Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
case,.or.just.in.the.general.understanding.of.what.might.have.
occurred.when.on.your.computer.
There. are. several. different. types. of. iles. on. Windows.
devices. which. are. hidden. from. normal. view.. These. include.
iles.that.contain.data.for.what.is.known.as.the.
registry
.
On. a. Windows. system. the. registry. is. yet. another. data-
base.that.keeps.track.of.all.of.the.different.software.and.hard-
ware.your.computer.uses,.the.paths.and.interdependencies.to.
those. applications,. and. connections. between. the. operating.
system,.applications,.and.the.hardware..It.is.a.very.complex.
and.technical.database.of.connections.that.is.the.heart.and.
soul.of.how.your.computer.and.its.applications.interact.with.
the.Windows.operating.system.
There. is. no. reason. or. need. to. get. into. details. of. the.
design.or.even.the.contents.of.this.vast.database.in.this.topic..
However,.it.is.important.to.recognize.that.the.registry.con-
tains. electronic. records. of. actions. taken. on. your. computer.
that.may.be.relevant.in.a.court.case.
Here. are. some. examples. of. the. data. that. can. be. found.
in.the.registry.and.that.might.be.of.interest.to.someone.try-
ing.to.understand.what.has.taken.place.on.a.computer,.for.
whatever.reason:
•. A.record.of.every.USB.device.that.was.ever.plugged.
into. your. computer—the. serial. number,. model,. and.
date.it.was.irst.plugged.in.as.well.as.the.date.it.was.
last.accessed
•. Records.of.all.of.the.last.Web.sites.you.typed.into.your.
browser
•. Records. of. all. of. the. most. recently. accessed. iles.
(Depending.on.the.version.of.Windows.these.can.be.
records.of.hundreds.of.iles.back.into.the.past.)
•. Records. containing. data. about. all. users. of. the. com-
puter,. including. encoded. passwords. (that. with. the.
right.tools.can.be.unencoded)
•. Records. of. all. network. and. other. drive. connections.
that.have.been.made
