Whenever I select “yes” to run a suspicious program in autosandbox the red outlined virtual environment window never appears (in Avast 6 free) . My computer freezes and I end up having to force shut down (ie turn off power without proper shut down).
If I choose to not to open the suspicious program or open it normally I have no problem.
So far the only programs for which I have received AutoSandbox alerts are free-download-of-the-day games from gamehouse.com (only a select few) and SIFXINST.EXE which is part of the New Boundary Prismxl software preinstalled on Gateway computers.
I am running Windows XP Sp3, Firefox 3.6.15, ZoneAlarm :
ZoneAlarm version:9.2.057.000
TrueVector version:9.2.057.000
Driver version:9.2.035.000
ZoneAlarm Browser Security 1.5.227.0
ZoneAlarm ForceField Spyware Scanner 1.5.53.235
ZoneAlarm ForceField Anti-Phishing Database 1.2.104.0
ZoneAlarm ForceField Spyware Sites Database 04.155
I have searched and read posts that mention problems with AutoSandbox including the thread about game/pc freezing, but my problem appears to differ in that I have no problem if I choose not to run the suspect program or open it normally bypassing sandbox.
I have not attempted to uninstall reinstall or disable the sandbox feature (I want the feature).
I have never had a problem using Avast and ZoneAlarm together in the past (nor do I now as far as I can tell).
I would appreciate any insights
I would rather not alter registry for sys dump. Any other method? Currently have set for small dump - would changing to full dump have same outcome as registry change recommended in the topic, “WinXP crash with Avast 6.0.1” http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=73795.0
Thank you for the reply and link Doktor! I’ll try that version.
Surprisingly, it did not even occur to me to provide the Avast info. I did find instructions on “How To Enable Windows XP to Capture a Complete or Kernel Memory Dump” at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316450 that doesn’t require regedit. Hopefully you are right and I wont need it!
I am running Avast Free program version 6.0.1000. I had glanced at that thread about the new release but did not even read what the changes were since it wasn’t available through my update yet. I saw it as a beta and I normally let other braver and younger souls work the kinks out as both my computer and I are rather old
I) I updated to the beta version.
The good news is that I was able to open, view, and play a game in autosandbox.
The bad news is that the game and the sandbox window disappeared after 10 minutes. On the bright side, my computer did not freeze.
Should I be able to play games in sandbox? The game I tried to play was just a match 3 game. If the game crashed on its own while in sandbox would the sandbox window disappear?
Thanks for any assistance
II) Also, while searching events log for any info related to above I discovered a system restore failure possibly related to sandbox.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: sr
Event ID: 1
Description:
The System Restore filter encountered the unexpected error ‘0xC0000243’ while processing the file ‘## aswSnx private storage’ on the volume ‘Hardd … lume1’. It has stopped monitoring the volume.
The file refered to is sandbox. However, the error may simply be from restarting my pc twice within 20-30 minutes when my pc crashed when trying to use sandbox last night.
According to system restore tab under “my computer” properties System Restore is still monitoring. However, from what I read at Microsoft it may no longer be logging activities. Frustrating.
Frankly, I’d recommend either Pro/AIS or Sandboxie if you want things like play games in sandbox. AutoSandbox is a limited subset of full sandbox features, has no settings, you e.g. can’t really save any game positions there. Once the process terminates, everything is gone.
