Sandboxie vs. routine IE cleanup

[dibbkd]

This may be an ignorant question, only been using Sandboxie for a few days, but how is using Sandboxie better than deleting your IE temp files, cookies, and browser history yourself?

I realize doing it manually is more work, but does Sandboxie do more than this?

I mean I realize Sandboxie doesn't clean your IE files and stuff, but by running sandboxed it's essentially what the end result is, or not?

Thanks!

[esalkin]

I think I can answer that question.
Think of your PC as a piece of paper.
Everything you do gets written on that paper.
IEClean will erase some things on that paper but just like in a detective movie you can still see what has been erased if you try. Also, the 'bad guys' can leave behind things in places that IEClean will not look.

A sandbox works like a transparency placed over the paper. You write on the transparency and it looks like you are changing what is on the paper but when you remove the transparency the paper is unchanged.

So if the bad guys sneak a worm onto your system through a sandbox the change is only in the sandbox (the transparency) not on your PC's hard disk (the paper). When you close the sandbox or reboot (remove the transparency) the PC is just like it was before!

[tzuk]

A sandbox works like a transparency placed over the paper. You write on the transparency and it looks like you are changing what is on the paper but when you remove the transparency the paper is unchanged.

That's a great metaphor. I hope you don't mind if I use it to explain Sandboxie.