Using with Win7 in XP Mode

[JMK60]

Hello, I've seen the page "http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?Windows_XP_Mode" but if I read it right it doesnt definitively answer what I am wondering. QUESTION: will running a sandboxed browser within XP Mode on Windows7 protect the Host machine fully to Sanboxie's 32bit ability or is there still the 64bit reduced effectiveness?
I'm thinking yes since XP is 32bit in XP Mode (I believe) , but havent seen anybody ask or answer that.

[tzuk]

Sanboxie's 32bit ability protects the guest virtual machine where XP is running.
The virtual machine software protects the host machine from the guest machine.

And you can just use 64-bit Experimental Protection, it's fine.

[JohnDee]

Hi Tzuk

Am I correct in assuming that: running an app in Sandboxie within the XP mode virtual machine on Win 7 x64 inherently safer than risking an app in Sandboxie through native Win 7 x64?

For example, if I suspected that I had a malicious program within XP mode, I could simply exit to Win 7, delete the virtual machine from Win 7 with presumably less risk of damaging my Win 7 installation.

Wouldn't this (dare I say it?) provide a slightly higher level of protection? Am I making sense?

TIA
John

[tzuk]

I see you attach words like "inherenty safe" to a virtual machine and words like "risk" to Sandboxie. I don't generally mind talking about the comparison of Sandboxie and a VM and I've done this many times before in this forum. But your post looks like it is intentional anti-Sandboxie propaganda, so maybe posting it here in this forum is not the most polite thing you could do.

[JohnDee]

Tzuk, I'm sorry if you misunderstood my intentions. I apologise if I was careless in formulating my question. However, I can assure you that the question was asked in all good faith.

Actually, what I said was "...am I correct in assuming running an app in Sandboxie within the XP mode virtual machine on Win 7 x64 [ is ] inherently safer ... blah blah ". It seems as though someone might have been monkeying on your back, recently.

What I was trying to get at was - would it be logical to test an app that I may have suspicions about within Sandboxie and within a VM (in other words, would it be even safer to do that rather than only using Sandboxie in my Win 7 x64 installation - I'm a very paranoid bunny). After seeing no suspicious behaviour, I would move an app out of the sandbox and into the Win XP virtual mode, test again, and thence, all being well, install it into Win 7.

OK, now I can see why you were getting a bit sensitive - I didn't mean to imply that using Sandboxie on it's own wouldn't be enough. 'Just whether doing it inside a VM as well would confer a 'belt and braces' advantage? I can see now that what I said might have been construed as a criticism.

What I'd like to do is run a check to see if a program which I suspected to be malicious or exhibited unusual behaviour so that I could judge it safe enough to move it out of the sandbox and into my Win 7 installation. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to re-install from scratch.

Whilst I'm on the subject - is there any way that Sandboxie would report any security violations or other unusual behaviour of an program under test? If I were to discover any unusual behaviour then I'd just ditch the program completely.

I'm sorry if I didn't search through the forum quite as diligently as I might have - perhaps you could point me to the posts where you have discussed the issues of using a VM? BTW - I wouldn't suppose to have the technical expertise to set up a VM from scratch but wouldn't you agree that it is quite convenient to use the Win XP mode in Win 7 - though, having said that, my first two attempts to use the XP VM failed with errors until I found out that I had to download a patch from Microslop in order to use my brand new AMD FX Thunderwatsit CPU in Win XP mode!

Nevertheless, I applaud you for distributing such a well-received app as Sandboxie at a time when surfing the web becomes more dangerous every day. 'Keep up the good work and thank you.

TIA
John

PS. Please excuse me if these questions are answered in your FAQs or somewhere - I know I'm a hypocrite - I used to be a technical writer and I was always telling people to RTFM!

PPS. My dear Mum always taught me to be ever so polite - so I apologise again for any offence perceived.

[tzuk]

Alright, appreciate your clarification. Now regarding your point, you're asking if stacking more layers of isolation on top of each other is going to be more secure than fewer layers of isolation? In my opinion the answer is: Generally, yes. If you're comfortable with any of your layers of isolation (say just WIN XP mode, or just Sandboxie) and want to use just that layer, that's also fine.