14 DAY TRIAL // There is no such thing as too much security for users who want to prevent their systems from getting infected with malware. Apart from the commonly used antivirus solutions and firewall protection, it is also possible to resort to the sandboxing feature that basically confines all activity to a virtual environment, in order to quickly eliminate e-threats by just restarting the computer. A notable program that specializes in this is Sandboxie.
Quietzone provides users with a convenient and effective way to accomplish this task, in order to let users freely explore websites without worrying about viruses, hijackers, and other types of malware. It connects to the Internet using the Tor server, thus protecting the PC's identity from other people and suspicious data collection organizations. Most sandbox utilities are rather complicated to work with, but Quietzone requires just a few clicks to create a virtually secure environment, and it is capable of discarding all changes by just rebooting the computer.
License type, installation, interface
The trial edition can be tested for 15 days, during which the computer is scheduled by the app to automatically power off after 30 minutes of use. In order to lift this restriction and take advantage of the app's full suite options, users may purchase the entire package for an annual fee of $14.99 / €14.24 (excluding VAT).
The installation procedure does not take a long time to finish, and it requires a system reboot to complete setup. It creates an icon in the system tray area at startup, thus providing quick access to starting the privacy browser, restarting the PC, disabling Quietzone protection, and bringing up the main panel to configure settings.
As far as looks are concerned, the application adopts a simple and elegant window with a neatly organized structure, where the virtual environment can be made active immediately with one click. Furthermore, there is a small toolbar shown on the desktop to easily one-time Quietzone and start a private browsing session.
One-time or permanent protection, with exceptions
Quietzone can be enabled for one time only, which means that the protection status will be disabled at the next Windows reboot. Otherwise, it can be activated permanently in order to keep it running between each PC restart.
The software utility is capable of protecting all disks, the system reserved drive only, or any selected partition or removable drive, depending on the user's preferences. Additionally, specific files can be excluded from the sandbox, such as privacy browser settings, personal documents, music, videos, and pictures.
Password protection, hotkeys, and other settings
User access can be restricted by password-protecting Quietzone, and the desktop toolbar can be shown only when the sandbox is enabled or permanently hidden. When clicking it, the app can either enable the one-time or permanent protection or enable the one-time protection and immediately launch the privacy browser afterward. Meanwhile, a hotkey can be defined to discard program changes and restart the computer, while the user interface language can be turned into something else.
The Good
A complete help manual is available for those who have doubts about any aspect of the program. It is possible to exclude folders from the protection status.
CPU and RAM consumption was minimal in our evaluation. Quietzone did not hang, crash, or pop up error messages.
The Bad
The trial edition automatically turns off the computer after 30 minutes of using Quietzone.
The tool may take a considerable amount of time to apply settings and start the privacy browser.
