Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 131 • 2006-03-16 • Circulation: over 400,000

This month I’ll show you two more free ways to surf safely.

But first, let’s recap.

In issues #129 and #130 I talked about using the free VMWare Reader and the free Ubuntu LiveCD to surf safely. Both are great solutions but both are a little awkward to use as they take several minutes to start up.

Today I’ll show you two different free products that will allow you to start surfing safely in seconds rather than minutes.

The first is called Sandboxie. Its name accurately describes what it does: it creates a sandbox environment on your PC within which you can browse safely.

The strange name "sandbox" derives from the Java world where it refers to the highly contained and restricted environment in which Java programs (applets) are allowed to run. They are allowed to "play in the sandbox" but not go outside it. The important point is that while running in the sandbox, the programs have no access to your PC.

So it is with Sandboxie. While browsing within the environment provided by Sandboxie you are totally corralled off from your other parts of your PC. Any files you download are isolated to the sandbox. Similarly, any programs that are executed only do so within the sandbox and have no access to your normal files, the Windows operating system or indeed any other part of your PC.

This means you have complete browsing security. Nothing you do while browsing can have any effect on your PC outside the sandbox.

Starting SandBoxie is simple. You just double click the Sandboxie icon and it will launch your default browser within the sandbox. When you’ve finished browsing you have the option of deleting all files accumulated in the sandbox during the session or retaining specific files. The secure option is to delete the lot.

It’s a neat solution for safe surfing but there are some caveats. First, Sandboxie only works on Windows 2000 and later so Win9x users are out of luck. Second, the system is only safe if you choose the option of deleting all files at the end of your browsing session. Third, you have to be constantly mindful whether you are browsing in the safe sandbox environment or just browsing normally as the two environments look exactly alike. This is a real problem and I do wish the makers of Sandboxie would do something to make the sandboxed environment look visually different.

I also wonder about SandBoxie’s ultimate security compared to using VMWare or a Linux LiveCD. I wasn’t able to break out of the sandbox environment and get access to my PC but maybe a smart hacker could.

I don’t have these residual concerns about the next option: surfing from Damn Small Linux within a QEMU virtual machine running on your Windows PC.

This is bit similar to the option of running a Linux on your Windows PC within a VMWare virtual machine that I mentioned in issue #129. It differs in that the virtual environment is created using the free Open Source program QEMU rather than VMWare.

Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a special cut-down version of Knoppix Linux that only takes up 50MB. However, it does include a pre- installed version of Firefox so it’s ideal for creating a safe- surfing environment.

This may sound daunting to set up but it’s not. The folks at DSL have included everything you need in a single archive. All you need do is download the 50 MB DSL archive, unzip it to a folder and run the file dsl-windows.bat.

This will automatically launch QEMU and then Damn Small Linux which will auto-install, including automatic network configuration. On my test 3.2 GHz P4 the whole process took less than one minute.

Running Firefox from within DSL is no more complex the clicking the Firefox icon on the DSL desktop. Ending your session is equally simple: just right click on the desktop and select "Power down."

When you power-down, all traces of your surfing session will disappear. That includes any files downloaded, any cookies and your whole surfing history.

This all sounds very attractive but I must warn you that QEMU takes up a lot of processing power; bags of it. You’ll need at least a 2.0 GHz Pentium class processor to run it and even then you’ll find response to be sluggish. With faster processors, though, it will work just fine.

So that’s it folks. You now have four free options for safe surfing; VMWare Reader, the Ubuntu Linux LiveCD, Sandboxie and DSL under QEMU.

Which is best? Well, if convenience is your top priority then you can’t beat Sandboxie. If you have a really fast PC then you’ll be tempted by DSL and if you want the best security VMWare and Ubuntu are the way to go; it’s your call.

Whatever option you choose you will soon discover that once you are freed from security and privacy concerns you will be free to surf the internet without fear, to go to places you would normally never dream visiting and to try things you wouldn’t normally dare. All this, while knowing that at the end of your browsing session, you can wipe everything from your PC without leaving a trace.

Sandboxie: Free for non-commercial use, Windows 2000 and later, 310KB.
http://www.sandboxie.com

DSL+QEMU: Free GPL/GNU software, All Windows versions, 49.5MB.
http://damnsmalllinux.org/

See you next month.

Gizmo

Want to copy one of your DVDs or strip the sound track to a CD? Need to join several video files? Like to convert from one video format to another? This site shows you how to do all these things and more using free software.
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/search

Some P2P programs will infect your PC with adware and spyware when you install them on your PC while others are as clean as a whistle. Find out which from this informative article.
http://www.spywareinfoforum.info/articles/p2p/

Cat 5 Ethernet cable costs less than 10 cents a foot while two RJ-45 connectors will cost you only 32c. That means you can make a five foot cable for 82 cents. Full instructions here:
http://www.urltrim.com/ct/t.php?l=75

Judging from the subscriber letters I get, lots of folks have trouble configuring the ZoneAlarm firewall. If that’s you then head for this site where you’ll find lots of useful tips. The layout is a bit hard on the eyes but the content is good. Thanks to subscriber Howard Kampff for this one.
http://www.donhoover.net/

There’s no need to spend a cent on this; just follow this Microsoft Guide. Some of these pages use ActiveX so you may have to browse them with Internet Explorer rather than Firefox or Opera.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270670

Subscriber Sherry Sanford sent me this excellent collection of tech cartoons. They made me laugh so I put them on a web page for all to share.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/tech-jokes.htm

Here you’ll find a table listing features for 25 of the top clients. The user comments are just as interesting with my two favorite clients, Azureus and uTorrent, receiving the thumbs up from most users.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_BitTorrent_clients

A drive imaging program is a utility that creates a backup snapshot or image of your disk drives, most commonly your system drive. You can use that backup image to recover from system failures, spyware infections, installations gone wrong or any of the dozens of other things that can seriously mess up your PC. Every PC I own has a drive imaging utility installed and I use these regularly to make image backups of the C: drives. I simply can’t tell you just how many times I’ve been able to use these backup images to restore a non-working PC to perfect health. Restoring from an image only takes me minutes while a full Windows re-install can take many hours or even days when you take into account re-installing application programs. That’s why I recommend every PC should be imaged regularly using a reliable imaging program. Now let me tell you the harsh truth: when it comes to the best imaging program it’s a two horse race between the commercial products Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost with the freeware contenders trailing by a couple of miles. Not that there aren’t some usable freeware products; it’s just they aren’t in the same league when it comes to function, features and reliability. Choosing between True Image and Ghost is tough because they are both quality programs. That’s why I asked regular Support Alert contributor J.W. to review the latest versions of these products. In his normal methodical way he’s scrutinized each from top to bottom and pronounced one the winner. Find out which from J.W’s full review on the Support Alert web site. Just teasing actually, here’s what J.W. concluded: "I will be removing Symantec Ghost from my system. My recommendation and choice … for a disk-imaging program is Acronis True Image." Please do read J.W’s review though; it’s outstanding.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/drive-imaging-reviews.htm

There are literally dozens of free stand-alone reminder programs. Even more if you include sticky notes utilities and calendaring programs that offer reminder features. Many, I can assure you, are not worth installing. Of the nine programs I looked at, two impressed me for their ease of use of their reminder and "to-do" features. "Easy To-Do" [1] has the starkest interface of any of the products I reviewed yet it is among the most effective in use. It has all the features you need but no more, including unlimited task lists, task categories, recurring reminders, audible and visual alarms, adjustable snooze, configurable reports and more. It’s been really well thought through with lots of nice touches like the ability to add a new task or reminder by simply right-clicking the tray icon. Rainlender [2] by contrast, is a much slicker product but a tad more difficult to use. Rainlender is not only a reminder program but a very capable iCal "compatible" desktop calendar, though the calendar feature can be turned off. Used as a reminder and "to do" program it’s very feature rich with a really snazzy interface employing things like variable windows transparency, impressive mouse-over effects, hotkeys and easy skinning. It also has several features missing from Easy To-Do such as the ability to synchronize events between clients as well as Outlook appointment integration. I liked, too, the way the tray icon shows the current date, a feature that Easy To-Do could well emulate. Either of these programs will meet the reminder needs of most users. Some will prefer Easy To-Do for its simple but effective approach while others will be won over by Rainlender’s optional desktop calendar, impressive interface and powerful features. Firefox and Thunderbird users also have the option of using the free ReminderFox and Mozilla Calendar extensions which together provide similar functionality. They offer the advantage of avoiding the need for running a separate reminder application but at the cost of not having reminders available when Firefox or Thunderbird aren’t running.
[1] http://www.xanadutools.com/ Freeware, all Windows versions, 1.2MB.
[2] http://ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar Free GPL software, all Windows versions, 948KB
[3] http://reminderfox.mozdev.org/ Free Open Source, requires Firefox and/or Thunderbird
[4] http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/ Free, Open Source, available as Firefox and/or Thunderbird extension or in stand- alone form as Sunbird.