Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
things.before.the.problem.started..Now.Windows.keeps.these.
restore.points.for.a.long.time,.going.back.many.years.some-
times..Think.about.the.value.that.might.have.to.understanding.
what.happened.on.that.computer.sometime.in.the.past.
If.someone.was.purposely.trying.to.hide.his.or.her.actions.
by. deleting. applications,. Internet. browsing. activities,. docu-
ments.they.created,.and.so.forth,.the.restore.points.give.an.
investigator.a.way.to.go.back.into.the.past.to.see.how.things.
looked.before.
Finally,.as.mentioned.earlier,.most.applications.will.keep.
log.iles.that.track.how.they.are.being.used.and.any.problems.
that.come.up..Most.often.these.are.hidden.iles.that.are.only.
reachable. through. the. application. interface. and. sometimes.
only.by.knowing.advanced.options.in.the.application.that.will.
allow.you.to.view.and.manage.those.iles.
There. are. many. more. hidden. and. system. iles. on. your.
computer,.and.we.only.touched.on.some.of.them.and.only.
talked. about. Windows. computers.. Other. operating. systems.
such.as.Linux.and.Macintosh.also.have.system.iles.that.are.
not.generally.available.to.a.casual.user.
Yet. in. every. case,. these. can. contain. vital. information.
when. you. need. to. understand. what. has. been. taking. place.
on. a. computer.. They. can. hold. data. that. will. assist. you. in.
locating.other.relevant.information.and.possibly.point.you.to.
other.sources.of.information,.such.as.those.USB.drives.that.
were.connected.to.the.computer,.or.the.list.of.most.recently.
accessed.iles,.or.the.information.in.one.of.the.restore.points.
If.you.want.to.see.some.of.these.iles,.or.at.least.their.folders.
and.their.ile.names,.on.a.Windows.computer.you.can.select,.
“show.hidden.and.system.iles”.in.your.folder.settings..However,.
being.able.to.see.them.will.do.you.no.good.whatsoever.if.you.
actually.hope.to.gather.some.information.out.of.them..They.are.
all.encoded.in.such.a.way.as.to.only.be.accessible.and.readable.
either.by.an.application.interface.or.by.the.system.
There.are.special.tools.that.computer.forensics.experts.use.
to.parse.and.access.these.iles.for.analysis..So,.if.access.to.
any.of.that.type.of.information.might.be.important.to.a.court.
