There's no replacement for good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. But if you want to be super-certain that you're not downloading anything dangerous next time you open your web browser, there's one surefire way to protect your computer: make sure you're not writing anything to your system.

Sandboxie lets you do this by setting up a sort of virtual hard drive that's separated from the rest of your disk space. When you install or launch a program from within Sandboxie, anything you download will be written to the Sandbox. If you download a file and want to move it to your unprotected hard drive, you can do that. But if your web browser, instant messenger, or e-mail client contracts a nasty virus, your computer will be safe and you can just delete the infected files from your Sandbox.

The one down side is that it takes longer to launch programs within Sandboxie. But once they're up and running you shouldn't notice too much difference between the applications you're running from Sandboxie and any other application on your desktop.

If the whole concept sounds familiar, it is. Last week ZoneAlarm launched a public beta of ForceField, an application that does basically the same thing. The main difference is that ForceField is a commercial application (when it emerges from beta it will cost $30), while Sandboxie is free. ForceField does have a more polished interface and to be honest, we'd be more likely to install it on mom's computer than Sandboxie. But if you're looking for a security solution and you have some technical chops, Sandboxie might be worth a looksie.

[Thanks BeechSundowner!]

It's been a busy week here at Download Squad headquarters. And we assume you've had a busy week too. So if you've fallen behind on your tech news, here are a few things you might have missed during the week ending September 29th, 2007.

Download Squad interviews Evan Jones of 360desktop - Video

Ever get the feeling that there's just not enough space for all the shortcuts, temporary files, and widgets you need to live a contended life? 360desktop lets you use a panoramic photo as a desktop background. Since panoramic photos don't fit too well on a 1024 x 768 pixel monitor, 360desktop creates more virtual desktop space by letting you scroll beyond the edge of your monitor.

Is the Nokia N800 really an iPhone killer? - Video

Download Squad's Ted Wallingford has been spending some quality time with his Nokia N800, and he has the video to prove it. Sure, the N800 isn't technically a phone like the iPhone, but put that puppy near a Wi-Fi hot spot, fire up the VoIP and anything's possible.

Dear Facebook: May I have my life back please? - DLS commentary

Download Squad's Gordon Finlayson has a few questions about Facebook developers. So he sent e-mails to a handful of said developers. And he was labeled a spammer, his account was banned, and Facebook lawyers told him the immortal soul of his firstborn child was now theres. OK, we made the last part up. But Finlayson does have some interesting thoughts on Facebook's over-aggressive anti-spam policy.

Dev Chair: Keep sharp, stay valuable

Resident developer Alex Hung offers up some valuable advice for honing your skills even when your current job is far too easy for you. Only the strong survive, and one day you're going to be looking for another job. So why not contribute to open source projects, take evening classes, or actually show your bosses that there might be a better way of doing things.

ZoneAlarm ForceField protects your browsing session - DLS interview

Most of the threats to our computers come from the web. So while firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-spyware applications are great, sometimes what you really need is a way to protect your browsing session. At least, that's the premise behind ZoneAlarm's latest security offering.

Preview of Nero 8 - DLS interview

Nero is set to release the latest version of its popular CD/DVD burning suite next week. We got a chance to ask Nero technical director Craig Campbell a few questions about what sets Nero 8 apart from Nero 7. In a nutshell: a few performance enhancements and a whole bunch of visual tweaks.

Here are a few more of our most popular articles from the week:

• DreamScene animated desktop for Windows Vista launches
• Facebook IM launching soon
• Is Gmail getting a facelift?
• Windows extends XP sales
• Excel can't do math (unles 850*77.1=100,000)

ZoneAlarm has launched a public beta of a new security tool that basically puts your web browser into a sandbox. Visit sites you know are unsafe, check your bank statements on a computer that you know is infected with viruses and spyware.

We caught up with ZoneAlarm Director of Consumer Product Management John Gable at ShowStoppers in New York, and he told us a bit about the new product. ZoneAlarm ForceField sets up a "virtualized surfing" system, that prevents your PC from downloading malicious code from the web. It also prevents keylogging, blocks spyware, and scans downloads. There's also a private browsing feature that immediately erases all details of your browsing session once you shut down the browser.

ZoneAlarm ForceField is free while in beta, but will cost $30 when it's officially launched next year. The program works with Internet Explorer and Firefox (but not Opera), and is Windows only.