Book Image

Learn Computer Forensics – 2nd edition - Second Edition

By : William Oettinger
Book Image

Learn Computer Forensics – 2nd edition - Second Edition

By: William Oettinger

Overview of this book

Computer Forensics, being a broad topic, involves a variety of skills which will involve seizing electronic evidence, acquiring data from electronic evidence, data analysis, and finally developing a forensic report. This book will help you to build up the skills you need to work in a highly technical environment. This book's ideal goal is to get you up and running with forensics tools and techniques to successfully investigate crime and corporate misconduct. You will discover ways to collect personal information about an individual from online sources. You will also learn how criminal investigations are performed online while preserving data such as e-mails, images, and videos that may be important to a case. You will further explore networking and understand Network Topologies, IP Addressing, and Network Devices. Finally, you will how to write a proper forensic report, the most exciting portion of the forensic exam process. By the end of this book, you will have developed a clear understanding of how to acquire, analyze, and present digital evidence, like a proficient computer forensics investigator.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
15
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16
Index

Understanding user profiles

When the Windows operating system is installed, it creates a default folder structure to store user and application data. Sometimes, just looking at the folder structure can tell you which version is or isn’t installed.

When you are looking for user account profiles, the location can vary depending on the version of the operating system:

  • For Windows XP, WinNT, and Win2000
    • C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%
  • For Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10
    • C:\Users\%UserName%

When the user first logs on to the system, it will create a user profile. That profile will then be used for any subsequent logins and is now the user’s environment for their activity on the system. Microsoft defines the different types of user profiles:

  • Local user profile: This profile is created when the user logs on to a computer for the first time. You will find the profile stored on the hard...