Windows Forensics: Investigating Artifacts and Digital Evidence

Understanding how to uncover digital traces on Windows systems is essential for incident response, cybersecurity investigations, and evidence gathering. This text-based course guides you through the core principles of digital forensics, teaching you how Windows stores user activity and system events. You will develop a solid foundation in identifying, extracting, and analyzing forensic artifacts. Through clear written explanations and guided analytical walkthroughs, you will learn to reconstruct timelines, examine user behaviors, and investigate unauthorized activities methodically. What you'll learn: - Understand fundamental digital forensics concepts, evidence handling, and chain of custody rules - Analyze core Windows artifacts including the Registry, Prefetch, Shellbags, and Shimcache - Extract and interpret Windows Event Logs to identify security incidents and user logons - Investigate browser history, LNK files, and Jump Lists to reconstruct user activity - Apply timeline analysis techniques to correlate multi-source digital evidence - Practice foundational volatile data analysis and triage strategies for active systems The course begins with fundamental terminology, forensic methodologies, and legal considerations before progressing into hands-on artifact analysis and structured investigative scenarios. Designed entirely for beginners and aspiring security analysts, no prior digital forensics experience is required. Begin reading today to build your skills in Windows forensic investigations.