Restoring a snapshot of a box instead of deleting it

[lwc]

There are certain things I want a sandboxed program to be allowed to do that I don't want it to do in regular mode.

For example, I always have my IE using a custom whitelist for cookies (and no other cookie is allowed to get through). Yet in sandboxed mode I'd like IE to use its default mode for cookies.

So basically what I need is for a starting box to be already customized instead of just being empty. When I delete it, I don't really want to delete but just to restore its original state.

Or better yet - save and restore capabilities, like those you find in video game emulators.

Is this already possible somehow, maybe for registered users (as it may involve working with multiple boxes)?

If not, this is about the only thing that stops me from registering. Sure, I can create a box and customize it to my needs and that's exactly what I'm currently doing. But then I'll have to never delete it and thus lose the disposable effect (or re-customize it over and over again).

[tzuk]

So, would you say that you need some kind of . . . Rollback functionality?

[Paul_K]

As far as customizing a Browser session, and preserving all of your settings even with a sandbox deletion, Firefox will do that if you specify the path to the profile you want to use, on the shortcut's command line.

As an example, I created a Sandbox called "SecureBox"
I then copied the contents of my existing Firefox profile directory to a folder I created at "C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox"
(I purposely named the profile folder to match the name of the sandbox)
The Desktop icon that I use to run Firefox (in the SecureBox) has the following as it's "Target" (this is all on one line):
"C:\Program Files\Sandboxie\Start.exe" /box:SecureBox "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile "C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox"

In the line above, Sandboxie's Start program is told to use the "SecureBox" sandbox, and to run Firefox with the Firefox profile that's located at C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox.
Sandboxie's configuration file for the SecureBox sandbox contains the following 2 lines, among others:
OpenFilePath=firefox.exe,C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox\bookmark*
OpenFilePath=firefox.exe,C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox\cookies*
Cookies and Bookmarks in the sandboxed browser will be stored in the un-sandboxed profile folder.

As to why go to all the trouble, I also have a "NonSecureBox" sandbox and Firefox profile that I can run from a Desktop icon, with:
"C:\Program Files\Sandboxie\Start.exe" /box:NonSecureBox "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile "C:\Profiles\Firefox\NonSecureBox"

Since each instance of Firefox has it's own profile directory, and runs in a dedicated sandbox, each can have different start pages, bookmarks, add-ons, etc. They can each be customized as desired, and the customizations will be preserved after deleting the sandbox - because the profiles are located in folders that are outside of the sandbox.
Firefox in SecureBox is not configured to delete private data when Firefox ends, Firefox in NonSecureBox is configured to ask me whether or not to delete private data when it ends. You can also configure Sandboxie to automatically delete the contents of any sandbox when Firefox ends.
I don't think that IE gives the same command line profile possibilities, though I'm no expert.

I found it best to create a Desktop 'Setup..' icon for each of these profiles. I use the 'Setup..' icons to do the customizing, outside of the sandbox. I only want the sandboxed browser to be able to revise the cookies and bookmarks in the un-sandboxed profile folder, not change the add-ons, start page, etc. I do include Recover folders in Sandboxie's configuration file, in case I want to recover a saved file from the sandbox.

The 'Setup..' icon for the "SecureBox" Firefox profile has as it's target:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile "C:\Profiles\Firefox\SecureBox"
Of course, with multiple profiles to keep configured, any updated add-ons would have to be updated in all of the profiles in which they are used. Luckily, in SecureBox I'm concerned with security, so I use very few add-ons in that profile.

When I first started using the registered version of Sandboxie, I had no idea why anyone would want to be able to create multiple sandboxes. I'm making good use of that ability, now.

[tururu]

To lwc, hi.

I think Tzuk already solved your request on this topic:

http://sandboxie.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1376

Please take a look and let us know your impressions.
Bye.

[lwc]

Thanks Paul_K for the really detailed description about how to do it with Firefox.

As for the general question, thanks tururu, it turns out you basically asked the same question there (except you used the word "rollback" instead of my words "defaults" and "restore").

I saw tzuk's reply and "sandbox-in-a-sandbox" is exactly the right term to describe this feature.

I continued the debate there.