Attaching a USB drive in sandbox

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webfork
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Attaching a USB drive in sandbox

#1 Post by webfork »

So maybe my favorite new feature of Windows 10 is the sandbox but connecting a USB drive is a bit of a task.

This is just an overview of a much larger topic, but essentially you can attach a USB drive by creating a text file with some configurations listed. You'll name it anything that has a .WSB extension, and then run it. It will create a sandbox with those controls, including USB drive reading.

I don't wish to prescribe what you put in your config file just because there are a LOT of options (including blocking network access) that are worth exploring. But here's some resources I found on the topic:

Official page: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ ... og-thmaure

A config page: https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2019/05/how ... s-sandbox/ (and this is the page that actually solves it: https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardw ... rives.html)

Note that it does not let you do things like format USB drives or other actions. It's purely read-write actions.

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Andrew Lee
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Re: Attaching a USB drive in sandbox

#2 Post by Andrew Lee »

I didn't even know about this new feature! Thankfully, I am using Win10 Pro, so I was able to enable this feature and tried it out. Looks like a nice free feature to have. Thanks for sharing.

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Re: Attaching a USB drive in sandbox

#3 Post by webfork »

VPN access in Windows sandbox

So in this thread I mention a few tricks around configuring the Windows sandbox, including turning off network/internet access. Unfortunately, I hit a lot of confusion recently when I was trying to enable access and it still wouldn't work.

As it turns out, you cannot use the program inside a local VPN service. This isn't related to a specific service, it's any VPN installed on the machine.

More on this: https://www.guidingtech.com/fix-windows ... ion-issue/

This really knocks down the sandbox toolset in terms of usefulness. There are a number of ways a VPN can help you, but for example if you're trying to test a program's behavior in different regions. Most VPNs can be set to even distant countries.

Workaround: two possible tracks are to setup your VPN either on a wireless hotspot or at the router level.

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