Why Does Sandboxie Modify How Firefox Looks?

[testing123]

Sandboxie seems to modify the address bar of Firefox. It leaves me wondering what else it has/is modifying in the background that isn't as apparent as this modification.

Normal Firefox: http://imgur.com/a/iACFL

Sandboxed Firefox: http://imgur.com/a/7HqNB

As you can see, the shape of Firefox's address bar changed to look like an older version. However, when checking in the About section of Firefox, the version number remains the same (the most updated one). Strange behavior, eh?

Also, I don't know if this is normal but when running "Sandboxed Web Browser", Firefox takes a hell of a long time to open up (up to 25 seconds!) I have set my default browser app in Windows 10 to Firefox, hence it opens up when I click on "Sandboxed Web Browser". When running Firefox normally, without Sandboxie, the program opens up within 1 sec tops. Is this related at all? Is this a known issue?

Thank you all for your time!

[Barb@Invincea]

Hello testing123,

The only thing that I am noticing is that you have the home page opened in one, and a new tab on the other.
If you open a new tab in the non-sandboxed Firefox you will see the exact same thing (maybe I am missing something, sorry if that's the case).

As for your second issue, if you can provide more information regarding your OS version (32, 64?) and FF version, plus any extensions and AV software you have installed, I can test it.
Please try emptying the contents of the Sandbox and relaunching the browser to see if that alleviates the issue.

Regards,
Barb.-

[testing123]

First off, I want to thank you Barb for trying to help.

Actually, I think you may have missed my point (no worries, I'll explain it). If you click on both Imgur links in 2 different tabs and click on the image (should zoom into the image), you can compare both images while zoomed in. In the non-sandboxed Firefox, you will see the address bar is bigger (almost the size of the Google Chrome address bar). In the sandboxed-Firefox, the address bar is significantly smaller. It's as small as the older versions of Firefox, when the tabs used to be more square than round (like Chrome).

Here is some OS information:

OS: Windows 10 Enterprise (assuming x64)
FF: Firefox ESR 45.6.0
Extensions: uBlock Origin
AV: avast! Free (disabled however - this is a test machine currently)

I have emptied the contents of the Sandbox and terminated all programs multiple times repeatedly. No luck with that.

Also Barb, if you look at the Search bars in both images that I've linked earlier, you'll see their sizes change as well. The non-sandboxed Search bar is much bigger, like the address bar. The sandboxed Search bar is much smaller. Make sure to click on both images when on the Imgur site so it can zoom in and you can notice these subtle differences.

Thank you for all your help and commitment to reproducing this bug. I'm grateful for all your help. I wasn't expecting a company to be so gung-ho about helping another user via Forum.

[Barb@Invincea]

Hello testing123,

Regarding the "looks issue", I reached out to the devs and the explanation I received was that Firefox does not follow the Windows 10 display guidelines, which can sometimes mess things up.

Here you can find some examples of other issues with Firefox and themes, etc...:
http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... me#p121460

http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... es#p117199

As for your second issue, I tested ESR + ublock and did not experience any delays when launching it Sandboxed (I'll have to add avast to the mix tomorrow).
Which SBIE version are you running? Can you try the beta? http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... 59&t=23535

Regards,
Barb.-

[bo.elam]

testing123, the delay in opening Firefox sandboxed is probably being caused by your antivirus or another security program you are using.

Regarding the address bar, in my W7 32 bits, they look identical sandboxed and unsandboxed.

Bo

[testing123]

Hello testing123,

Regarding the "looks issue", I reached out to the devs and the explanation I received was that Firefox does not follow the Windows 10 display guidelines, which can sometimes mess things up.

Here you can find some examples of other issues with Firefox and themes, etc...:
http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... me#p121460

http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... es#p117199

As for your second issue, I tested ESR + ublock and did not experience any delays when launching it Sandboxed (I'll have to add avast to the mix tomorrow).
Which SBIE version are you running? Can you try the beta? http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/view ... 59&t=23535

Regards,
Barb.-

I appreciate you reaching out to them. So, does this affect Sandboxie's abilities to protect the host machine in any way or is this just a visual defect? Also, is this on the list to get fixed or is Mozilla entirely responsible for this behavior?

I'm running Sandboxie 5.14 I believe, the latest version. I've also installed Symantec Endpoint Protection to test it out (on a clean machine) and the slow-down still occurs with Firefox. I can try the beta if you wish, does it have some changes implemented that will fix this?

testing123, the delay in opening Firefox sandboxed is probably being caused by your antivirus or another security program you are using.

Regarding the address bar, in my W7 32 bits, they look identical sandboxed and unsandboxed.

Bo

I've changed security solutions to test this out myself. Problem still occurs. Strangely enough, Google Chrome isn't affected.

I'm glad your SBIE is working well

[Barb@Invincea]

I appreciate you reaching out to them. So, does this affect Sandboxie's abilities to protect the host machine in any way or is this just a visual defect? Also, is this on the list to get fixed or is Mozilla entirely responsible for this behavior?

The problem is related to Firefox, it is explained in the links I posted. Fixing it is not currently a priority.
I do not see how this can affect anything other than the visual effects. If you have any other information to provide, please let us know.

I'm running Sandboxie 5.14 I believe, the latest version. I've also installed Symantec Endpoint Protection to test it out (on a clean machine) and the slow-down still occurs with Firefox. I can try the beta if you wish, does it have some changes implemented that will fix this?

Please try testing this problem without using an Antivirus to rule out compatibility issues (same applies to any toolbars/extensions you may be using) . Like Bo stated before, some of those applications may trigger delay problems.
The changes in the beta builds can be found on the link I posted before. Please give the latest one a try and let us know if you still experience the problem.

As for Norton:
https://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?Kno ... 20Products

Regards,
Barb.-

[bo.elam]

I've also installed Symantec Endpoint Protection to test it out (on a clean machine) and the slow-down still occurs with Firefox.

I think the key for getting Symantec to get along with Sandboxie is to disable all browser addons that come with the antivirus.

Bo

[PepC4U2]

@testing123

The delay issue of opening browser is normal from my experience. Although I don't use Firefox
(use Pale Moon) I to have delay when opening Pale Moon sandboxed (Sandboxie 5.14) and extension
uBlock Origin. If I remove the extension then open the browser sandboxed it opens much quicker.

NOTE: Am running no antivirus on the OS.

[Barb@Invincea]

PepC4U2,

Would you mind testing the beta to see if the problem follows you there?
I am not seeing any delays with uBlock Origin using SBIE 5.16 (Win 10 Enterprise 64 + FF ESR + Avast).

Also, just in case, what's your home page? Is Firefox opening several tabs?

Regards,
Barb.-

[PepC4U2]

Hell0 Barb@Invincea

I'm not using Firefox. Pale Moon browser opens up to a blank page on start. Home page set to ixquick.com.
No additional tabs open. uBlock Origin is set to advanced user with 3-party scripts blocked.
Will have to test newer version of Sandboxie and get back to you later. Thanks for your response.