Difference between revisions of "Windows"
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'''Windows''' is a widely-spread [[operating system]] from [[Microsoft]]. | '''Windows''' is a widely-spread [[operating system]] from [[Microsoft]]. | ||
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=== Introduced in Windows XP === | === Introduced in Windows XP === | ||
* [[Prefetch]] | * [[Prefetch]] | ||
− | * System Restore (Restore Points); also present in Windows ME | + | * System Restore ([[Windows Restore Points|Restore Points]]); also present in Windows ME |
==== SP2 ==== | ==== SP2 ==== | ||
* Windows Firewall | * Windows Firewall | ||
− | === Introduced in Windows | + | === Introduced in Windows Server 2003 === |
− | * Volume Shadow Copies | + | * Volume Shadow Copies (see [[Windows Shadow Volumes]]) |
− | === Introduced in Windows Vista === | + | === Introduced in [[Windows Vista]] === |
* [[BitLocker Disk Encryption | BitLocker]] | * [[BitLocker Disk Encryption | BitLocker]] | ||
* [[Windows Desktop Search | Search]] integrated in operating system | * [[Windows Desktop Search | Search]] integrated in operating system | ||
Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
* [[User Account Control (UAC)]] | * [[User Account Control (UAC)]] | ||
− | === Introduced in Windows | + | === Introduced in Windows Server 2008 === |
− | === Introduced in Windows 7 === | + | === Introduced in [[Windows 7]] === |
* [[BitLocker Disk Encryption | BitLocker To Go]] | * [[BitLocker Disk Encryption | BitLocker To Go]] | ||
* [[Jump Lists]] | * [[Jump Lists]] | ||
* [[Sticky Notes]] | * [[Sticky Notes]] | ||
− | === Introduced in Windows 8 === | + | === Introduced in [[Windows 8]] === |
− | * [[Windows | + | * [[Windows File History | File History]] |
* [[Windows Storage Spaces | Storage Spaces]] | * [[Windows Storage Spaces | Storage Spaces]] | ||
− | * [[Resilient File System (ReFS)]]; server edition | + | * [[Search Charm History]] |
+ | * [[Resilient File System (ReFS)]]; Was initially available in the Windows 8 server edition. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Introduced in Windows Server 2012 === | ||
+ | * [[Resilient File System (ReFS)]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Introduced in [[Windows 10]] === | ||
+ | * [[Cortana]] | ||
+ | * [[Microsoft Edge]] Web Browser | ||
+ | * [[Notification Center]] | ||
+ | * [[WofCompressedData]], WofCompressed streams | ||
== Forensics == | == Forensics == | ||
Line 60: | Line 70: | ||
* [[NTFS]] | * [[NTFS]] | ||
* [[Resilient File System (ReFS) | ReFS]] | * [[Resilient File System (ReFS) | ReFS]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Hosts information === | ||
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts | ||
+ | C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\lmhosts.sam | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
=== Recycle Bin === | === Recycle Bin === | ||
+ | The Recycle Bin contains "Recycled" files. Moving files and directories to the Recycle Bin is also referred to as soft deletion, since the files are not removed from the file system. | ||
==== RECYCLER ==== | ==== RECYCLER ==== | ||
− | + | The Recycler format is used by Windows 2000, XP. | |
− | + | ||
− | + | Per user Recycle Bin folder in the form: | |
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\Recycler\%SID%\ | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
+ | |||
+ | Which contains: | ||
+ | * INFO2 file; "Recycled" files metadata | ||
==== $RECYCLE.BIN ==== | ==== $RECYCLE.BIN ==== | ||
− | + | The $Recycle.Bin is used as of Windows Vista. | |
− | + | ||
+ | Per user Recycle Bin folder in the form: | ||
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\$Recycle.Bin\%SID%\ | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
− | + | Which contains: | |
+ | * $I files; "Recycled" file metadata | ||
+ | * $R files; the original data | ||
=== Registry === | === Registry === | ||
Line 94: | Line 122: | ||
See [[Windows Desktop Search]] | See [[Windows Desktop Search]] | ||
− | === Setup | + | === Setup API Logs === |
− | Windows Vista introduced several | + | Windows Vista introduced several new [[Setup API Logs|Setup API Log files]]. |
+ | |||
+ | Also see [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Scheduled Tasks === | ||
+ | In Windows the Scheduled Tasks can be found in: | ||
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\Windows\Tasks | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
+ | |||
+ | This directory contains .job files which are in the [[Windows Job File Format]]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In later versions of Windows (at least Windows 7) XML-based equivalents can be found in the following locations: | ||
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\Windows\System32\Tasks | ||
+ | C:\Windows\SysWow64\Tasks | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
=== Sleep/Hibernation === | === Sleep/Hibernation === | ||
Line 108: | Line 152: | ||
The %SID%\ProfileImagePath value should also contain the username. | The %SID%\ProfileImagePath value should also contain the username. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Crash and minidumps === | ||
+ | <pre> | ||
+ | C:\Windows\Minidump | ||
+ | </pre> | ||
=== Windows Error Reporting (WER) === | === Windows Error Reporting (WER) === | ||
Line 130: | Line 179: | ||
== %SystemRoot% == | == %SystemRoot% == | ||
− | The actual value of %SystemRoot% is | + | The actual value of %SystemRoot% is stored in the following registry value: |
<pre> | <pre> | ||
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ | Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ | ||
Line 137: | Line 186: | ||
== See Also == | == See Also == | ||
+ | * [[Prefetch]] | ||
+ | * [[PowerShell]] | ||
+ | * [[Setup API Logs]] | ||
+ | * [[SuperFetch]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows Application Compatibility]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows Desktop Search]] | ||
* [[Windows Event Log (EVT)]] | * [[Windows Event Log (EVT)]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows Job File Format]] | ||
* [[Windows XML Event Log (EVTX)]] | * [[Windows XML Event Log (EVTX)]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows Update]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows Vista]] | ||
* [[Windows 7]] | * [[Windows 7]] | ||
* [[Windows 8]] | * [[Windows 8]] | ||
+ | * [[Windows 10]] | ||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Wikipedia: Microsoft Windows] | * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Wikipedia: Microsoft Windows] | ||
+ | * [http://www.dataforensics.org/windows-8-file-history-forensics/ Windows 8 File History Forensics] | ||
* [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521 Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Vista setup log file locations] | * [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521 Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Vista setup log file locations] | ||
+ | * [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/windows/hardware/dn550976 Windows Hardware Dev Center Archive] | ||
+ | * [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa383751(v=vs.85).aspx Windows Data Types] | ||
* [http://www.forensicfocus.com/downloads/forensic-analysis-vista-recycle-bin.pdf The Forensic Analysis of the Microsoft Windows Vista Recycle Bin], by [[Mitchell Machor]], 2008 | * [http://www.forensicfocus.com/downloads/forensic-analysis-vista-recycle-bin.pdf The Forensic Analysis of the Microsoft Windows Vista Recycle Bin], by [[Mitchell Machor]], 2008 | ||
* [http://www.ericjhuber.com/2013/02/microsoft-file-system-tunneling.html?m=1 Microsoft Windows File System Tunneling], by [[Eric Huber]], February 24, 2013 | * [http://www.ericjhuber.com/2013/02/microsoft-file-system-tunneling.html?m=1 Microsoft Windows File System Tunneling], by [[Eric Huber]], February 24, 2013 | ||
* [http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/app/Spotting_the_Adversary_with_Windows_Event_Log_Monitoring.pdf Spotting the Adversary with Windows Event Log Monitoring], by National Security Agency/Central Security Service, February 28, 2013 | * [http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/app/Spotting_the_Adversary_with_Windows_Event_Log_Monitoring.pdf Spotting the Adversary with Windows Event Log Monitoring], by National Security Agency/Central Security Service, February 28, 2013 | ||
+ | * [http://www.swiftforensics.com/2014/04/search-history-on-windows-8-and-81.html Search history on Windows 8 and 8.1], by [[Yogesh Khatri's]], April 1, 2014 | ||
+ | * [http://www.swiftforensics.com/2014/04/search-history-on-windows-81-part-2.html Search history on windows 8.1 - Part 2], by [[Yogesh Khatri's]], April 21, 2014 | ||
+ | * [http://www.alex-ionescu.com/Estoteric%20Hooks.pdf Estoteric Hooks] by Alex Ionescu, February 16, 2016 ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHyWyH804xE presentation]) | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Client/Server Runtime Subsystem (CSRSS) === | ||
+ | * [http://j00ru.vexillium.org/?p=492 Windows CSRSS Write Up: the basics (part 1/1)], by j00ru, July 8, 2010 | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Recycle Bin === | ||
+ | * [http://www.cybersecurityinstitute.biz/downloads/INFO2.pdf Lesson 3 – The Recycle Bin], by Steve Hailey | ||
+ | * [http://www.forensicfocus.com/downloads/forensic-analysis-vista-recycle-bin.pdf The Forensic Analysis of the Microsoft Windows Vista Recycle Bin], by Mitchell Machor, January 22, 2008 | ||
=== Malware/Rootkits === | === Malware/Rootkits === | ||
Line 162: | Line 234: | ||
* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682586(v=vs.85).aspx Dynamic-Link Library Search Order] | * [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682586(v=vs.85).aspx Dynamic-Link Library Search Order] | ||
* [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/junfeng/archive/2004/04/28/121871.aspx Image File Execution Options] | * [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/junfeng/archive/2004/04/28/121871.aspx Image File Execution Options] | ||
+ | * [http://blogs.technet.com/b/srd/archive/2014/05/13/load-library-safely.aspx Load Library Safely], by Swamy Shivaganga Nagaraju, 13 May 2014 | ||
+ | * [http://blog.digital-forensics.it/2015/01/happy-dpapi.html?m=1 Happy DPAPI!], by [[Francesco Picasso]], January 13, 2015 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows File Protection (WFP) ==== | ||
+ | * [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/222193/EN-US Description of the Windows File Protection feature] | ||
+ | * [http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310747 Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe)] | ||
==== MSI ==== | ==== MSI ==== | ||
Line 175: | Line 253: | ||
* [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/junfeng/archive/2006/04/14/576314.aspx Diagnosing SideBySide failures], by [[Junfeng Zhang]], April 14, 2006 | * [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/junfeng/archive/2006/04/14/576314.aspx Diagnosing SideBySide failures], by [[Junfeng Zhang]], April 14, 2006 | ||
* [http://omnicognate.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/winsxs/ EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WINSXS] | * [http://omnicognate.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/winsxs/ EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WINSXS] | ||
− | + | * [http://www.fireeye.com/resources/pdfs/fireeye-dll-sideloading.pdf DLL Side-loading: A Thorn in the Side of the Anti-Virus Industry], by Amanda Stewart, April 2014 | |
− | + | ||
− | * [http:// | + | |
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
==== Crash dumps ==== | ==== Crash dumps ==== | ||
Line 194: | Line 259: | ||
* [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263 MSDN: How to read the small memory dump file that is created by Windows if a crash occurs], by [[Microsoft]] | * [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263 MSDN: How to read the small memory dump file that is created by Windows if a crash occurs], by [[Microsoft]] | ||
− | ==== | + | ==== Kerberos ==== |
− | * [http:// | + | * [http://cert.europa.eu/static/WhitePapers/CERT-EU-SWP_14_07_PassTheGolden_Ticket_v1_1.pdf Protection from Kerberos Golden Ticket - Mitigating pass the ticket on Active Directory], CERT-EU, July 2014 |
− | * [http:// | + | * [http://www.slideshare.net/gentilkiwi/abusing-microsoft-kerberos-sorry-you-guys-dont-get-it Abusing Microsoft Kerberos - Sorry you guys don't get it], by Benjamin Delpy, August 13, 2014 |
− | * [http:// | + | |
+ | ==== Reliability Monitoring ==== | ||
+ | * [http://secureartisan.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/stability-index-and-reliability/ Stability Index and Reliability], by Paul Bobby, January 17, 2011 | ||
+ | * [http://phx4n6.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/windows-7-reliability-monitor-forensic-artifacts/ Windows 7 Reliability Monitor Forensic Artifacts], by phx4n6, January 3, 2014 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== RPC ==== | ||
+ | * [http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2008/10/24/rpc-to-go-v-1.aspx RPC to Go v.1], by Michael Platts, October 24, 2008 | ||
+ | * [http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2008/12/04/rpc-to-go-v-2.aspx RPC to Go v.2], by Michael Platts, December 4, 2008 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== User Account Control (UAC) ==== | ||
+ | * [http://blog.strategiccyber.com/2014/03/20/user-account-control-what-penetration-testers-should-know/ User Account Control – What Penetration Testers Should Know], by Raphael Mudge, March 20, 2014 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows Event Logs ==== | ||
+ | * [http://journeyintoir.blogspot.ch/2014/03/exploring-program-inventory-event-log.html Exploring the Program Inventory Event Log], by [[Corey Harrell]], March 24, 2014 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows Scripting Host ==== | ||
+ | * [https://www.mandiant.com/blog/ground-windows-scripting-host-wsh/ Going To Ground with The Windows Scripting Host (WSH)], by Devon Kerr, February 19, 2014 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== USB ==== | ||
+ | * [https://blogs.sans.org/computer-forensics/files/2009/09/USBKEY-Guide.pdf USBKEY Guide], by [[SANS | SANS Institute - Digital Forensics and Incident Response]], September 2009 | ||
+ | * [https://blogs.sans.org/computer-forensics/files/2009/09/USB_Drive_Enclosure-Guide.pdf USB Drive Enclosure Guide], by [[SANS | SANS Institute - Digital Forensics and Incident Response]], September 2009 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== WMI ==== | ||
+ | * [http://www.trendmicro.com/cloud-content/us/pdfs/security-intelligence/white-papers/wp__understanding-wmi-malware.pdf Understanding WMI Malware], by Julius Dizon, Lennard Galang, and Marvin Cruz, July 2010 | ||
+ | * [https://dl.mandiant.com/EE/library/MIRcon2014/MIRcon_2014_IR_Track_There%27s_Something_About_WMI.pdf There’s Something About WMI], by Christopher Glyer, Devon Kerr, October 7, 2014 | ||
+ | * [https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/global/en/current-threats/pdfs/wp-windows-management-instrumentation.pdf Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Offense, Defense, and Forensics], [http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=videos/bsideslasvegas2015/bg06-whymi-so-sexy-wmi-attacks-real-time-defense-and-advanced-forensic-analysis-william-ballenthin-claudiu-teodorescu-matthew-graeber Presentation], by William Ballenthin, Matthew Graeber, Claudiu Teodorescu, August 8, 2015 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows Error Reporting (WER) ==== | ||
+ | * [http://blogs.technet.com/b/yongrhee/archive/2010/12/29/drwtsn32-on-windows-vista-windows-server-2008-windows-7-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx Drwtsn32 on Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2], by Yong Rhee, December 29, 2010 | ||
+ | * [http://journeyintoir.blogspot.ch/2014/02/exploring-windows-error-reporting.html Exploring Windows Error Reporting], by [[Corey Harrell]], February 24, 2014 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows Event Viewer ==== | ||
+ | * [http://www.intramortem.com/2015/12/windows-event-viewer-created-scheduled.html Windows Event Viewer created Scheduled Task of VBScript], by Eric John, December 23, 2015 | ||
==== Windows Firewall ==== | ==== Windows Firewall ==== | ||
Line 208: | Line 305: | ||
=== Windows XP === | === Windows XP === | ||
* [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q308549 Description of Windows XP System Information (Msinfo32.exe) Tool] | * [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q308549 Description of Windows XP System Information (Msinfo32.exe) Tool] | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Windows Scheduler === | ||
+ | * [http://digital-forensics.sans.org/blog/2009/09/16/windows-scheduler-at-job-forensics Windows Scheduler (at job) Forensics], by johnmccash, September 16, 2009 | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Windows Vault === | ||
+ | * [http://blog.digital-forensics.it/2016/01/windows-revaulting.html?m=1 Windows ReVaulting], by Francesco Picasso, January 27, 2016 | ||
[[Category:Operating systems]] | [[Category:Operating systems]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Windows]] |
Latest revision as of 23:27, 1 November 2016
Please help to improve this article by expanding it.
|
Windows is a widely-spread operating system from Microsoft.
There are 2 main branches of Windows:
- the DOS-branch: i.e. Windows 95, 98, ME
- the NT-branch: i.e. Windows NT 4, XP, Vista
Contents
- 1 Features
- 1.1 Introduced in Windows NT
- 1.2 Introduced in Windows 2000
- 1.3 Introduced in Windows XP
- 1.4 Introduced in Windows Server 2003
- 1.5 Introduced in Windows Vista
- 1.6 Introduced in Windows Server 2008
- 1.7 Introduced in Windows 7
- 1.8 Introduced in Windows 8
- 1.9 Introduced in Windows Server 2012
- 1.10 Introduced in Windows 10
- 2 Forensics
- 3 Advanced Format (4KB Sector) Hard Drives
- 4 %SystemRoot%
- 5 See Also
- 6 External Links
- 6.1 Client/Server Runtime Subsystem (CSRSS)
- 6.2 Recycle Bin
- 6.3 Malware/Rootkits
- 6.4 Tracking removable media
- 6.5 Under the hood
- 6.5.1 Windows File Protection (WFP)
- 6.5.2 MSI
- 6.5.3 Side-by-side (WinSxS)
- 6.5.4 Crash dumps
- 6.5.5 Kerberos
- 6.5.6 Reliability Monitoring
- 6.5.7 RPC
- 6.5.8 User Account Control (UAC)
- 6.5.9 Windows Event Logs
- 6.5.10 Windows Scripting Host
- 6.5.11 USB
- 6.5.12 WMI
- 6.5.13 Windows Error Reporting (WER)
- 6.5.14 Windows Event Viewer
- 6.5.15 Windows Firewall
- 6.5.16 Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit (WoW64)
- 6.6 Windows XP
- 6.7 Windows Scheduler
- 6.8 Windows Vault
Features
- Basic and Dynamic Disks, see: [1]
Introduced in Windows NT
Introduced in Windows 2000
Introduced in Windows XP
- Prefetch
- System Restore (Restore Points); also present in Windows ME
SP2
- Windows Firewall
Introduced in Windows Server 2003
- Volume Shadow Copies (see Windows Shadow Volumes)
Introduced in Windows Vista
- BitLocker
- Search integrated in operating system
- ReadyBoost
- SuperFetch
- Transactional NTFS (TxF)
- Transactional Registry (TxR)
- Shadow Volumes; the volume-based storage of the Volume Shadow Copy data
- $Recycle.Bin
- Windows XML Event Log (EVTX)
- User Account Control (UAC)
Introduced in Windows Server 2008
Introduced in Windows 7
Introduced in Windows 8
- File History
- Storage Spaces
- Search Charm History
- Resilient File System (ReFS); Was initially available in the Windows 8 server edition.
Introduced in Windows Server 2012
Introduced in Windows 10
- Cortana
- Microsoft Edge Web Browser
- Notification Center
- WofCompressedData, WofCompressed streams
Forensics
Partition layout
Default partition layout, first partition starts:
- at sector 63 in Windows 2000, XP, 2003
- at sector 2048 in Windows Vista, 2008, 7
Filesystems
Hosts information
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\lmhosts.sam
Recycle Bin
The Recycle Bin contains "Recycled" files. Moving files and directories to the Recycle Bin is also referred to as soft deletion, since the files are not removed from the file system.
RECYCLER
The Recycler format is used by Windows 2000, XP.
Per user Recycle Bin folder in the form:
C:\Recycler\%SID%\
Which contains:
- INFO2 file; "Recycled" files metadata
$RECYCLE.BIN
The $Recycle.Bin is used as of Windows Vista.
Per user Recycle Bin folder in the form:
C:\$Recycle.Bin\%SID%\
Which contains:
- $I files; "Recycled" file metadata
- $R files; the original data
Registry
The Windows Registry is a database of keys and values that provides a wealth of information to forensic investigators.
Thumbs.db Files
Thumbs.db files can be found on many Windows systems. They contain thumbnails of images or documents and can be of great value for the investigator.
See also: Vista thumbcache.
Browser Cache
Browser History
The Web Browser History files can contain significant information. The default web browser that comes with Windows is Microsoft Internet Explorer but other common browsers on Windows are Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.
Search
Setup API Logs
Windows Vista introduced several new Setup API Log files.
Also see [2].
Scheduled Tasks
In Windows the Scheduled Tasks can be found in:
C:\Windows\Tasks
This directory contains .job files which are in the Windows Job File Format.
In later versions of Windows (at least Windows 7) XML-based equivalents can be found in the following locations:
C:\Windows\System32\Tasks C:\Windows\SysWow64\Tasks
Sleep/Hibernation
After (at least) Windows 7 recovers from sleep/hibernation there often is a system time change event (event id 1) in the event logs.
Users
Windows stores a users Security identifiers (SIDs) under the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
The %SID%\ProfileImagePath value should also contain the username.
Crash and minidumps
C:\Windows\Minidump
Windows Error Reporting (WER)
As of Vista, for User Access Control (UAC) elevated applications WER reports can be found in:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\
As of Vista, for non-UAC elevated applications (LUA) WER reports can be found in:
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\
Corresponding registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting
Advanced Format (4KB Sector) Hard Drives
Windows XP does not natively handle drives that use the new standard of 4KB sectors. For information on this, see Advanced Format.
%SystemRoot%
The actual value of %SystemRoot% is stored in the following registry value:
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Value: SystemRoot
See Also
- Prefetch
- PowerShell
- Setup API Logs
- SuperFetch
- Windows Application Compatibility
- Windows Desktop Search
- Windows Event Log (EVT)
- Windows Job File Format
- Windows XML Event Log (EVTX)
- Windows Update
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
External Links
- Wikipedia: Microsoft Windows
- Windows 8 File History Forensics
- Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Vista setup log file locations
- Windows Hardware Dev Center Archive
- Windows Data Types
- The Forensic Analysis of the Microsoft Windows Vista Recycle Bin, by Mitchell Machor, 2008
- Microsoft Windows File System Tunneling, by Eric Huber, February 24, 2013
- Spotting the Adversary with Windows Event Log Monitoring, by National Security Agency/Central Security Service, February 28, 2013
- Search history on Windows 8 and 8.1, by Yogesh Khatri's, April 1, 2014
- Search history on windows 8.1 - Part 2, by Yogesh Khatri's, April 21, 2014
- Estoteric Hooks by Alex Ionescu, February 16, 2016 (presentation)
Client/Server Runtime Subsystem (CSRSS)
- Windows CSRSS Write Up: the basics (part 1/1), by j00ru, July 8, 2010
Recycle Bin
- Lesson 3 – The Recycle Bin, by Steve Hailey
- The Forensic Analysis of the Microsoft Windows Vista Recycle Bin, by Mitchell Machor, January 22, 2008
Malware/Rootkits
- Inside Windows Rootkits, by Chad Tilbury, September 4, 2013
Tracking removable media
- Tracking USB First insertion in Event logs, by Yogesh Khatri, August 18, 2012
Under the hood
- MSDN: Comparing Memory Allocation Methods, by Microsoft
- How Windows Starts Up (Part the second)
- DLL/COM Redirection
- Dynamic-Link Library Search Order
- Image File Execution Options
- Load Library Safely, by Swamy Shivaganga Nagaraju, 13 May 2014
- Happy DPAPI!, by Francesco Picasso, January 13, 2015
Windows File Protection (WFP)
- Description of the Windows File Protection feature
- Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe)
MSI
- Changes to Package Caching in Windows Installer 5.0, by Heath Stewart, February 2, 2009
- MSI: The Case Of The Invalid Signature, by Didier Stevens, July 26, 2013
Side-by-side (WinSxS)
- Wikipedia: Side-by-side assembly
- Assembly Searching Sequence
- RT_MANIFEST resource, and ISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED
- Isolated Applications and Side-by-side Assemblies
- DotLocal (.local) Dll Redirection, by Junfeng Zhang, January 24, 2006
- Diagnosing SideBySide failures, by Junfeng Zhang, April 14, 2006
- EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WINSXS
- DLL Side-loading: A Thorn in the Side of the Anti-Virus Industry, by Amanda Stewart, April 2014
Crash dumps
- Technet: Drwtsn32 on Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2, by Yong Rhee, December 29, 2010
- MSDN: How to read the small memory dump file that is created by Windows if a crash occurs, by Microsoft
Kerberos
- Protection from Kerberos Golden Ticket - Mitigating pass the ticket on Active Directory, CERT-EU, July 2014
- Abusing Microsoft Kerberos - Sorry you guys don't get it, by Benjamin Delpy, August 13, 2014
Reliability Monitoring
- Stability Index and Reliability, by Paul Bobby, January 17, 2011
- Windows 7 Reliability Monitor Forensic Artifacts, by phx4n6, January 3, 2014
RPC
- RPC to Go v.1, by Michael Platts, October 24, 2008
- RPC to Go v.2, by Michael Platts, December 4, 2008
User Account Control (UAC)
- User Account Control – What Penetration Testers Should Know, by Raphael Mudge, March 20, 2014
Windows Event Logs
- Exploring the Program Inventory Event Log, by Corey Harrell, March 24, 2014
Windows Scripting Host
- Going To Ground with The Windows Scripting Host (WSH), by Devon Kerr, February 19, 2014
USB
- USBKEY Guide, by SANS Institute - Digital Forensics and Incident Response, September 2009
- USB Drive Enclosure Guide, by SANS Institute - Digital Forensics and Incident Response, September 2009
WMI
- Understanding WMI Malware, by Julius Dizon, Lennard Galang, and Marvin Cruz, July 2010
- There’s Something About WMI, by Christopher Glyer, Devon Kerr, October 7, 2014
- Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Offense, Defense, and Forensics, Presentation, by William Ballenthin, Matthew Graeber, Claudiu Teodorescu, August 8, 2015
Windows Error Reporting (WER)
- Drwtsn32 on Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008/Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2, by Yong Rhee, December 29, 2010
- Exploring Windows Error Reporting, by Corey Harrell, February 24, 2014
Windows Event Viewer
- Windows Event Viewer created Scheduled Task of VBScript, by Eric John, December 23, 2015
Windows Firewall
Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit (WoW64)
Windows XP
Windows Scheduler
- Windows Scheduler (at job) Forensics, by johnmccash, September 16, 2009
Windows Vault
- Windows ReVaulting, by Francesco Picasso, January 27, 2016