Episode 34 — Windows Investigation: Common Artifacts
In Episode Thirty-Four, titled “Windows Investigation: Common Artifacts,” we turn to the traces that Windows systems leave behind—the quiet imprints of execution, interaction, and change. These artifacts are the computer’s version of memory, fragments of history scattered across files, registries, and logs. For an investigator, they form a mosaic that reconstructs behavior long after an event has passed. Understanding where to look and how to interpret what is found transforms the abstract idea of “digital forensics” into a practical skill. The system is always recording; the art lies in translating those records into narrative form. When approached methodically, artifacts stop being noise and start becoming testimony about what truly happened.
One of the most revealing categories of evidence comes from execution traces—markers that confirm a program was run or an action was initiated. Windows records such clues in prefetch files, application compatibility caches, and user assist keys. Prefetch files show which executables launched recently, how often, and which libraries they loaded. Application compatibility data, sometimes stored in the ShimCache or Amcache databases, logs metadata about executed programs even when those files are later deleted. Together, these sources reveal not just presence but behavior: which applications actually ran, how frequently, and in what sequence. For forensic analysts, that distinction between installation and execution is critical because attackers often stage tools that never run or run only once.
Installed software itself leaves a detailed footprint in the system’s installation and shim databases. The Amcache registry hive, for example, records program paths, file hashes, and timestamps associated with installations. Shim databases, used by Windows to maintain compatibility between older software and new systems, inadvertently create a catalogue of executed binaries and their metadata. Investigators use these entries to track the lifecycle of applications—when they appeared, which users introduced them, and how they evolved over updates. Even partial fragments of these databases can verify whether an application existed at a specific point in time. In environments where executable logging was incomplete, these databases provide independent corroboration.
Power usage telemetry, though designed for efficiency diagnostics, has become an unexpected ally in behavioral analysis. Windows records metrics about process activity, runtime durations, and resource consumption as part of its energy management subsystem. These records can validate whether a process was truly active, even when standard logs are missing. A spike in power usage aligned with other events can confirm the moment a heavy process—like encryption or data compression—occurred. For investigators, such cross-domain clues connect physical behavior, like energy draw, to digital events, grounding inference in measurable system response.
Shortcuts themselves, represented as L N K files, hold a wealth of contextual metadata that often outlasts the files they point to. Each shortcut preserves the original path, creation and modification timestamps, drive serial numbers, and sometimes even network share information. A shortcut to a deleted or moved file still reveals where that file once lived and when it was last accessed. Because shortcuts exist for documents, executables, and folders alike, they serve as breadcrumbs through the user’s interaction history. Examining their properties can uncover external device identifiers or shared resource names, revealing whether data ever left the local system.
The Windows Registry remains one of the richest and most layered sources of forensic evidence. Divided into system and user hives, it records configuration changes, application preferences, and device interactions. The system-level hives—such as SYSTEM, SOFTWARE, and SECURITY—store information about installed services, device drivers, and policy configurations. User hives, especially NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT, capture personal environment details like recent file paths, connected printers, and application-specific settings. Registry timestamps often survive user deletion attempts and can validate the exact moment a setting or application was changed. When viewed together, the registries form an evolving diary of how the system and its users adapted over time.
Persistence mechanisms deserve special scrutiny because they bridge transient actions into enduring control. Scheduled tasks, Windows services, and startup registry keys represent the three classic categories of persistence. Each offers different visibility and longevity: tasks can trigger on schedules or conditions, services can blend into legitimate system functions, and startup keys ensure execution on every logon. Investigators catalog these mechanisms to identify unauthorized automation or scripts that reestablish footholds after reboot. Recognizing patterns—like suspicious service names or misused system utilities—turns persistence from a mystery into a set of recognizable signatures.
Startup locations extend the concept of persistence beyond services and tasks into the broader autorun ecosystem. The Autoruns tool from Microsoft Sysinternals visualizes this landscape, listing startup folders, scheduled jobs, browser helper objects, and shell extensions that run automatically. Forensic practitioners use these entries to detect misconfigurations and to differentiate between expected software and stealthy implants. Because startup points are diverse and distributed across registry keys and file paths, documenting each category ensures coverage. Understanding this conceptual map clarifies how Windows transitions from boot to operational state—and how that sequence can be hijacked.
Browser traces reveal the human dimension of system activity. Browsers store history, cookies, form data, and downloads that can show what a user searched for, which domains they accessed, and when. Even after private browsing sessions or cache clearing, some metadata persists in places like the WebCache or IndexedDB directories. Investigators correlate browser data with other artifacts to understand intent: whether a user sought technical instructions, visited attacker infrastructure, or downloaded payloads. Browser artifacts bridge network analysis and endpoint investigation, grounding external communications in local context.
The craft of digital forensics often culminates in building a timeline—sequencing artifacts from multiple sources into a coherent story. By aligning file system timestamps, registry updates, log events, and user actions, analysts reconstruct not just what happened but when and how the system responded. Tools can automate some of this assembly, but interpretation remains a human task that weighs probability and context. Temporal sequencing reveals causality: a program execution before a configuration change, a logon before a data exfiltration, or a reboot before encryption. Each piece strengthens the story’s credibility when consistency emerges across independent artifacts.
Preservation is the quiet partner of analysis. Capturing images, exporting logs, and documenting findings must follow clear protocols to protect evidence integrity. Investigators should record hash values, acquisition methods, and chain of custody for every artifact collected. Notes explaining reasoning and observations ensure that months later, another analyst—or a court—can follow the same path and reach the same conclusions. Documentation transforms individual discovery into shared knowledge. Without it, artifacts lose context and credibility, turning valuable clues into isolated curiosities.
