Working with Windows and

DOS Systems
A. The purpose and structure of file systems
B. Microsoft file structures
C. The structure of NTFS disks
D. List some options for decrypting drives
encrypted with whole disk encryption
E. Windows Registry
F. Microsoft startup tasks
G. purpose of a virtual machine
A.The purpose and structure of file systems
Understanding the Boot Sequence
• Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
– Computer stores system configuration and date and
time information in the CMOS
• When power to the system is off
• Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Extensible
Firmware Interface (EFI)
– Contains programs that perform input and output at
the hardware level
• Bootstrap process
– Contained in ROM, tells the computer how to proceed
– Displays the key or keys you press to open the CMOS
setup screen
• CMOS should be modified to boot from a forensic floppy
disk or CD
Understanding Disk Drives

• Disk drives are made up of one or more platters coated with magnetic
material
• Disk drive components
– Geometry
– Head
– Tracks
– Cylinders
– Sectors
B.Microsoft file structures
In Microsoft file structures, sectors are grouped to form
clusters
– Storage allocation units of one or more sectors
• Clusters range from 512 bytes up to 32,000 bytes each
• Combining sectors minimizes the overhead of writing or
reading files to a disk
• Clusters are numbered sequentially starting at 0 in NTFS
and 2 in FAT
– First sector of all disks contains a system area, the boot
record, and a file structure database
• OS assigns these cluster numbers, called logical addresses
• Sector numbers are called physical addresses
• Clusters and their addresses are specific to a logical disk drive, which is a
disk partition
Disk Partitions
• A partition is a logical drive
• Windows OSs can have three primary
partitions followed by an extended partition
that can contain one or more logical drives
• Hidden partitions or voids
– Large unused gaps between partitions on
a disk
• Partition gap
– Unused space between partitions
Examining FAT Disks
• File Allocation Table (FAT)
– File structure database that Microsoft
originally designed for floppy disks
• FAT database is typically written to a disk’s
outermost track and contains:
– Filenames, directory names, date and time
stamps, the starting cluster number, and file
attributes
• Three current FAT versions
– FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT
Deleting FAT Files
• In Microsoft OSs, when a file is deleted
– Directory entry is marked as a deleted file
• With the HEX E5 character replacing the
first letter of the filename
• FAT chain for that file is set to 0
• Data in the file remains on the disk drive
• Area of the disk where the deleted file
resides becomes unallocated disk space
– Available to receive new data from newly
created files or other files needing more
space
C.The structure of NTFS disks
NT File System (NTFS)
– Introduced with Windows NT
– Primary file system for Windows 8
• Improvements over FAT file systems
– NTFS provides more information about a file
– NTFS gives more control over files and folders
• NTFS was Microsoft’s move toward a journaling file
system
– It records a transaction before the system carries it
out
• In NTFS, everything written to the disk is considered
a file
• On an NTFS disk
– First data set is the Partition Boot Sector
Master File Table (MFT)

In the NTFS MFT

– All files and folders are stored in separate records of 1024 bytes each
• Each record contains file or folder information
– This information is divided into record fields containing metadata
• A record field is referred to as an attribute ID
• File or folder information is typically stored in one of two ways in an MFT record:
– Resident and nonresident
• Files larger than 512 bytes are stored outside the MFT
– MFT record provides cluster addresses where the file is stored on the drive’s
partition
Referred to as data runs
• Each MFT record starts with a header identifying it as a resident or non resident
attribute
• When a disk is created as an NTFS file structure
– OS assigns logical clusters to the entire disk partition
• These assigned clusters are called logical cluster numbers (LCNs)
– Become the addresses that allow the MFT to link to nonresident files on the
disk’s partition
• When data is first written to nonresident files, an LCN address is assigned to the
file
– This LCN becomes the file’s virtual cluster number (VCN)
 NTFS Alternate Data Streams
• Alternate data streams
– Ways data can be appended to existing files
– Can obscure valuable evidentiary data, intentionally or by coincidence
• In NTFS, an alternate data stream becomes an additional file attribute
– Allows the file to be associated with different applications
• You can only tell whether a file has a data stream attached by
examining that file’s MFT entry
 
NTFS Compressed Files
• NTFS provides compression similar to FAT DriveSpace 3 (a Windows
98 compression utility)
• Under NTFS, files, folders, or entire volumes can be compressed
• Most computer forensics tools can uncompress and analyze
compressed Windows data
 
 NTFS Encrypting File System (EFS)
• Encrypting File System (EFS)
– Introduced with Windows 2000
– Implements a public key and private key method of encrypting files, folders, or disk
volumes
• When EFS is used in Windows 2000 and later
– A recovery certificate is generated and sent to the local Windows administrator
account
• Users can apply EFS to files stored on their local workstations or a remote server
 
EFS Recovery Key Agent
• Recovery Key Agent implements the recovery certificate
– Which is in the Windows administrator account
• Windows administrators can recover a key in two ways: through Windows or from an
MS-DOS command prompt
• MS-DOS commands
– cipher
– copy
– efsrecvr (used to decrypt EFS files)
Deleting NTFS Files
• When a file is deleted in Windows NT and
later
– The OS renames it and moves it to the
Recycle Bin
• Can use the Del (delete) MS-DOS command
– Eliminates the file from the MFT listing in
the same way FAT does
D. Decrypting drives encrypted with whole disk encryption

Understanding Whole Disk Encryption

In recent years, there has been more concern about loss of
– Personal identity information (PII) and trade secrets caused by computer theft
• Of particular concern is the theft of laptop computers and other handheld devices
• To help prevent loss of information, software vendors now provide whole disk
encryption
• Current whole disk encryption tools offer the following features:
– Preboot authentication
– Full or partial disk encryption with secure hibernation
– Advanced encryption algorithms
– Key management function
• Whole disk encryption tools encrypt each sector of a drive separately
• Many of these tools encrypt the drive’s boot sector
– To prevent any efforts to bypass the secured drive’s partition
• To examine an encrypted drive, decrypt it first
– Run a vendor-specific program to decrypt the drive
– Many vendors use a bootable CD or USB drive that prompts for a one-time
passphrase
Examining Microsoft BitLocker
• Available Vista Enterprise/Ultimate, Windows 7
and 8 Professional/Enterprise, and Server 08 and 12
• Hardware and software requirements
– A computer capable of running Windows Vista or
later
– The TPM microchip, version 1.2 or newer
– A computer BIOS compliant with Trusted
Computing Group (TCG)
– Two NTFS partitions
– The BIOS configured so that the hard drive boots
first before checking other bootable peripherals
 
Examining Third-Party Disk Encryption Tools

• Some available third-party WDE utilities:

– PGP Full Disk Encryption
– Voltage SecureFile
– Utimaco SafeGuard Easy
– Jetico BestCrypt Volume Encryption
– TrueCrypt
 E. Explain how the Windows Registry works

• Registry
– A database that stores hardware and software
configuration information, network connections, user
preferences, and setup information
• To view the Registry, you can use:
– Regedit (Registry Editor) program for Windows 9x
systems
– Regedt32 for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista
– Both utilities can be used for Windows 7 and 8
Exploring the Organization of the Windows Registry

• Registry terminology:
– Registry
– Registry Editor
– HKEY
– Key
– Subkey
– Branch
– Value
– Default value
– Hives
F.Understanding Microsoft Startup Tasks
• Learn what files are accessed when Windows starts
• This information helps you determine when a suspect’s computer was last
accessed
– Important with computers that might have been used after an incident was
reported
 
Startup in Windows
• Windows 8 is a multiplatform OS
– Can run on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones
• The boot process uses a boot configuration data (BCD) store
• The BCD contains the boot loader that initiates the system’s bootstrap process
– Press F8 or F12 when the system starts to access the Advanced Boot Options
• All NTFS computers perform the following steps when the computer is turned
on:
•– Power-on self test (POST) – Initial startup – Boot loader – Hardware detection and
configuration
•– Kernel loading
•– User logon
Startup Files for Windows:

– The Ntldr program in Windows XP used to load the

OS has been replaced with these three boot utilities:
• Bootmgr.exe
• Winload.exe
• Winresume.exe
– Windows Vista includes the BCD editor for
modifying boot options and updating the BCD
registry file
– The BCD store replaces the Windows XP boot.ini file
Windows XP System Files

• Contamination Concerns with Windows XP

– When you start a Windows XP NTFS workstation,
several files are accessed immediately
• The last access date and time stamp for the files
change to the current date and time
– Destroys any potential evidence
• That shows when a Windows XP workstation was
last used
MS-DOS startup tasks
ü MS-DOS uses three files when starting, with the same names
as in Windows 9x/Me: Io.sys, Msdos.sys, and Command.com.
ü Two other files are then used to configure MS-DOS at startup:
Config.sys and Autoexec.bat.
ü Although MS-DOS and Windows 9x use some of the same
startup filenames, there are some important differences between
the files in these OSs.
Ø Io.sys is the first file loaded after the ROM bootstrap loader
finds the disk drive. Io.sys then resides in RAM and provides the
basic input and output service for all MS-DOS functions.
Ø Msdos.sys is the second program to load into RAM
immediately after Io.sys.
 G. Virtual machine
•– Allows you to create a representation of another computer on an existing
physical computer
• A virtual machine is just a few files on your hard drive
– Must allocate space to it
• A virtual machine recognizes components of the physical machine it’s loaded on
– Virtual OS is limited by the physical machine’s OS
• In digital forensics
– Virtual machines make it possible to restore a suspect drive on your virtual
machine
• And run nonstandard software the suspect might have loaded
• From a network forensics standpoint, you need to be aware of some potential
issues, such as:
– A virtual machine used to attack another system or network
 
Creating a Virtual Machine
• Popular applications for creating virtual machines
– VMware Server, VMware Player and VMware Workstation, Oracle VM VirtualBox,
Microsoft Virtual PC, and Hyper-V