Is there a way to run something in an isolated environment where it cannot infect your actual pc or steal from hotwallet?
The most handy way would be to run the software in a virtual machine.
The more safer way would be to run it on a second dedicated PC.
I saw something on virtual pc, vmware, sandboxie, and comodo sandbox, are they all the same?
Generally, yes.
But VirtualBox [1] (from Oracle) and VMware [2] are the most
reputable.
You should also keep in mind that this is not 100% safe. There also has been found exploits to escape the safe environment of a virtual machine.
For example: Pown2own hacking contest in march, this year:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3182816/security/pwn2own-hacking-contest-ends-with-two-virtual-machine-escapes.htmlThese exploits arleady have been fixed. But the possibility of breaking out does exist.
Of course, there isn't a high risk. Most of the malware trying to steal private keys, wallets are coded extremely bad. But you should be aware of the possibility.
[1]
https://www.virtualbox.org/[2]
https://www.vmware.com/