| |
(You may sign up for the newsletter here.)
| #112: WinHex, X-Ways
Forensics, X-Ways Investigator 15.1 released
Sep 3, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce a noteworthy update, v15.1.
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING X-WAYS FORENSICS CLASSES
DC area, Sep 24-26 http://www.x-ways.net/training/washington_dc.html (full)
New York, Sep 29-Oct 1 http://www.x-ways.net/training/new_york.html (PLEASE
SIGN UP NOW!)
London, Oct 7-9 http://www.x-ways.net/training/london.html (almost full)
Sydney, Nov 5-7 http://www.x-ways.net/training/sydney.html
Hong Kong, Nov 11-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/hong_kong.html
For more information: http://www.x-ways.net/training/
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* Ability to detect simple attempts at masking any files of
any type as executable files. Such files will not be confirmed
as executable files any more. Forensic license only.
* Allows to better focus on unusual executable files by
assigning them to report tables when they contain unknown
segments or an unexpected tail. Forensic license only.
* Can better distinguish between various .exe file types
including legacy formats, DLLs, fonts, VXDs, and other drivers
(see Type column after file type verification). Forensic
license only.
* Special support for executable files when running the file
header signature search. The file size and the precise file
type will be detected. The exact file size helps to exclude
known irrelevant files with the help of hash databases.
* Size detection for very large zip archives during file
header signature search. Size detection for 7zip file newly
introduced.
* It is now possible to automatically associate the parent
file and child objects of a selected file with a report table
as well. Useful for example if you do not only want to add
a certain e-mail message to a report, but also it's attachments or the other way around, or not only a certain video
still, but also the corresponding video. Report table associations can also be removed from parent and child objects
in a single step. Forensic license only.
* Files that are child objects of a file (i.e. whose parent
is not a directory) are now specially marked in the directory
browser with 3 light blue dots in the upper left corner of
the icon.
* It is now much more convenient to supply lengthy filename
lists for use as a filename filter. Multiple filenames or
filename masks are no longer concatenated with semicolons,
but entered (or pasted from the clipboard!) one per line.
Useful if you have a list of relevant filenames or keywords
and want to find out quickly whether files with such names
are present, e.g. in electronic discovery.
* When extracting thumbnails from JPEGs, they are now listed
as child objects of the respective JPEG file. Such thumbnails
and other generically named embedded pictures are now
considered virtual files. Forensic license only.
* Attached external files will now always be added as child
objects of the selected object, even if you add a single
file only, unless you hold the Shift key. It is now also
possible to attach external files to a directory. Forensic
license only.
* Ability to add a selected block as a virtual file (Edit
menu) now in File mode, too. In that case it will be added
as a child object of the original file. Forensic license only.
* Support for viewing the NTFS system file $UsnJrnl, another
unique feature. Forensic license only.
* Examination of $LogFile as part of thorough file system
data structure search on NTFS volumes even more complete now.
Forensic license only.
* The Interpretation of $LogFile for View command/Preview
mode now more complete. It also now shows you the date range
coverered (see bottom of Preview/View), so that you can
easily determine whether relevant dates are covered by
$LogFile at all. It is now easier to determine or at least
narrow down the date and time when a file was deleted if
that action is covered, by looking for an "Undo: Initialize
File Record Segment" operation for a given file or by
looking for the LSN as seen in the FILE record header. The
following EndPage statement indicates the time frame for
that operation. Generally improved representation. Forensic
license only.
* Ability to deal with FAT32 volumes whose main boot sector
is corrupt if the backup boot sector is intact. Ability to
automatically find lost FAT32 partitions when scanning for
lost partitions even if the main boot sector is corrupt.
* Ability to deal with extremely large directories in FAT
volumes.
* Copying files off an image to your own drive or into a
container, these actions now internally work slightly
differently. They can now include the contents of selected
directories even in an already recursive view, and when
doing that they automatically make sure not to copy directly
and indirectly selected files twice. Or if the same file
is listed multiple times in a search hit list, because it
contains many search hits, it is copied once only even if
selected multiple times, which is very convenient. Another
consequence is that you will not see the message "This
command cannot branch into selected directories in an
already recursive view." any more. Another benefit is that
there are now 3 instead of 2 options for recreating the
original path in the output directory or file container:
full path, no path, or partial path (based on the currently
explored directory, not available from case root).
* The Recover/Copy command now also optionally allows to
output files with overlong paths (more than 260, up to 510
characters, for output path + original path + original
filename). Note that you cannot access (e.g. view, copy or
delete) such files with ordinary tools like the Windows
Explorer. The option is useful if you are dealing with these
files with tools that support overlong paths. Otherwise you
can specifically limit path lengths to 260 characters and
get report table associations for omitted files, as before.
Forensic license only.
* A new option labelled "recommendable data reduction" for
the logical search and indexing allows to save time by
excluding the logical portion of certain files automatically:
File archives such as ZIP and RAR whose contents have been
included in the volume snapshot, and PST and DBX e-mail
archives whose e-mail messages and attachments have been
extracted. The latter is helpful in particular for indexing,
since Base64 code inflates the index extremely and slows
down the indexing process.
* There is now a "NOT" option in the Attributes filter.
Allows you to easily filter out alternate data streams,
symlinks, files with unknown contents, etc. etc. when you
do NOT want see such items.
* There is now a progress indicator for the hashing process
when creating a hash set.
* Individual filenames for cloning logs based on start time.
* Ability to reset selected files in the volume snapshot
such that the options in Refine Volume Snapshot would
touch them again even if they have been processed before.
This function is available via Ctrl+Del. It does not clean
up after the selected files, i.e. does not delete any
already extracted child objects.
* Fixed scope inconsistency when running a search from the
case root window.
* Italian translation updated.
* Fixed some errors in the new indexing algorithm of v15.0.
* Several minor improvements.
* The copy log option no longer noticeably slows down the
Recover/Copy command when copying many files. (since v15.0 SR-3)
* Occasional unavailability of the Print command in the
context menu fixed. (since v15.0 SR-3)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when running a
file header signature search when in search hit list mode.
(since v15.0 SR-3)
* A minimized main window at the end of a search is no
longer a problem. (since v15.0 SR-3)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when imaging
RAIDs reconstructed from images. (since v15.0 SR-3)
* Fixed an error in the directory browser that could occur
after refining the volume snapshot or after returning from
a search hit list. (since v15.0 SR-3)
* Intelligent size detection when carving .tar archives.
(since v15.0 SR-4)
* Fixed an error that could interrupt the interpretation
of an .e01 evidence file with many segments. (since v15.0
SR-4)
* Files that cause exception errors or crashes during the
mass metadata extraction are now reported by the program
so that they can be identified, hidden and/or forwarded
to us more easily. (since v15.0 SR-5)
* Instability in IE cookie metadata extraction fixed.
(since v15.0 SR-7)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when clicking
items in the Position Manager. (since v15.0 SR-5)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when processing
large AOL PFC files. (since v15.0 SR-7)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Remote analysis capability for X-Ways Forensics (
http://www.x-ways.net/forensics/f-response.html ) will soon also cover
Linux and OS X machines.
-------------------------------------------------------------
dit Co., Ltd. is now the reseller of X-Ways in Japan:
http://www.dit.co.jp/news/news2008/2008_0902.html
http://www.dit.co.jp/products/x-ways/ |
| #111: X-Ways Forensics
15.0 SR-2 released; Remote Analysis Capability for X-Ways Forensics
Jul 11, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce
* remote analysis capability for X-Ways Forensics,
* v15.0 SR-2 of WinHex, X-Ways Forensics, and X-Ways Investigator,
* new training dates
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING X-WAYS FORENSICS CLASSES
Chicago, Aug 12-14 http://www.x-ways.net/training/chicago.html (please sign
up now if interested)
DC area, Sep 24-26 http://www.x-ways.net/training/washington_dc.html (almost
full)
New York, Sep 29-Oct 1 http://www.x-ways.net/training/new_york.html
London, Oct 7-9 http://www.x-ways.net/training/london.html (almost full)
Sydney, Nov 5-7 http://www.x-ways.net/training/sydney.html
Hong Kong, Nov 11-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/hong_kong.html
For more information: http://www.x-ways.net/training/
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* If you need to examine media that are attached to remote computers,
over a network, then we can now offer you a solution! Use F-Response
in conjunction with X-Ways Forensics. That allows you to finally apply
the superior analysis functionality of X-Ways Forensics that you know
to remote network drives, e.g. enterprise-wide. For details please
see >>>>>>> http://www.x-ways.net/forensics/f-response.html <<<<<<<.
You can purchase F-Response from X-Ways separately, or, with a special
discount, together in a bundle with X-Ways Forensics, thanks to an
agreement between Agile Risk Management LLC and X-Ways Software
Technology AG.
NEWS IN X-WAYS FORENSICS:
* Identical consecutive video stills will not be included any more
in the volume snapshot when capturing frames from videos with MPlayer.
(since v15.0 SR-1)
* It is now theoretically possible to specify an interval as short
as 1 second for video still extraction. Whether you actually get
additional, different stills with such a low setting, however, depends
on the encoding and compression of the respective video file. (since
v15.0 SR-1)
* For images of optical media that contain both a CDFS and UDF file
system and that are associated with a case as evidence objects, X-Ways
Forensics now prompts the user for the preferred file system only once,
when opened for the first time. (since v15.0 SR-1)
* Application-created report table associations (as opposed to user-created ones) are now represented by gray instead of green triangles
in the directory browser, which makes it easier to distinguish between
the two. (since v15.0 SR-1)
* Ability to limit the scope of the file header signature search to
a certain sector range (more precisely, a selected block). This is
useful e.g. if a previous file header signature search has been aborted,
to save time. (since v15.0 SR-2)
* The size of PSD files is now intelligently detected when running a
file header signature search. (since v15.0 SR-2)
* The maximum number of report tables supported in a case has been
increased to 128. (since v15.0 SR-2)
* Many other minor improvements.
* Two errors in the new indexing algorithm of v15.0 have been found
and fixed. The index was not 100% complete, and under certain
circumstances an infinite loop and/or the errors 1074 and 1075 could
occur. (since v15.0 SR-1)
* Fixed an error that under certain circumstances prevented the new
indexing algorithm of v15.0 from completing. (since v15.0 SR-2)
* Fixed the error message that under certain circumstances claimed
that the viewer component had to be activated although it was already
activated. (since v15.0 SR-1)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur under certain circumstances when reading from previously existing files where the
location of the data was unknown. (since v15.0 SR-2)
* Fixed an error in the export of the search hit column with context.
(since v15.0 SR-2)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when reconstructing
RAIDs using images. (since v15.0 SR-2) |
| #110: WinHex, X-Ways
Forensics and X-Ways Investigator 15.0 released
Jun 2, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce a noteworthy update, v15.0.
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING X-WAYS FORENSICS CLASSES
New York, Jun 9-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/new_york.html (waiting
list)
DC area, Sep 24-26 http://www.x-ways.net/training/washington_dc.html
London, Oct 7-9 http://www.x-ways.net/training/london.html
Sydney, Nov 5-7 http://www.x-ways.net/training/sydney.html
Hong Kong, Nov 11-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/hong_kong.html
For more information: http://www.x-ways.net/training/
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* X-Ways Forensics now features a totally revised indexing
algorithm that a lot of effort has been put in. This algorithm
specifically utilizes multiple processor cores and on systems
that have multiple process cores runs faster than its predecessor,
in particular when taking the (optional) optimization step
into account.
* The file type signatures database now distinguishes between
signatures that are useful for file type verification only
(to verify the type of files that are already contained in
the volume snapshot, forensic license only) and signatures
that are strong and important enough to also use them for a
file header signature search, i.e. to find additional,
previously existing files. To that end, two separate definition
text files now ship with X-Ways Forensics. The idea is to
keep unsuspecting users from blindly selecting all file types
for the search, from getting too many false positive for weak
signatures as a consequence, from getting too many garbage files
(e.g. overlapping MPEG fragments that cannot be played), from
getting too many irrelevant files (e.g. font files, cursor
files), and from unnecessarily suffering from a slow search
speed, and from complaining about all of this. Of course it's
still possible to manually add new file type definitions for
file header signature searches or to consciously move file
type definitions from one definition file to the other if
you know what you are doing.
* File type signature and category definitions have been
further expanded. Support for up to 4096 file type signature
definitions for file type verification and up to 1024 definitions for file header signatures searches, as opposed to just
255 before.
* The naming conventions for carved files have been slightly
changed. Files are now named based on an incrementing number
that is unique for each evidence object.
* Previously existing files whose first clusters are known
to be overwritten are no longer checked for their true file
type.
* When verifying file types, for files that are not recognized
by any entry in the file header signature database, X-Ways
Forensics now makes additional attempts at detecting the file
type. Useful to recognize file types that do not have a fixed
signature, e.g. .eml e-mail messages, programming language
source code, batch files, various other kinds of text files,
and many more.
* The names of extracted .eml files are now usually more
authentic especially if the subject line is encoded in an
Asian code page. Some minor improvements in e-mail processing.
* When including report tables in the case report, to render
the report horizontally more compact (e.g. for printing), it
is now possible to artificially break the filename and paths
lines after a user-defined number of pixels. Helps to avoid
that the report becomes wider than a printable page,
especially when referencing more than one file per row in
a report table.
* It is now possible in X-Ways Forensics to manually define
a block in Volume/Partition/Disk mode and add it to the
volume snapshot as a carved file. Useful if you wish to treat
data in a certain area (e.g. HTML code or e-mail messages
found floating around in free space) as a file, e.g. to view
it, search it specifically, comment on it, add it to a report,
etc. The command for that can be found in the Edit menu.
* A new directory browser option called "Full path sorting"
for objects that have child objects has been introduced.
The effect is that, after exploring recursively, if sorted
by path, child objects will be listed directly after their
respective parents (e.g. files after their parent directories,
e-mails after the e-mail archives from which they have been
extracted, e-mail attachments after their containing parent
e-mail messages, compressed files after their parent archives,
etc.).
* Zip and Rar archives that X-Ways Forensics knows contain
encrypted files are now marked as encrypted themselves, with
"e!" (file format specifically encrypted) in the Attribute
column. Allows to focus on such files more conveniently than
before using the Attribute filter. (And some users didn't
realize how it was possible before.)
* When viewing search hits in the decoded version of e.g.
PDF documents in raw preview mode, you now see the exact raw
decoded text as used for searching. This can be useful if
the viewer component cannot highlight a search hit in the
regular view of the PDF document.
* Two more external programs can be defined.
* The first portion of the Details mode ("Data from the Volume
Snapshot") is now displayed as a table, which is visually
more appealing.
* Metadata extraction from BMP files and (on logical drive
letters) EXE/DLL files.
* RAID reconstruction: Stripe size of 1 sector now supported.
* Various other minor improvements. Several exception errors
fixed that could occur in very specific situations.
* Please note that .cfg configuration files from previous
versions cannot be imported any more.
* v8.2.2 of viewer component has been made available on May 31,
2008. It now supports the JPEG 2000 file type, officially runs
under Windows 2008 Server, and contains various patches and
bug fixes. Installing this update is recommended.
* The original version X-Ways Forensics 14.9 did not automatically load the viewer component for the encryption test,
so unless the viewer component was utilized in the same
session before, an error message appeared. This was fixedwith v14.9 SR-1.
* Fixed some checkboxes in the Attribute filter dialog.
(since v14.9 SR-2)
* When copying files with child objects from a recursive view
without recreating the original paths, X-Ways Forensics no
longer creates empty subdirectories named after these files.
(since v14.9 SR-2)
* Fixed an error that could occur when attaching a file to
a file in the root directory of a volume. (since v14.9 SR-2)
* Fixed an infinite loop that could occur in some very rare
situations when finding OLE2 compound files via signatures.
(since v14.9 SR-3)
* When applying a logical search to selected files in a
recursively explored directory, pausing the search to preview
search hits previously caused the search to be aborted. This
was fixed. (since v14.9 SR-3)
* An instability issue in the indexing algorithm was fixed.
(since v14.9 SR-3)
* Fixed a rare error where filenames where read incorrectly
from certain Ext* directory entries. (since v14.9 SR-3)
* An error was fixed that under certain circumstances could
lead to attachments copied to containers incorrectly showing
up in "Path unknown". (since v14.9 SR-3)
* \b GREP anchor now works when 16-bit option is enabled.
(since v14.9 SR-4)
* hiberfil.sys decompression now more like the original
Microsoft code. (since v14.9 SR-4)
* Prevented possible accidental duplication of files with
child objects in evidence file containers. (since v14.9 SR-5)
* Prevented certain exception error when extracting e-mail
messages from e-mail archives. (since v14.9 SR-5)
* Since v14.8, the owner column in the directory browser
was not filled any more on certain NTFS volumes. This was
fixed. (since v14.9 SR-5) |
| #109: WinHex, X-Ways
Forensics and X-Ways Investigator 14.9 released
Apr 17, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce a noteworthy update, v14.9.
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* WinHex and X-Ways Forensics now point out if a file in an
NTFS volume has been only partially filled with data. Such
files are marked with "partial init." (partial initialization)
in the Attribute column and can be filtered based on that. The
size of the actually initialized/defined portion of the file
is now displayed in the Details Panel when opening such a file
or when looking at it in File mode, labelled as "Valid data
length", and the affected uninitialized range will be displayed
in a different color. Search hits in the uninitialized portion
of a file will be marked as search hits in "slack etc.". The
fact that a file has been partially initialized only (but not
the extent) will also be remembered by containers.
All of that is meant to help a skillful forensic examiner to
avoid drawing inaccurate conclusions. This risk exists because
data that is stored in the allocated clusters of a file may be
_old_ data that was present on the disk before the clusters were
allocated to that file, if the clusters have never been actually
overwritten with new data. Or in other words, that may be data
that has nothing to do with the file, although according to the
logical file size it is part of it.
Typically, file types that are not always fully initialized can
include
- Windows Registry
- Windows Event Log (.evt and .evtx)
- CRMLOG
- Outlook PST
- Outlook Express DBX
- Windows MediaPlayer databases
- Windows Reliability Monitor
- SystemIndex Indexer CiFiles
- Microsoft Network Downloader
- Windows Font Cache
- Windows Vista thumbcache
- Windows rescache
- Microsoft IME User Dictionary
- Java .jsa
and database files, temporary files, and generally files created
by applications that like to preallocate storage space for
performance reasons/to prevent later file fragmentation.
* When extracting e-mail messages and attachments (forensic
license only), attachments now become child objects of their
respective parent e-mail messages. That makes it very easy to
find the attachments for a given e-mail message, or to find the
e-mail message that contains a given attachment. Because of this
parent-child relationship, you can now conveniently include the
containing e-mail message when copying attachments to an evidence
file container, or include the attachments when copying the e-mail
message. Tagging an e-mail message will also tag its attachments.
Tagging an attachment will at least partially tag the containing
e-mail message. The old e-mail extraction logic from v14.8 and
before, where attachments were collected in a separate directory
"Attach", can still be used by choosing to not allow files with
child objects (see Options | Directory Browser). Note that this
option will eventually be removed in future versions. It is
included for backwards compatibility only.
* The names of attached and embedded files that belong to e-mail
messages in the same folder in the same e-mail archive are usually
no longer made unique by artificially inserting an incrementing
number in square brackets before the extension, so they are now
usually authentic/original.
* The rendition of the body of e-mail messages extracted from
PST archives with Outlook 2003 or later present is now more
faithful for Asian languages.
* The directory browser context menu command that in previous
versions found the containing e-mail message for a given attachment has been renamed "Find parent object", moved to the Position
submenu and can now be applied to _any_ file. It's function is
now identical to the Backspace key, and it's now available with
any license type. It also no longer switches back from a recursive
to a non-recursive view if the parent object is already listed
in the directory browser in that recursive view.
* Password-protected Outlook PST e-mail archives will now be
marked with "e!" if either the encryption test is applied to
such files or if you try to extract e-mail from such files.
* The e-mail extraction functionality now checks *.pst for their
signature and original *.eml for the presence of embedded files
before trying to do the extraction, to reduce the number of files
for which "no e-mail found in..." is reported unnecessarily.
Files embedded in original .eml files are now extracted directly
as child objects, and the e-mail message is not duplicated anymore.
* Some more minor improvements/fixes for e-mail processing,
concerning e-mails with unusual line-break formats, Pegasus Mail
and PocoMail files.
* Better structured and more visually appealing representation
of internal file metadata in Details mode for various file types.
* Representation of .lnk shortcut files for Preview mode and
View command now more visually appealing. (forensic license only)
* Metadata extraction from MS Office 2007 XML, OpenOffice XML,
StarOffice XML, .dmp memory dumps, and PNF (precompiled setup
information) files. Metadata extraction from hiberfil.sys files,
wim Vista image files, and GZ archives in Details mode. (forensic
license only)
* Ability to decompress Windows XP 32-bit hiberfil.sys files,
whether active or inactive ones, after having copied them off
the image to your own hard disk, to get a dump of physical memory
with all in-use pages from a previous point of time when the
computer entered into hibernation, as well as individually carved
xpress chunks from hiberfil.sys files, including xpress chunks
located in the "slack" of hiberfil.sys that are even older. This
feature is available in Edit | Convert. (forensic license only)
* Support for true Unicode filenames for the examination of Zip,
RAR, and 7zip archives (forensic license only). Note that for Zip
archives with true Unicode filenames to be processed correctly,
you need to pick the correct code page in the case properties first.
E.g. for Zip archives created under Linux, that's likely UTF-8.
For Zip archives created under Windows in Asia, that's likely a
regional code page.
* Better support for very large archives in excess of 2 GB. Some
other minor improvements in relation to archive handling.
* Creation and last access timestamps are now extracted from zip
archives when including their contents in the volume snapshot,
if these timestamps are available.
* The option to not include free drive space in otherwise complete
sector-wise images of partitions/volumes is now available in
X-Ways Forensics, too, not only in WinHex when run with a specialist
or forensic license. It's now included in X-Ways Forensics because
more selective instead of complete acquisitions may be preferable
or even required in certain jurisdictions and because certain
prosecutors wish to limit examinations to existing files anyway.
Special precautions help to avoid unintentional use of this option.
* Ability to filter out those previously existing items only whose
first cluster is known to be unavailable (most notably the so-called
"X files"), by using a new third state of the checkbox entitled
"List previously existing items". (forensic license only)
* Ability to focus on files that have child objects with the
Attribute filter. (forensic license only)
* Whenever one or more filters are active that actually filter out
items in the currently displayed directory browser, the two blue
filter symbols in the directory browser's caption line are now
clickable and allow you to deactivate *all* filters with a single
mouse click, to ensure you are not missing any file. This was a
frequently requested feature. They also causes search hits list
to be displayed in full, in that if multiple search terms are
selected and "Min. x" or "All x" settings are used, they are
reduced to "Min. 1". Also it unchecks the "List 1 hit per file
only" checkbox, if checked. (forensic license only)
* Ability to read and write .e01 evidence files with a segment
size larger than 2 GB. In fact it is not necessary any more to
split them at all (except of course if the target file system is
FAT32 or if you need to burn the image on CDs or DVDs). For full
compatibility with earlier versions of X-Ways Forensics, with
EnCase versions before v6, and with other products, split them
at 2,047 MB or less, as before. (forensic license only)
* Report tables created by X-Ways Forensics itself (by v14.9
Preview 3 and later) can now be distinguished from user-created
report tables in dialog windows.
* The size limit that defines when a picture is considered
irrelevant for skin tone analysis is now slightly more strict
(width or height no more than 8 pixels, or width and height no
more than 16 pixels each). (forensic license only)
* Ability to rename virtual attached files in the volume snapshot
with the directory browser context menu. (forensic license only)
* Even after exploring a directory by clicking it in the directory
tree you will now find a ".." item at the top of the directory
browser, which you can double-click to go upwards to the respective
parent directory, same as with the backspace key.
* Indexing: Unnecessary interruption by user prompts in certain
situations prevented. (forensic license only)
* Pictures embedded in other files can now be included in the volume
snapshot even if their respective parent files are compressed.
(forensic license only)
* Stills extracted from videos are now named after the video file,
not only after the time index. (forensic license only)
* When viewing video files externally, X-Ways Forensics now ensures
temporary filenames with Latin 1 characters only, for compatibility
with programs such as MPlayer that are not Unicode-aware. (since
v14.8 SR-4)
* Naming carved JPEG files after camera model and date and time
(specialist or forensic license), where possible, is now optional.
* It is now possible to focus on or filter out half tagged items
(see Directory Browser Options, forensic license only).
* Option to export lists as text files in Unicode. (forensic license
only)
* Fixed an error that under certain circumstances caused a file
header signature search to find and list files that were already
part of the volume snapshot before, although this feature is
supposed to avoid creating duplicates.
* More complete usage of Unicode in various portions of the user
interface, such that the Chinese and Japanese translation can now
be used correctly even if the code page that is active in the
Windows system is not 936 or 932, respectively. More complete
Unicode support also for case HTML reports output in Chinese or
Japanese.
* For certain file types, the file type verification now determines
the correct file type without highlighting the type status as
"newly identified" even if the type is different from the extension.
It does that for Windows Registry files (because it's normal for
them not to have any extension) and HTML/XML files (because there
are a variety of extensions that are all normal and plausible).
That helps to keep the number of files with the type status "newly
identified" low and allows to better concentrate on files that were
actually misnamed. (forensic license only)
* Finds deleted partitions automatically if located 64 sectors apart
from a previously found partition (not only 63 or 2048 sectors as
before).
* Since the introduction of 256-bit AES in WinHex/X-Ways Forensics,
the PC1 encryption algorithm was still supported only for compatibility with earlier versions. Support has now been discontinued.
* No longer adds XML and HTML files to the report table "No detectable
textual contents" when no text is extracted from them by the viewer
component for the logical search/for indexing. (forensic license only)
* An error was fixed that would prevent files beyond the 2 TB barrier
from being read correctly, on NTFS volumes larger than 2 TB.
* The first step of the particularly thorough file system data
structure search now works on NTFS volumes larger than 2 TB. (since
v14.8 SR-5)
* Error fixed that prevented reconstructing RAIDs over 2 TB. (since
v14.8 SR-1)
* X-Ways Forensics and X-Ways Investigator now notify you automatically when you get nearer to the end of your update maintenance
period.
* The viewer component is now loaded only when actually needed, not
immediately when starting the program. (forensic license only)
* The "Text" button that turns the preview provided by the viewer
component into a raw text preview (which for example is very helpful
when interested in all header lines of an e-mail message), is now
labelled "Raw", to increase awareness of the fact that usually it
is _not_ desirable to view files in that mode. (forensic license only)
* When exporting search hits to a tab-delimited text file (not HTML)
including context, the actual search term was previously represented
by "x" characters. This was fixed. (since v14.8 SR-4)
* When exporting metadata to a tab-delimited text file, line breaks
and tabs are now replaced with space characters. (since v14.8 SR-4)
* An error was fixed that occurred when trying to copy directory
data to evidence file containers with the indirect method. (since
v14.8 SR-3)
* Using keyboard shortcuts to create report table association now
either replaces already existing associations or not, depending on
the settings in the dialog window for report table associations.
(since v14.8 SR-3)
* Fixed an error that could occur in v14.8 SR-1 when automatically
interpreting images with multiple segments directly after creation,
for hash verification or evidence object replacement. (since v14.8
SR-2) The images were all OK, however.
* Fixed an error that occurred when copying alternate data streams
as alternate data streams. (since v14.8 SR-2)
* Possible source of instability in Details mode fixed. (since
v14.8 SR-1)
* New option in investigator.ini that allows to prevent attaching
external files to a volume snapshot in X-Ways Investigator. (since
v14.8 SR-1)
* Under certain circumstances, the progress indicator could be
wrong for logical searches conducted in selected evidence objects.
This was fixed. (since v14.8 SR-1)
* Quicker display of metadata cells in the directory browser if a
lot of metadata has been extracted. (since v14.8 SR-1)
* Several more minor improvements.
* The quick-guides that are downloadable from the X-Ways Forensics
product web page have been updated for v14.8/v14.9 where necessary.
The user manual has been updated for v14.9 as well.
* v8.2 of viewer component has been updated on Mar 14 and Mar 20.
It no longer freezes when viewing/processing certain HTML files
that v8.1.9 had no problems with. MS Word documents that consist
of just a single table are now again displayed correctly.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Please note that if you would like to be notified of service
releases between two newsletters issues, you can simply create
an account (
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/forum/create-account.html
)
on our forum and activate e-mail notification for postings in
the Announcements section of the forum.
If you would like to be notified of training opportunities in
North America, Europe, Asia, or Australia, please drop us a brief
note. Youd could simply reply to this message. Thanks. |
| #108: WinHex, X-Ways
Forensics and X-Ways Investigator 14.8 released
Feb 27, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce a major update, v14.8.
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING X-WAYS FORENSICS CLASSES
Chicago, Mar 31-Apr 4 http://www.x-ways.net/training/chicago.html
London, Apr 22-Apr 24 http://www.x-ways.net/training/london.html
New York, Jun 9-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/new_york.html
For more information: http://www.x-ways.net/training/
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* Ability to extract JPEG pictures from video files, in a userdefined interval (e.g. every 20 seconds). Immensely useful if
you have to systematically check many videos for inappropriate
or illegal content. Looking at extracted pictures in the
gallery is much faster and less stressful than having to watch
each video entirely one after the other, as the amount of data
is vastly reduced, and the extraction process can be run unattended e.g. over night. Even if the nature of the material
changes in the middle of the video (e.g. child pornography
hidden in a family or vacation video), that will be discovered
if the chosen interval is not too large.
Also useful if you need to include still pictures in a printed
report. The extracted pictures of each video are collected as
either child objects of the video file itself or in a virtual
directory named after the orginal video file, as virtual files,
always in the same path as the original file, so that it's easy
to link suspicious still pictures back to a video. The first
extracted picture of a video at the same time serves as a
preview picture for the video file in Preview and Gallery mode. ASF/WMV videos protected with digital rights management (DRM)
cannot be processed and are consequentially marked with e! in
the Attr. column.
Requires an external program, either the non-GUI version of
MPlayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html) and its
separately downloadable codec package (extract to "codecs"
subdirectory of MPlayer), or Forensic Framer(http://www.kuiper.de/). The program has to be selected in
Options | Viewer Programs. Pictures can be extracted from
these video formats and codecs:
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/video-formats.html
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html
* The Options | Viewer Programs dialog window now allows to
define an additional external program specifically for video
files (forensic license only). If defined, double-clicking
video files will send them directly to that external program.
If MPlayer is detected by X-Ways Forensics (or Forensic Framer,
which includes MPlayer), MPlayer will be predefined.
* When pictures are extracted from video files or documents
or thumbs.db files, or when e-mail messages and attachments
are extracted from e-mail archives, X-Ways Forensics no
longer creates a virtual directory whose name resembles the
original filename. Instead, the extracted files are accessible
directly by double-clicking the original file. They also can
still be seen when exploring recursively. The parent file's
icon will be marked with an ellipsis, to indicate that the
file's contents were extracted and there is more to find
"behind" the file. The main benefit is that it is now much
faster to identify the parent/host file. For example, when
tagging an extracted file, the parent file will be half tagged
automatically, which makes it easier to e.g. add such files
to a report tables later. Or when navigating back upwards
from the extracted contents to the parent file by clicking
the ".." item, the parent file itself instead of a virtual
directory will be automally selected. Also the path of the
extracted contents is more authentic because no suffix " Mail"
or " Pics" etc. is artificially inserted in the path any more.
Note that when you copy such files whose parents are other
files (not directories) to evidence file containers, older
versions of X-Ways Forensics and X-Ways Investigator will not
understand the parent-child relationship and show the child
objects in "Path unknown" instead. However, it is possible to
optionally have X-Ways Forensics create virtual directories
instead of files with child objects (Options | Directory
Browser), as before, for compatibility reasons.
For reasons of consistency and simplicity, the optional
special treatment of archives as directories has been removed.
Instead, archives are now treated exactly like other files
with child objects.
* Ability to preview/view $EFS logged utility streams (LUS)
and Windows Task Scheduler .job files. (forensic license only)
* Preview/view support for $I* Vista recycle bin files
(since v14.7 SR-1, forensic license only)
* The option to filter out $EFS logged utility streams was
removed from the directory browser option dialog. An option
was added that keeps NTFS LUS from being included in newly
taken volume snapshots in the first place, or only non-$EFS
LUS. Useful for NTFS volumes written by Windows Vista if you
are not interested in NTFS LUS.
* The binary contents of recycle bin info2 files, .lnk shortcut files, $EFS LUS, and .job files are no longer output
directly as part of a case report. Instead, a textual
representation of their contents is output, as known from
Preview mode.
* Attribute filters for NTFS $EFS, other logged utility streams,
NTFS offline files, files with object ID, Unix/Linux symlinks,
and other Unix/Linux special files. (forensic license only)
* There is now an Attr. filter that allows to focus on files
for which file system metadata is available only and whose
contents are totally unknown (where not even the original
location of the data ont he volume is known). Such files are
usually part of the volume snapshot after a particularly
thorough file system data structure search on NTFS volumes.
* Attribute filters for pictures that were extracted from
videos and for virtual files that were manually attached to
a volume snapshot. (forensic license only)
* Metadata extraction from MP3 files. ID3-embedded files other
than JPEG and PNG (which can be automatically extracted) areindicated by a special report table once discovered. (forensic
license only)
* X-Ways Forensics can now distinguish between .wma/.wmv
audio/video files when verifying the file type based on
signatures. Much more metadata is now extracted from .asf,
wmv, and .wma files. For a MS Excel document, the name of
the person that opened it last is now extracted.
* Intelligent file size detection for .rar archives for File
Header Signature Search and File Recovery by Type, which
allows to extract and not only list files in such archives.
* File header signature search and file type verification
improved for HTML, XML, XSD, and DTD.
* File Type Signatures.txt, File Type Categories.txt, and file
carving further expanded and improved.
* Support for anchors in the GREP syntax: \b for a word
boundary, ^ for the start of a file, $ for the end of a file.
* The options to filter out existing/previously existing/
hidden items have been superseded by options that are defined
in a "positive" sense and more in line with other filters:
Show existing files, show previously existing items, show
tagged items, show untagged items, show hidden items, show
non-hidden items. This change also makes is very easy to
focus on files that were tagged or hidden. (forensic license
only)
* The option to group tagged and untagged items was removed.
However, it is now easily possible to _filter_ by tags, as
mentioned above. (forensic license only)
* The option to filter out previously existing files is now
available in X-Ways Investigator, unless prevented by new
option "+28" in investigator.ini.
* Additional option in investigator.ini that prevents users
from deleting report tables.
* A path filter has been introduced. Allows you to focus on
files in whose path a certain substrings occurs, e.g. "pic"
or "Temporary Int". (forensic license only)
* Files identified as duplicates based on hash values are no
longer optionally marked with comments, but with a "duplicates
found" mark in the Attribute column, which is more efficient,
is retained in evidence file containers (for the recipient to
see that he/she can be supplied with the duplicates if needed),
and is now filterable. (forensic license only)
* Available hashes in the volume snapshot are now reused
instead of re-computed when creating hash sets.
* When refining the volume snapshot and verifying file types
based on signatures, in earlier versions this operation was
applied to files even if it had been applied before. Now if
you wish to repeat it, e.g. because you have edited the file
header signatures database, you need to check [x] Again, or
else the same files will not be touched again, to save time.
From now on, only files whose types were not verified before
will be processed by default.
* Should X-Ways Forensics crash during Refine Volume Snapshot,
Logical Search or Indexing whenever it is dealing with one
of the file in the volume snapshot, you will automatically
be pointed to the offending file when you restart the program,
so that you can easily omit it when trying again. Depends on
a new option in Security Options. The VS.log file known from
v14.7 is no longer created.
* WinHex can now identify the exact type of optical media in
the technical details report (whether CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, etc.).
* Somewhat faster read access to DVDs.
* Better handling of CD-ROM XA, but still most sectors cannot
be read. Unlike as so often with the competitors, X-Ways
Forensics will alert you that there is a problem. At least
many times now it is possible to open the files on such CDs
(e.g. Video CDs) through the operating system (see Security
Options). (since v14.7 SR-1, further improved with v14.8)
* Predefined character pool for indexing Japanese text.
* Ability to copy selected text from viewer component windows
to the clipboard in Unicode and RTF. (forensic license only)
* The Details mode is now more visually appealing and easier
to understand. Will be further improved in future releases/versions.
* Option to retain alternate data streams as ADS when using
the Recover/Copy command if the output volume is formatted
with NTFS. (forensic license only) If disabled or if copied
to a different file system, ADS are recreated as conventional
files, as before.
* When using the Recover/Copy command to copy files including
their path, the name of the evidence object is now recreated
as a directory also if "Default to evidence object folders
for output" is unchecked in the case properties, not only when
copying from a recursively explored case root window. (forensic
license only)
* Options to explicitly include or exclude child objects of
directories or files when using the Recover/Copy command or
when filling evidence file containers. As before, when copying
from an already recursive view, however, child objects cannot
be included. (forensic license only)
* It is now possible to include directory data (i.e. depending
on the file system, directory entries, INDX buffers, ...)
in evidence file containers (forensic license only). Useful if
the user of the container might be interested in timestamps or
other metadata in these data structures. If you choose to
include directory data in a container when creating it, this
has a direct effect only on directories that are selected
themselves. If has an effect on parent directories of selected
items only if you check an additional option. This is needed
because otherwise the directory data might unintentionally reveal
the names and other metadata of files that were intentionally
omitted from the container, e.g. for reasons of confidentiality.
Earlier versions of X-Ways Forensics and X-Ways Investigator do
understand it if data is available for directories.
* Option to automatically compress, encrypt, and/or split a
container after creation, offered when closing a container
that was opened in the background. (forensic license only,
not in X-Ways Investigator) Useful e.g. to be able to ship
huge containers on CDs or DVDs.
* The setup program now shows a progress window when the
viewer component is copied (if found in the subdirectory\viewer). It also automatically copies MPlayer (if found
in the subdirectory \MPlayer). Remember that if these external
components are found in the expected subdirectories, they are
activated in Options | Viewer Programs automatically.
* If in the case report options you specify maximum dimensions
for pictures as 0×0, then the pictures will only be linked,
just as other files, not displayed directly in the report.
* Tools | Disk Tools | Scan For Lost Partitions now recognizes
Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 partitions via their first superblock.
* Removing items from huge volume snapshots is now usually
much faster. However, after this operation, you can no longer
make conclusions from the internal IDs about the order in
which items have been added to the volume snapshots, because
the remaining internals IDs may be shuffled when removing
items.
* In previous versions, when totally removing hidden items
from a volume snapshot for which hash values had been
computed, this operation left inconsistent hash values for
some of the remaining items in the volume snapshot. Also report table associations, comments, and extracted metadata
were not correctly retained. This was fixed.
* Whenever the case is automatically saved because the autosave interval has elapsed, the configuration (various options,
settings) is also saved.
* The Attach External File command in the directory browser
context menu is now available in X-Ways Investigator, too.
(since v14.7 SR-1)
* The Attach External File command can now even be used to
attach multiple files at the same time. Useful e.g. after
having manually extracted/converted certain records/e-mails/pictures/files from a file. When you attach the externally
stored files to the original file, they will either become
direct child objects (see above), or a virtual directory
will be created named after the original file, and the files
will be shown collectively in that directory. If a single
file is attached only (e.g. the converted/decrypted/translated
version of a document), no virtual directory is needed.(since v14.7 SR-2, changed in v14.8)
* Ability to rename virtual directories, with a new command
in the directory browser context menu.
* Fixed an exception error that under certain circumstances
occurred when entering into search hit list mode. (since
v14.7 SR-3)
* Since v14.6, if any hash sets were selected for the hash set
filter, they were used for hash set matching, too, even if
unselected for matching by the user. This was fixed with v14.7
SR-5.
* Since v14.6, the option "Not only extract, also embed
attachments" only embedded e-mail attachments in .eml files
and did not extract them. This was fixed with v14.7 SR-5.
* The registry viewer now allows to search for true Unicode
characters in values (data). An error was fixed that prevented
finding text in the values (data) in earlier releases of v14.7.
The number of hives that can be loaded simultaneously has been
increased from 16 to 32. (since v14.7 SR-6)
* The exception list for the indexing algorithm, if enabled by
the user, was not correctly utilized any more since v14.3. This
was fixed with v14.7 SR-7.
* Fixed an exception error with v14.7 SR-7 that could occur
when opening very large FAT16 volumes.
* Screen update problem in gallery fixed v14.7 SR-8, for files
without known contents (for which file system metadata is
available only).
* Fixed inability to open dynamic volumes under certain
circumstances.
* Many other minor improvements, some smaller bug fixes.
* The viewer component has been updated on Feb 12 and Feb 26.
Some exception errors and instabilities were fixed, and two
errors were fixed that caused the viewer component to freeze
with certain corrupt GZ archives and certain SWF files. |
| #107: WinHex, X-Ways
Forensics and X-Ways Investigator 14.7 released
Jan 17, 2008 |
This mailing is to announce a noteworthy update, v14.7.
WinHex evaluation version: http://www.x-ways.net/winhex.zip
Owners of X-Ways Forensics/X-Ways Investigator and licensed
users whose update maintenance has expired please go to
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/license.html for more information
such as download links, update maintenance, and upgrade offers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING X-WAYS FORENSICS CLASSES
Chicago, Mar 31-Apr 4 http://www.x-ways.net/training/chicago.html
London, Apr 22-Apr 24 http://www.x-ways.net/training/london.html
New York, Jun 9-13 http://www.x-ways.net/training/new_york.html
For more information: http://www.x-ways.net/training/
-------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW?
* The virtual "Path unknown" directory on NTFS volumes is now
often much better organized. It identifies files and subdirectories whose original parent directories are unknown but
known to be the same. Such files and subdirectories are now
collected in the same generically named virtual directory,
which makes it easier to get an idea what that directory might
have been and more quickly identify relevant and irrelevant
files. Applies to newly taken volume snapshots only.
* The thorough file system data structure search on NTFS
volumes now often turns up even more traces of previously
existing files than before, including even more earlier names
and earlier paths of renamed/moved files. (forensic license
only)
* Improved results of thorough file system data structure
search on NTFS volumes that still can be recognized as NTFS
volumes, whose MFT however is corrupted and cannot be read
any more.
* Support for dynamic volumes defined on GUID partitioned
(GPT) disks. Such dynamic volumes can be used under Windows
Vista and the 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows 2003
Server.
* Now automatically finds all partitions on hard disks that
have both valid GPT and MBR partition definitions.
* Partitions formatted with exFAT are now recognized as such.
(That does not mean that the exFAT file system is now natively
supported.)
* Slightly more informative progress indicator window for
thorough NTFS file system data structure search and file header
signature search.
* Progress indicator window and ability to abort for metadata
extraction.
* Extracted metadata were previously added to the Comments
column. Now there are a separate column and a separate filter
for metadata, and the Comments columns is now reserved for the
examiner's own comments.
* Metadaten extraction from RTF, MP4, 3GP, M4V, M4A, RIFF
(.wav, .avi, ...) files and IE cookies. (forensic license only)
* Intelligent file size detection for MP4, 3GP, M4V, M4A, MOV,
DBX for File Header Signature Search and File Recovery by Type.
Improved JPEG file size detection/estimation.
* File Header Signatures.txt further expanded.
* PDF documents with former invisible versions of the same
document are now associated automatically with a special
report table once seen in Details mode or once internal
metadata has been extracted from them.(forensic license
only) Once aware that old versions exist, well-versed users
can extract them if needed.
* Extracts the internal creation timestamp from Internet
Explorer cookies, Norton Ghost .gho and PGP pubring.pkr
keyring files. (forensic license only)
* Ability to preview/view INFO2 recycle bin files.
* Ability to preview/view most SPL printer spool files.
Ability to automatically extract EMF files from multipage SPL printer spool files (see Refine Volume Snapshot).
(forensic license only)
* thumbs.db and many Windows Registry files found via file
header signature search are now listed/recovered with their
original names. Intelligent file size detection for Windows
Registry files.
* Microsoft's XPS documents are now treated like archives,
such that in particular the XML files within are now properly
covered in logical searches (as long as the contents of
archives have been included in the volume snapshot, of course).
* Ability to conveniently find the e-mail message that
contains the selected attachment, via a new directory
browser context menu command. (forensic license only)
Not for AOL PFC.
* Attachments and embedded files in e-mail messages that
are attachments to other e-mail messages (e.g. forwarded)
can now be extracted from the outer e-mail message if you
add *.eml to the series of file masks for e-mail extraction.
* Correct conversion from/to the Windows code pages
between 50220 and 50230.
* When trying to view a file externally again that was
already copied to the directory for temporary files before
for viewing and still exists there, it is not copied again
any more, which saves time (think of large video files).
* Ability to immediately and automatically verify newly
created raw images and .e01 evidence files by recomputing
the hash values. (forensic license only)
* Option to immediately replace an evidence object in the
active case with a newly created image, if a disk is
imaged that is associated with the active case as an
evidence object.
* When creating raw image files or .e01 evidence files of
volumes/partitions with WinHex, there is now an option to
store free clusters as zero-value bytes. (specialist or
forensic license only) That is useful if you create the
image for data backup and not for forensic purposes, in
conjunction with compression, to save drive space. This
option is not available in X-Ways Forensics, to prevent the
unintentional creation of images that are not forensically
sound.
* Ability to control NTFS compression for newly created
raw image files in File | Create Disk Image: none, sparse,
or normal compression.
* Now complete Unicode support in technical details report,
technical description of evidence objects, and technical
description in .e01 evidence files.
* Improved Unicode support for textual values in the registry
viewer and in the registry report.
* In the registry report, binary data such as "RecentDocs"
can now optionally be interpreted as Unicode text, which e.g.
allows to view non-Latin 1 filenames.
* The automatically suggested registry report output filename
now depends on the definition file used. Useful to avoid
accidentally overwriting reports created on different registry
keys for different purposes, and to immediately get an idea
of the purpose of the report if the definition file was already
adequately named.
* When clicking a value in a loaded hive in the Registry
Viewer, if the data window with the drive/image from which
the hive was loaded is in File mode, the cursor will automatically jump to the selected value in the registry file in
File mode, and the value will automatically be selected as
a block in that file. Useful as that allows to see values,
in particular binary ones, in both hexadecimal and text and
as that allows to easily copy binary values in either binary
or as text, not only as hex ASCII.
* Option to create the copylog file as a tab-delimited ASCII
or Unicode text file instead of HTML. Option to only output
the target filename/path and no original metadata in additional columns. Option to only output original metadata
columns and no target filename/path.
* New option: The bytes in the display can be represented as
characters in the text column one by one, or WinHex can try
to combine them, which if the active code page in Windows is
a double-byte character set may be desirable to get the
characters right (if 2 bytes = 1 character), or undesirable
because of the variable row length.
* When using distributed indexing, X-Ways Forensics now tries
to detect differences in the index settings used by the
various participants (options such as code pages, substring
support, character pool etc.). If detected, at least one of
the participants will be warned before indexing starts on
that machine. Obviously, in a shared indexing effort the
settings should be same everywhere.
* Interpreted raw images now show up in the Select Target
Disk dialog window of Tools | Disk Tools | Clone Disk in
WinHex with a specialist or forensic license (not in X-Ways
Forensics). Useful if you wish to selectively copy certain
sector ranges from one image or disk to another image.
* The logs for Refine Volume Snapshot, Logical Search, and
Indexing, which contain the internal IDs of processed files
to identify the offending file in case of a crash, are no
longer stored in separate log files and no longer in the
evidence object metadata directories. Instead, a single
file "VS.log" is now created in the directory from where
X-Ways Forensics is run, and it is overwritten each time
a new operation is started. This means you no longer have
to search for the correct log file for the last operation,
and it also saves drive space. As before, the last line in
such a file specifies the internal ID of the last file that
was processed. New: The operation type and the name of the
disk/image can be seen in the first line.
* Fixed an exception error that could with very long
image file paths and names.
* Fixed an error that caused certain GREP search hits to be
incorrectly regarded as Unicode hits. (since v14.6 SR-1)
* Three new investigator.ini options: Prevent taking new
volume snapshots. Prevent arbitrary files from being opened
externally with associated programs. Prevent redefinition
of external viewer programs.
* Two more investigator.ini options since v14.6 SR-2:
Prevent removal of evidence objects and prevent use of
Recover/Copy command (mandatory in X-Ways Investigator,
meant as an option in X-Ways Forensics when run with the
reduced user interface for non-IT investigators).
* Directories within PST e-mail archives, whose names
contain true Unicode characters, can now be recreated when
extracting e-mail message. Previously this failed because
of illegal names. The Unicode characters are lost and
replaced with underscores, though. (since v14.6 SR-2)
* Fixed an exception error that could occur when viewing
certain search hits in Preview mode. (since v14.6 SR-2)
* Fixed an error that could lead to incorrect data being
shown in sectors above the 2 TB barrier. (since v14.6 SR-2)
* The directory entries in clusters other than the first
one in directories on FAT12/FAT16 volumes that are child
directories of the root directory and whose names consist
of only 1 or 2 characters were ignored. Files defined by
ignored directory entries could only be found through a
file header signature search. This was fixed. (since v14.6
SR-3)
* Some instability issues in support for certain file types
fixed. (since v14.6 SR-3)
* Many other minor improvements, some smaller bug fixes. |
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