"protective" software

Computer Help and Discussions Software
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Hello2007 asked a good question here

it seems fishy because if it is what it claims to be why isn't it popular, i was looking at bufferzone but they want money from you

You are wise to be careful. If it seems too good to be true it probably is. <_< Derned if I know why they aren't more widely used.

The claims they make probably can not be taken literally...nothing is bulletproof...but I can say for sure that I have used all 3 (with WXP home on a fairly fast machine) and they work great. No conflict with any AV, malaware app, or firewall I've ever used except A-Squared. Nothing wrong with A2, it is just too restrictive to suit me.

From a not very tekkie point of view, I've noticed a couple of things worth mentioning. Hope some other members jump in here and comment.

Returnil seems to slow the operating system, but only a little.

Returnil only claims to protect the system partition. Not sure how important that is.

I don't use it much, but DennisD has much experience with it.

He has probably used a later version than I have.

Powershadow does not seem to slow up the system.

PS claims to protect all partitions on the HD, but I'm not sure if it does.

The first reboot gave the message that "windows has recovered from a serious error", but everything worked fine after that.

Version 2.82 tries to phone home after 30 minutes on the 'net, but you can easily stop it with your firewall.

Don't think v. 2.6 does that, and you can't get ver 2.82 anymore, so maybe its not an issue.

Also, v. 2.82 seems to write something in the zero sector of the HD which survives reformats. Worries some people, but apparently does no harm.

Sandboxie traps things in the sandbox, which is a sort of a folder in C: drive.

From reading around the 'net, it seems that things can escape the sandbox. You'll have to look for yourself, I don't have the references.

Doesn't matter, I use Sandboxie and powershadow simultaneously. If something gets out of the sandbox (never has), it is gone on restart.

Very nice feature of Sandboxie is that whatever is in the sandbox is visible. You can delete it at any time, whereas Returnil and Powershadow only delete changes upon restart I think...not sure about Returnil.

Bottom line, I guess, is that if you have one or more of these running, you are well protected against unexpected changes to your OS. I have tangled with some bad bugs, and come out OK after restart. So far. 2.gif

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Good info, but why split from the original thread. :P:P

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what about threatfire? it seems like another alternative anti-virus but not like these ones.

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Good info, but why split from the original thread. :P:P

Didn't want to be thought of as a hijacker. Should have posted there.

Theres a lot I don't know about forum decorum. :)

hello2007, I don't know about threatfire.

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Some people get on good with ThreatFire, whilst others such as myself have had issues with it. One of the biggest issues is at uninstall time, it removes nothing of itself, which Total Uninstall was able to get rid of for me.

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I actually have all three programs you mention, and I've eventually evolved into using them in a more or less set way now.

Power Shadow:

Although it hardly ever gets used now, I keep it for its ability (and flexibility) to protect one or all drives.

Whether that all-drive umbrella will ever be really needed I don't know, but that particular function is something neither Sandboxie nor Returnil can do at this point in time, (as far as I'm aware), so it's a keeper. It's also ran problem free each and every time I have used it.

Sandboxie:

Sandboxie I use all the time now with whichever browser I'm using. For me, it's advantage over Power Shadow and Returnil is the ability to configure it to allow Site Login and favourites data to be saved while it's active.

Not being able to save bookmarks and stuff was a real pain with the other two.

Returnil:

Used invariably now for testing new software.

It's ability to install a new program into memory, along with a "cloned" copy of whichever parts of the Operating System are needed to run that software, is a piece of programming magic which never fails to impress me.

You can actually do a lot more than try out new programs with Returnil. You can install a new version of a program, and if you don't like it, reboot and the old one never went away.

You can uninstall a program for whatever reason, and when you reboot, it's still there.

I really tested it when I removed Norton Antivirus while it was active. I didn't intend to as I forgot Returnil was running at the time.

After a complete removal I rebooted, and the flaming thing was back again. That, I thought, was impressive.

So basically, they each have their benefits, and offer a first class layer of protection. I say layer, because by choice I still run an active AntiVirus program.