Summary

So, in this chapter, we discussed different extra Windows artifacts that are important to digital forensics analysis. We discussed the prefetch files, and how they can be used to track a malicious executable that ran within the system. We also showed the Windows tasks that can be used to preserve a malware existence in the infected Windows system. Then, we showed you how to investigate the photos existing in the system even after deletion using the Thumbcache files. By mentioning deletion, we discussed the Recycle Bin and its structure in different Windows OS versions. In the end, we discussed the shortcut or .lnk files and illustrated how to read their data and their forensic importance.

As opening a malicious URL or opening malicious attachments are the most common ways to infect a machine, in the following chapter, we will discuss browser forensics and show you how to track user activities and investigate the visited websites using different tools with different browsers...