Sandboxie help

[Showtime]

Hi,

1st time sandboxer here.

I've been reading how vulnerable win xp is now compared to vista/7 so I wanted to add another level of protection until upgrading. Though I might leave xp on my 2nd box. I run 2 hds a 640gb with 2 partitions (DRIVE C & D) and a 2TB storage drive (DRIVE E). Drive C is my os/programs drive and I set up DRIVE D as a sandbox and using it as my download folder.

Is this a good idea or should I set it up differently?

Do I need to set up programs that may use these files in that folder? Will it make them run slow or not work? I ask because it seems best to have vlc player, firefox, adobe, flash, etc., opening in the sandbox so that if anything gets infected it doesn't get to crucial system files.

My general build:
e7200 dual core
4 gigs DDR2

XP pro sp3
Firefox with adblock (anything else I should add)
Planning to add a 2nd browser in the sandbox if it will help.
Got rid of Adobe and will update to adobe 10 asap.
Malewarebytes updated and scanned every few days or whenever.
AVG 2011 free
Windows firewall

Any other recommendations.

TIA!

 

[balloonshark]

It takes a little bit of time to load a program into the sandbox but after that you shouldn't have any slowdowns.

Is D: just a large download folder? Is D: setup in your browser as the download location?

What I do is only allow specific programs to run and have internet access in my sandbox. I also block access to my D: data drive for anything that is running (or may run) in my sandbox. I also allow my adblockplus patterns and Firefox bookmarks to pass through the sandbox.

I don't download much but if I did I would set the download file as a forced folder just in case something would accidentally gets executed from that folder. If you need to execute a file that's in the forced folder you would need to move it to another location for it to run on your "real" system. Otherwise it will be forced to run in the sandbox. Another rule of mine is everything gets scanned before removing it from the sandbox or forced folder. For this I use Avira free, MalwareBytes free (right-click scan) and/or VirusTotal or Jotti.

Were you running the free or paid version of Sbie?