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Windows installer service

cocoon a

I tried to install a program in a sandbox, but I get a message that the Windows Installer Service cannot be accessed and the installation fails. Is there a way to go around this?

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  • 0 in reply to bj m

    You are free to quote an user that said what YOU want to think, but I am free to disagree, especially because the quoted user is not the programmer or the editor.  I have developed a few tools to analyse the content of the sandbox (modified or created registry keys and files) and I use it often to check for bad behaviour of programs, web sites AND INSTALLERS.  And even if Sandboxie is not specifically made for that usage, IT IS MADE to protect you from malicious behaviours.  If you cannot install a program in a sandbox, it looses its interest almost completely.

    "Sandboxie doesn’t allow drivers or services to be installed in the sandbox."

    Correct.  I just want to install a PROGRAM, not a driver or a service.  But that's not possible any more, at least under Win 10 when the installer is a MSI file.  The problem is that Sandboxie fails immediately when it tries to open the MSI, BEFORE having a chance to discover if the installer wants to install a driver of service.  Therefore, your remark is not applicable in this specific case.  I want to test an open source image editor, not a complex thing, and in this case, I know for sure that it is not infected by a virus.  Therefore, I want only to INSTALL A PROGRAM, and be able to uninstall it without leaving useless traces in my PC if it is not what I am looking for.  Sandboxie is (was!) perfect for that kind of test.  Unfortunately, the nasty install bug prevents to use it any more for such a simple task.

    If for any obscure reason, the programmers want to prohibit to install a program in a sandbox, why is it still possible to do it under Win 7, and why was it possible to do it with previous versions of Win 10, and why is it still possible to run an installer when it's a regular EXE file ?  Obviously, that doesn't make sense.  The real reason is that there is a bug related to MSI files (probably caused by an incompatibility with a relatively recent Win 10 update) that Sophos has not fixed yet.  I just wanted to add my vote to this thread, in the hope that someone will want to fix the bug.  Given the aggressiveness of the replies, I must abandon the idea that Sandboxie is still actively developed, and I can only repeat that it's a pity.  I suppose I will have to use an alternative.  Again, it's a pity.

  • 0 in reply to rol rol

    rol rol said:

    [..]I just want to install a PROGRAM, not a driver or a service.  But that's not possible any more, at least under Win 10 when the installer is a MSI file.  [...] Given the aggressiveness of the replies, I must abandon the idea that Sandboxie is still actively developed, and I can only repeat that it's a pity.  I suppose I will have to use an alternative.  Again, it's a pity.



    Yes, I'm aware re MSI installer.
    Yes, it's a pitty that Sandboxie is not actively supported, at this time. 

    I disagree that Sandboxie is made especially for running potentially dangerous programs.

    You may reach a wider audience re your concerns on Wilders.

    Is it true that Sandboxie doesn't work well with Windows 10?
    www.wilderssecurity.com/.../

    Thanks

  • 0 in reply to bj m

    "I disagree that Sandboxie is made especially for running potentially dangerous programs."

    So, what is its usage ?  Just run normal programs in a very complicated way, more slowly and with a lot of limitations ?

    I'm a long time registered Sandboxie user, and I remember perfectly the diagram explaining how the sandbox can protect the PC from damage caused by malicious programs.  It has been made ONLY for that.  It's a fact.  If you use it for something else, I am curious to know what !

    In my previous post, I have explained that I use it also to test a program and remove all traces it can leave on the system.  It's also a creative way to use it, and I have no problem with other usages.  But you cannot simply disagree that it is made for running potentially dangerous programs, as it's its main purpose.

    Thanks for the Winders link, but I don't want to just complain that it doesn't work well under Win 10.  I want to report a serious bug.  IMO, it is probably better to report it here, although I'm not sure.  If there is a bug tracker for Sandboxie somewhere, please let me know.

    Anyway, you have confirmed that Sandboxie is dead.  I will probably uninstall it...

  • 0 in reply to rol rol

    I've run Sandoxie for 11 years while I've followed users concerns regarding their favored that did not run sandboxed.

    Some concerns were sorted.  Some concerns were not sorted. 
    Fact is, over years...the number of officially supported - compatible programs was reduced. 
    The cycles Invincea was willing to invest in sorting users favored concerns had reduced...even before Sophos.

    By my read and hope.  Sophos focus is support for 1909. 

    At this time...1909 support is a hoped for gift from Sophos.

    We're all wanting that "open source" brings great interest regarding Sandboxie future and great interest regarding users concerns.

    Sandboxie may not satisfy all users, all the time.

    Cheers

  • 0 in reply to rol rol

    rol rol said:

    So, what is its usage ?

    Please review Episode #172 | 27 Nov 2008 | Gibson Research Corporation

    Steve: But I wanted to get a sense, for example, like what Ronen's original motivation was behind Sandboxie because this is, as I mentioned, four years in the making at this point. [...]



    RONEN: Yeah. But Sandboxie, on the other hand, has been designed from the ground down - from the ground up. That's always been the core idea, to let you be safe on the Internet so that you can use your web-facing or Internet-facing programs in a secure way, where they are isolated from your system, and they can only do as much as you let them, and never more than that. 
    [...]
    RONEN: That's right. Most of what I had to do with Sandboxie, most of the challenges I had to address for Internet applications - for Internet Explorer, for Firefox, for Thunderbird, all kinds of Internet applications - because at the end of the day these are programs that are running on the operating system. So the bulk of the work that I had to do anyway to get just these programs to run. And I did some additional work to make Sandboxie in a sense generic. So the extra work that other programs may require, I also addressed that because I thought, why not, it's just the little extra mile, the one extra mile to go so Sandboxie can have much more applications than just using it for Internet security.
    [...]

    rol rol said:
    and I remember perfectly the diagram explaining how the sandbox can protect the PC from damage caused by malicious programs.  It has been made ONLY for that.  It's a fact.  If you use it for something else, I am curious to know what !


    For me: I've run Sandboxie based on the core idea to be safe on the Internet.  To be safe using web-facing programs.  Granted, Ronen did some additional work to make Sandboxie in a sense generic.

    Sandboxie was initially released in 2004 as a tool for sandboxing Internet Explorer.  Over time, the program was expanded to support other browsers and arbitrary applications. 

    I've run Sandboxie primarily based on the core idea.  Isolating web-facing programs in restrictive sandbox isolated from my real system. 

    Admitting, I've run installers sandboxed ... just to briefly see whats what. 
    I've not sandboxed installers to observe malware. 

    Unknown said:
     Sandboxie was not designed to be used as an analyzer of behavior. Since Sandboxie is an application sandbox (and Not an analyzer), the behavior we see in programs when they run in the sandbox should not be used as a guide for telling whether programs are good or bad/malicious. We should not install programs outside the sandbox based on their behavior in the sandbox. Doing so is wrong and can hurt you when a malicious program fools you into thinking that it is clean and you install it outside the sandbox and become infected.
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/installing-a-game-within-a-sandbox.419656/#post-2846881

  • 0 in reply to bj m

    Its all ok with your idea of safe internet.

    But! If u just lauch programs you dont need sandboxie. Just create new non-admin user, run as program from this new accout (optionaly delete user and user data after work). This take a 5 sec via cmdline. Or use tool like dropmyrights. Or just use UAC.

    What is profit of using current sandboxie? Its fully useless tool now. Excess baggage in windows system.

    I just unistall it. I use only 100% working tools.

    May be will check in 2023 again. But who will need sandbox in 2023? Win 10 have a better built-in sandbox inside and it will be improved unlike SB.

  • 0 in reply to bj m

    bj m said:

    So, what is its usage ?

     Please review Episode #172 | 27 Nov 2008 | Gibson Research Corporation

    I totally disagree that Sabdboxie should only be a sandbox to surf the internet.  As the Sophos presentation text makes clear, it is also about testing programs in a secure environment.  See https://www.sandboxie.com/

    Application Testing

    Safely test and try new programs and applications within Sandboxie and prevent unauthorized changes to your underlying system that may occur

     

    And running the programs to be tested out of the sandbox without giving them administrator rights is absolutely no guarantee of security, not to mention the fact that some programs require these rights to run properly.

    Running a program, even perfectly safe, in the sandbox has the added advantage that it can be easily uninstalled, without leaving any trace in the system, which official uninstallers are unable to do.

    The Win10 sandbox is not at all made for that purpose, and as far as I know, it works only with the "universal apps".

    So, I insist.  Sandboxie should support all kind of installers.

  • 0 in reply to dannn x

    dannn x said:

    Its all ok with your idea of safe internet.

    What is profit of using current sandboxie?

    I just unistall it. I use only 100% working tools.

    Um, linked Episode #172 discussion is regarding: "what Ronen's original motivation was behind Sandboxie".
    For me, current Sandboxie serves same benefit as past Sandboxie.
    I hear ya'.
    Hope you'll talk to Sandboxie open source developers.

  • 0 in reply to rol rol

    rol rol said:

     So, I insist.  Sandboxie should support all kind of installers.

    I hear ya'.
    Um, Sandboxie has never supported all kinds of installers.
    Hope you'll talk to Sandboxie open source developers.

    Regards w Respect

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