Last month we shared how you can donate spare processing power to the Folding@Home project to help beat COVID-19. Since then several scammers have exploited the popularity of this computing project hiding malware in the scripts, but Microsoft is now out with a solution.
The Windows maker has released a PowerShell script that allows you to securely contribute your unused processing power to Folding@Home distributed computing disease research project. While users were already contributing to this project using their Windows, macOS, and Linux machines, Microsoft says Windows 10 users can now use the safety of Windows Sandbox to stay secure while donating their system's excess power to the project.
"With Windows Sandbox, you can run any win32 desktop application you wish with a pristine configuration every time you start it," Microsoft wrote.
"It allows you to do virtually whatever you want within a secure isolated desktop environment without requiring any cleanup after the fact."
How to set up Folding@Home in Windows Sandbox
Microsoft has released a PowerShell script that automatically downloads the latest Folding@home client and launches it in Windows Sandbox. If Windows Sandbox isn't enabled on your Windows 10 device, the script will also enable the feature and reboot your system. You can launch the script again after the reboot and it will start running Folding@Home client in Windows Sandbox.
First, download Folding@Home in Windows Sandbox PowerShell script from this GitHub repo.
Once downloaded, using PowerShell, execute following command in the same directory as the PowerShell script.
Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install_folding_sandbox_on_host.ps1
You can add -username [your username] at the end of the above command to join under a specific team name. Once you are done contributing, you can just close Windows Sandbox and there will be no worries of any leftover files or malware. Simply run the script again when you want to donate the next time.
- Time to leave Windows 7 behind and get Windows 10 officially (free)
About the author: Rafia joined Wccftech in 2012 as a tech reporter. She is currently working on stories focusing on people and technologies that are turning Microsoft into a “company to watch” again. She is also responsible for collaborating with tech makers and e-commerce platforms to bring annoying but tempting deals to our readers.
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