I am pleased to announce the release of ShadowFreeze 1.0.5, the first final release of ShadowFreeze.

ShadowFreeze is a Windows disk virtualization and system-freezing solution designed to protect a system volume by redirecting changes into an overlay. While protection is active, applications and Windows continue to see and use the system normally, but modifications are kept separate from the original disk state. After discarding the overlay and rebooting, the system returns to its previous state.

Unlike a traditional sandbox, ShadowFreeze operates at the storage layer and can therefore protect the complete Windows installation rather than individual applications. The underlying, unmodified disk state can also be mounted separately when required, allowing files to be accessed or deliberately modified outside the active virtualized view.

The 1.0.x development and testing cycle concentrated heavily on filesystem correctness, persistence, recovery behavior, and compatibility with modern storage configurations. This included fixes for FAT32, exFAT and ReFS handling, overlay resume and persistence, metadata integrity, race conditions and deadlocks, as well as support for native 4K-sector drives.

Version 1.0.5 marks the point at which ShadowFreeze is considered ready for normal use rather than being an experimental preview. This release disables the remaining debug logging code and includes the latest version of the integrated disk toolbox.

As with any software operating directly on storage devices and filesystem data, maintaining a current and verified backup of important data is strongly recommended. ShadowFreeze is intended to make system experimentation, testing and recovery significantly easier, but it should not be considered a replacement for proper backups.

Thank you to everyone who tested the early builds and reported issues. The feedback during the 1.0 development cycle helped uncover and resolve a substantial number of edge cases that would otherwise have been very difficult to reproduce.

Download: https://shadowfreeze.com/Downloads/ShadowFreeze/ShadowFreeze-v1.0.5.exe

Task Explorer 2.0 is a major release introducing native Linux support and remote system monitoring.

Task Explorer is now available natively for Linux on both x64 and ARM64. The Linux version includes Wine integration, allowing Task Explorer to expose additional Windows-specific information for Wine processes, including Windows process names and PIDs, handles, windows and tokens.

The second major addition is remote monitoring through the new TaskServer and TaskRemote components. Task Explorer can now connect to and monitor remote Windows and Linux systems, including cross-platform connections, and multiple machines can be monitored simultaneously. Machine selection and cluster-mode controls have been added directly to the toolbar to make working with multiple systems easier. Remote access includes secure authentication, encrypted credential storage and automatic discovery of TaskServer instances on the local network. Remote monitoring requires a Task Explorer supporter certificate, available from the Xanasoft store at xanasoft.com.

On Windows, Task Explorer 2.0 also introduces optional Window Agents that allow windows belonging to other user sessions to be enumerated and controlled. The built-in Windows security object editor has been replaced with a custom permissions editor.

Under the hood, much of Task Explorer has been reorganized around a new system abstraction layer that allows local Windows, local Linux and remote systems to be handled through the same interfaces. PHlib has also been updated to version 4.0.26241. These architectural changes provide the foundation for further expansion of Task Explorer's cross-platform and remote-management capabilities.

Download: https://github.com/DavidXanatos/TaskExplorer/releases/tag/v2.0.0

This release focuses primarily on refinements to SandMan’s INI editor, shell notification handling, and several smaller reliability fixes.

The SandMan INI editor has received a substantial auto-completion overhaul. Completion candidates are now ranked using context-aware semantic matching and fuzzy matching, while metadata is synchronized independently for each editor instance. Refreshes are also deferred during rapid typing or deletion to reduce unnecessary updates and improve responsiveness.

The completion popup itself has also been refined. Candidate tooltips no longer retain stale information while editing, Template and TemplateReject entries now show only the relevant setting-name information, and large description tooltips have been adjusted to avoid jumping unnecessarily between sides or obscuring completion candidates.

Shell notification handling has also been updated. UseShellNotifyIconProxy remains enabled by default when OpenWinClass=* is configured, preserving the behavior required by these sandboxes, while other sandboxed processes now use direct routing by default unless proxying is explicitly enabled. To make troubleshooting this behavior easier, low-noise SbieTrace logging has been added for Shell_NotifyIconW calls. The trace records the notification message, icon identity using either NIF_GUID/GUID or HWND/uID, and whether the effective route was direct or through the proxy.

A problem with shortcuts created from SandMan’s File Panel has been fixed. Previously, the “Create Shortcut” action did not set a working directory, causing sandboxed applications to inherit SandMan’s current directory. Programs relying on relative paths could consequently fail to locate their data files. Shortcuts created through the File Panel now receive the appropriate working directory.

This release additionally fixes an incorrect return type in SbieSvc and corrects archive path cleaning behavior.

Sandboxie Plus 1.18.4 is primarily a maintenance and usability release, with the most visible improvements affecting INI editing and completion behavior while also tightening shell notification routing and addressing several smaller issues reported since the previous release.

Download: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases/tag/v1.18.4

ShadowFreeze keeps your PC in a known-good state. You take a snapshot of a disk partition — or your
whole Windows system drive — and from that moment on every change is written to a temporary shadow
instead of the real disk. When you reboot (or unfreeze on demand), all of those changes vanish and the
partition returns exactly to how it was at the moment you froze it.

Now with fully signed driver, still in beta though try at your own risk.

Download: https://shadowfreeze.com/Downloads/ShadowFreeze-v1.0.3.exe

And the website is also ready: https://shadowfreeze.com/

Sandboxie-Plus 1.18.3 is a maintenance release focused primarily on stability, usability, and compatibility improvements across SandMan, Start.exe, and the tracing subsystem.

The standalone SandMan trace monitor now provides a visible Cleanup Trace Log action, making it easier to clear accumulated trace data directly from the monitor.

Several issues in the SandMan user interface have been addressed. Changes made to the File Migration action dropdown are now correctly preserved when clicking Apply or OK while the editor still has keyboard focus. The File Panel and Browse Files views have also been improved when deleting files or folders: expanded directory states are retained, and the interface now restores the selection, keyboard focus, and scroll position to the nearest remaining item instead of unexpectedly resetting the view.

The trace logging subsystem received a number of stability and state-management fixes. Crashes and stale entries that could occur when clearing the Trace Log while both integrated and standalone trace views were open have been resolved. The standalone Trace Logging controls now correctly reflect the actual monitor state and no longer inadvertently disable logging when the monitor window is closed. When closing the standalone monitor while tracing remains active, Sandboxie now offers the choice to stop logging and clear the log, disable logging while retaining the existing log data, or leave logging running in the background.

Start.exe autorun handling has been made more robust. It now correctly handles oversized registry values, applies proper bounds to shortcut paths, supports paginated Startup directories, and dynamically allocates launch command lines instead of relying on fixed-size buffers. These changes improve reliability in systems with unusually large or complex autorun configurations.

This release also restores compatibility with Firefox 154 in Standard Isolation mode.

Finally, an initialization issue affecting sandboxed processes that already carry an AppContainer token has been fixed.

Download: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases/tag/v1.18.3

Sandboxie Plus 1.18.2 / 5.73.2 is a maintenance and usability update that brings several refinements to SandMan, improves compatibility with recent Windows Insider builds, and fixes a number of long-standing UI and driver-related issues.

Sandboxed-window borders have gained new outside-border modes, allowing the configured border to be drawn outside the application frame. For maximized and snapped windows, the new BorderInsideMaximized=y option, enabled by default, automatically moves the border and label inside the window so they remain visible.

SandMan now remembers manually expanded and collapsed process-tree branches across refreshes and restarts. The Auto Expand Tree option has been adjusted accordingly and now acts as the default only for items without an explicitly remembered state. Sandbox groups are likewise kept in their chosen expanded or collapsed state more reliably.

A new global BoxAliasDisplayMode allows display-only aliases to be used for sandbox names throughout SandMan, Start.exe, window titles, borders, tooltips, recovery logs, and messages, while the actual sandbox name continues to be used internally for paths and operations. Imported sandbox archives can optionally restore their saved aliases as well.

The tray menu can now provide a literal search field for quickly filtering sandboxes and groups, and automatic sandbox cleanup gained an option to restore either the active or the default snapshot after deletion. Snapshot management and refresh controls have also been integrated into the relevant settings.

Trace Log handling has been improved so automatic scrolling no longer fights manual navigation. Scrolling away from the bottom now pauses auto-scroll and presents an in-list control for resuming it.

This release also updates DynData and restores driver compatibility with the latest Windows Insider builds, including validation against Windows build 29634.

Among the fixes are corrected File Panel column persistence, more reliable open-handle reporting, improved file sorting, proper Recycle Bin deletion of expanded directory trees, and a fix for registry hive log files such as RegHive.LOG1 and RegHive.LOG2 being incorrectly treated as descendants of RegHive. Several character-versus-byte buffer size issues affecting shortcuts, window class names, configuration reads, driver-log retrieval, and icon-path IPC handling have also been corrected.

ApiTrace has been reworked to avoid stack exhaustion on Cygwin and other environments using unusually small or alternate stacks, while retaining legacy event ordering and stack capture. Stack symbol resolution has also been improved by retrying unresolved addresses after process discovery and refreshing the DbgHelp module list when necessary.

Finally, the release fixes an issue where SandMan could unnecessarily offer to install the DbgHelp add-on when it was already present, as well as a ConfidentialBox=y elevation problem that could leave the user stuck on a black screen.

Download: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases/tag/v1.18.2

I'm excited to finally share the first public preview of ShadowFreeze, a new lightweight disk virtualization tool for Windows.

ShadowFreeze allows you to freeze partitions, redirect all changes into a temporary overlay, and return the system to its original state with a simple reboot. The project aims to provide a modern, actively maintained alternative to classic disk-freezing solutions, while adding new capabilities and long-term support.

This is still a very early preview intended for enthusiasts and experienced testers. The core functionality is already usable, but many features are still under development and there has only been limited testing on different hardware and Windows versions.

Important Warning

The current preview build includes an unsigned kernel driver and installer. As a result, it can only be used on systems with Windows Test Signing enabled.

This build should not be installed on a production machine. Although it has worked well in my testing so far, it is still an early development build and may contain serious bugs that could lead to data loss or an unbootable system.

Please make sure you have a recent backup. Ideally, use a virtual machine or a dedicated test system.

I'm looking forward to your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions. Your testing will help shape ShadowFreeze into a reliable replacement for existing disk-freezing solutions.

Happy testing!

Download: https://shadowfreeze.com/downloads/

Sandboxie Plus 1.18.1 introduces a number of usability improvements and important fixes focused on reliability and configuration management. SandMan now provides significantly enhanced INI setting validation and auto-completion, featuring support for disabled-setting aliases, localized descriptions, context-aware warnings, and template-specific metadata with improved tooltips, making advanced configuration easier and less error-prone. This release also adds new CopyNewer file migration rules, allowing existing files inside a sandbox to be automatically refreshed when the corresponding host file has been updated, while avoiding unintended overwrites during file creation or other write operations. Additionally, users who prefer opaque sandbox identifiers can now create sandboxes using GUIDs as box names.

This update also resolves several issues affecting day-to-day use. The incremental update mechanism has been fixed to correctly deploy newly added program files, ensuring updates are applied completely. Compatibility problems involving RunServiceAsSystem and UseSecurityMode have been addressed, including a fix for the cryptsvc service. The Chromium elevation template has been refined to use more granular service configuration for improved compatibility. Finally, multiple issues in the SOCKS5 proxy implementation have been resolved, fixing password authentication failures caused by credential decoding, locale-dependent encoding, invalid credential handling, and incomplete socket transmissions, resulting in a more robust and reliable proxy experience.

For a full list of changes please review the change log.

Download: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases/tag/v1.18.1

This maintenance update focuses on improving reliability and resolving a few important issues reported after the previous release. A new crash dump mechanism has been introduced to provide more reliable diagnostics, making it easier to investigate and resolve unexpected crashes in future releases.

The most significant fix addresses a regression in the uninstaller caused by the self-protection mechanism. In the previous build, affected users could find themselves unable to uninstall MajorPrivacy through normal means, often requiring manual workarounds to remove the software. This issue has now been resolved, and the uninstaller functions correctly again. Users updating from version 0.100.0 should note that the existing MajorPrivacy GUI must be closed before installing this update over the previous build.

Finally, this release fixes a crash in the DNS Inspector, improving the stability of DNS monitoring during normal operation. Overall, version 0.100.1 is a recommended update for all users of 0.100.0.

Download: https://github.com/xanasoft/MajorPrivacy/releases/tag/v0.100.1