Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sandboxie

Sandboxie is a safe way to install and uninstall programs on Points2Shop.

Download and installation walkthrough

The following guide is lengthy but the process is very easy once you've done it once or twice. Be sure to read everything the first time to avoid any confusion!
  1. First, download Sandboxie from sandboxie.com and install it. You may need to restart your computer.
  2. Open Internet Explorer as you usually would, not in sandbox mode yet. Most download offers do not credit if downloaded with Firefox and other browsers.
  3. Log in to Points2Shop.
  4. Close your browser; when you start it up again in the next step you will already be logged in to Points2Shop. Steps 2-4 are just for convenience if you will be completing multiple download offers in one sitting.
  5. Pause your anti-virus and firewall protection. Some offers do not credit with these protections running.
  6. Now, right-click your Internet Explorer shortcut and select "Run in Sandbox."
    1. You may be asked which sandbox to run it in, choose "DefaultBox."
    2. You will notice that the window title now has pound signs around it (i.e. [#] Internet Explorer [#]), this is the indication that the program is safely locked in a sandbox.
    3. You may see notices about "Quick Recovery," recovery is the process of moving sandboxed files out to your computer (which is not what you want to do). Just click "Close."
  7. Go to Points2Shop and search for a download offer. You might want to start with the downloads in high-paying free offers list or simply search "download."
  8. Visit the advertiser and click the Download button. You generally do not need to provide any contact information for download offers.
    1. If there is a bar at the top of the page mentioning ActiveX, click it and select the option to install the ActiveX control.
    2. Otherwise you will be presented with a prompt to run or save the file, choose "Run."
  9. Follow the installer's instructions and leave your browser window open as the program installs.
    1. You may be presented with multiple additional offers, such as Weatherbug and the Yahoo Toolbar. You do not need to install these to receive credit, check for a Decline button or uncheck the option's checkbox.
  10. The installer will notify you that the download is complete.
  11. There may be a Finish or OK button, click it to close the installer. Otherwise the installer will close automatically.
    1. Freeze offers will open a new browser window at this time. Be sure to go through each of the additional offers displayed here, you will probably want to click Skip until you get to the Freeze homepage.
    2. If the software you downloaded was a browser toolbar, close all IE windows and open a new IE window (right click to run sandboxed), make sure you see the new toolbar.
  12. Right-click the yellow Sandboxie tray icon, and in the DefaultBox menu select "Delete contents."
  13. Click "Delete Sandbox" to close all programs running in the sandbox and delete all of the fake temporary files which were installed.
  14. Your computer is now in the exact same state as it was when you started the process, no need to run uninstallers or spyware cleaners.
  15. Go ahead and return to step 5 to try more download offers!

You do not need to clear your cookies because any cookies saved in your sandboxed browser have been deleted. Some people prefer to use Sandboxie for all the offers that they complete. It can be configured to automatically delete the contents of the sandbox whenever all the running sandboxed programs are closed, which can make it faster and more convenient than clearing the cookies separately.

Keep in mind that any changes made in a sadboxed program will be lost - so if you add a new bookmark or change browser settings, they will be lost along with browser history and cookies.

If you're wondering exactly what and how Sandboxie protects, check out sandboxie.com for more information.

Here is a variety of free download offers to get you started, nearly 30 download offers have credited for me so there are a lot more out there for you to find! 100 points is equal to $1.00 and you will need a Points2Shop account to complete these offers.

Total value of this list: 780 points ($7.8 USD)
Sort offers by: point value | number of approvals
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