Notes About 64 Bit Edition

Starting with version 3.44, Sandboxie offers full support for 64-bit editions of Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, and Windows 7.

The downloadable installer package SandboxieInstall.exe contains both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Sandboxie. To install Sandboxie, simply run the installer package, and it will automatically select the appropriate edition of Sandboxie.

Note that some editions of 64-bit Windows 7 can also run the 32-bit edition of Sandboxie in Windows XP Mode.

Full disclosure: The 64-bit edition of Sandboxie provides a reduced level of protection compared to the 32-bit edition of Sandboxie.

This shortcoming is the result of a new security feature introduced in 64-bit editions of Windows, called Kernel Patch Protection. This feature aims to protect the core of Windows (the kernel) by regularly performing self-checks to detect changes.

The problem is that a stock Windows kernel does not provide all the facilities necessary to implement a security solution such as Sandboxie. On 32-bit Windows, Sandboxie can dynamically enhance the Windows kernel to provide the missing functionality. This is not possible on 64-bit Windows, due to the Kernel Patch Protection feature.

It should be noted, however, that even with this disadvantage, the 64-bit edition of Sandboxie is still an adequate front line of defense against most types of malicious software.

Additionally, in order to compensate for this disadvantage, the 64-bit edition of Sandboxie enables the Drop Rights setting by default. This setting may need to be disabled before software can be installed into a sandbox.