Protect your browsing session with Sandboxie
Sandboxie lets you do this by setting up a sort of virtual hard drive that's separated from the rest of your disk space. When you install or launch a program from within Sandboxie, anything you download will be written to the Sandbox. If you download a file and want to move it to your unprotected hard drive, you can do that. But if your web browser, instant messenger, or e-mail client contracts a nasty virus, your computer will be safe and you can just delete the infected files from your Sandbox.
The one down side is that it takes longer to launch programs within Sandboxie. But once they're up and running you shouldn't notice too much difference between the applications you're running from Sandboxie and any other application on your desktop.
If the whole concept sounds familiar, it is. Last week ZoneAlarm launched a public beta of ForceField, an application that does basically the same thing. The main difference is that ForceField is a commercial application (when it emerges from beta it will cost $30), while Sandboxie is free. ForceField does have a more polished interface and to be honest, we'd be more likely to install it on mom's computer than Sandboxie. But if you're looking for a security solution and you have some technical chops, Sandboxie might be worth a looksie.
[Thanks BeechSundowner!]
