AutoSandbox
The avast! AutoSandbox is a special security feature which allows potentially suspicious applications to be automatically run in a completely isolated environment with no risk to your computer or any of your other files.
By default, if an application is started and avast! detects anything suspicious, it will ask you if you want to run the application in the Sandbox. If you answer “Open in sandbox”, the application will then be started inside the Sandbox where it cannot cause any damage to your system.
This allows you to check any suspicious applications while remaining completely protected against any malicious actions that an infected application might try to perform.
The browser or other application will then open in a special window with a red border, which indicates that it is being run inside the Sandbox.
Alternatively, in the AutoSandbox settings, the AutoSandbox can be configured to run suspicious applications automatically in the Sandbox. It can also be disabled completely, or you can exclude any files that should never be run in the Sandbox.
The AutoSandbox settings can also be found in the Expert Settings for the File System Shield.
In avast! Pro Antivirus and avast! Internet Security, the main Sandbox settings will also be used by the AutoSandbox – for example, whether or not downloaded files and other browser options are automatically deleted when the sandbox is closed.
These settings are not available in avast! Free Antivirus and when the Sandbox is closed any downloaded files will be automatically deleted.