Sandboxie-Plus.ini cannot be written

[freezewind]

Describe what you noticed and did

When start the sandboxie plus UI in portable mode, the SandMan.exe shows below error
\

If I exit the start the SandMan.exe by admin right, then it doesn't show this error.

However, it always shows this error when I try to start program by content menu.
It shows this error right after clicking "Run Sandboxed".

I think it is related to the write permission of SandMan.exe and portable mode.

Also one question about portable mode.
Is sandboxie plus has to start from portable mode if I put the Sandboxie.ini in Sandboxie installation folder?
Does any config exist to control sandboxie plus start as portable mode or not?

How often did you encounter it so far?

No response

Expected behavior

SandMan.exe able to write Sandboxie-Plus.ini under C:\Program Files\Sandboxie-Plus

Affected program

Not relevant

Download link

Not relevant

Where is the program located?

Not relevant to my request.

Did the program or any related process close unexpectedly?

No, not at all.

Crash dump

No response

What version of Sandboxie are you running now?

Sandboxie-Plus-x64-v1.15.4

Is it a new installation of Sandboxie?

I just updated Sandboxie from a previous version (I don't remember which one).

Is it a regression from previous versions?

No response

In which sandbox type you have this problem?

Not relevant to my request.

Can you reproduce this problem on a new empty sandbox?

Not relevant to my request.

What is your Windows edition and version?

Windows 11 24H2 26100.2605

In which Windows account you have this problem?

A local account (Administrator).

Please mention any installed security software

No third-party security solutions

Did you previously enable some security policy settings outside Sandboxie?

No response

Trace log

No response

Sandboxie.ini configuration

No response

[offhub]

You have two choices:

1. Run SandMan.exe as Administrator:

   To run SandMan.exe with the necessary permissions, follow these steps:

   1. Right-click on SandMan.exe.
   2. Select Run as administrator from the context menu.

   Running it as administrator ensures the program has the required permissions and may help resolve the error you're encountering.

---

2. Change Permissions of the Sandboxie-Plus.ini File to Allow Modification by Normal User:

   If the Sandboxie-Plus.ini file is not writable by your user account, you'll need to change the file's permissions. Follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to the location of Sandboxie-Plus.ini (usually found in C:\Program Files\Sandboxie-Plus or wherever Sandboxie is installed).

   2. Right-click on the Sandboxie-Plus.ini file and select Properties.

   3. Go to the Security tab.

   4. Click Edit to change permissons.

   5. With your user account selected (or Users), check the Modify permission under the Allow column.

   6. Click OK to apply the changes.

   This will allow the normal user account to write to the Sandboxie-Plus.ini file, resolving the issue where it couldn't be modified.

[freezewind]

Thank you for your suggestion.
Only 2 work for me.

I have already try Choice 1 in my description.
Choice 1 resolve the error during startup, but SandMan.exe still shows this error right after clicking "Run Sandboxed" in right click context menu.

Will developer update the program and add the permissions for user account during creating the file?
If developer has no plan to update the behavior of creating Sandboxie-Plus.ini, I suggest update this workaround in wiki.

Also, please feel free to close the issue if developer has no plan to update the behavior creating Sandboxie-Plus.ini.

Thank you for helping.

[DavidXanatos]

Sandboxie-Plus.ini should be stored per user in a user writable location: Data Directory: "C:\Users[user]\AppData\Local\Sandboxie-Plus"
sandboxie ini when found in the install location will take precedence, but it wont be created there autoamtically during a normal installe.

Perhaps the user used unpack for portable instalation to C:\Program Files\Sandboxie-Plus in which case a ini there woudl be created.

the proper fix is to move teh sandboxie ini from program files to appdata

[freezewind]

I don't know sandboxie.ini can store in a "C:\Users[user]\AppData\Local\Sandboxie-Plus".

From the documentation below, it only accepts to store in C:\Program Files\Sandboxie-Plus or C:\Windows.
https://sandboxie-plus.com/sandboxie/sandboxieini/

I am old user from sandboxie. I used to place the sandboxie.ini in Program Files, and sandboxie doesn't have portable mode in that time, so I just keep place the ini file into same place when I move to sandboxie plus.

For now, the preferred location of "C:\Users[user]\AppData\Local\Sandboxie-Plus", right?

Then, I may change the path from Program Files to AppData.
Can I just exit sandboxie plus, clean up the service, move the ini file to AppData, and then restart sandboxie plus? Or I need to re-installation sandboxie plus?

Thank you!

[DavidXanatos]

There is a new Sandboxie-Plus.ini not only Sandboxie.ini

Sandboxie-Plus.ini lives in app data and can live in the install folder when writable as portable
Sandboxie.ini lives in c:\windows and can live in the install folder when writable as portable