see an option where I can select something along the lines of Create and Use Snapshot (a button?). Then when the box is closed next (if it isn't already), sandboxie would zip the box to a file, eg boxname_datestamp.zip. Then it could set a flag/location/name in the ini for a snapshot restore of the box. When the sandbox is used again, it would auto-delete upon close (like it is set up to do now with it enabled) followed by extracting the zip to the original sandbox location so that 'clean' state is back and sandboxie has dumped all potential changes.
There's likely more to think of such as updating a snapshot or if you'd want to enable keeping more than one. I also won't be surprised to find I'm the only one who likes my idea but it popped in my head as my mind was wandering so here's to hope!
What I'm thinking isn't something as fancy as a full virtual machine type snapshot, just a few new options and UI elements being added to automate this archive/restore process rather than having only the auto-delete function. For instance say I install and set up a browser inside of sandboxie, the auto-delete obviously wouldn't be enabled or I'd lose it all upon exit. I'd like to see an option where I can select something along the lines of Create and Use Snapshot (a button?). Then when the box is closed next (if it isn't already), sandboxie would zip the box to a file, eg boxname_datestamp.zip. Then it could set a flag/location/name in the ini for a snapshot restore of the box. When the sandbox is used again, it would auto-delete upon close (like it is set up to do now with it enabled) followed by extracting the zip to the original sandbox location so that 'clean' state is back and sandboxie has dumped all potential changes.
There's likely more to think of such as updating a snapshot or if you'd want to enable keeping more than one. I also won't be surprised to find I'm the only one who likes my idea but it popped in my head as my mind was wandering so here's to hope!
