Saturday, April 14, 2012

Windows 8 Linkage: “Passage Public Metro” version

cc image credit image by david.nikonvscanon on flickr

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So Claus, where do you stand on Windows 8 at this point?

Well, to be honest, I’m really liking the under-the-hood improvement talk on how things are working in Windows 8.

What I still find very hard to overcome are the end-user interface changes and the challenges trying to restore it to some form of a Windows “Classic” interface and operation.

I get that Microsoft wants to forge ahead with a new interface and blending between the Windows Phone interface and the computer system interface. I get that “apps” are all the rage. I like old-school design but am pretty comfortable with moving to new designs. (I no longer curse the Ribbon interface in Office 2007/2010.)

So…when Windows 8 gets released in a final version, I’m not going to be rushing out to upgrade all our systems to it from Windows 7. Windows 7 is super-stable for our needs at home and everyone is very happy. That said, once it looks like things are stable and I’ve come to terms with the new interface, I’ll probably upgrade just one of our systems here at the Valca ranch to Windows 8 and see how things go.

In the meantime, here are an updated collection of Windows 8 linkage building on the prior grand stream dreams: Windows 8 Linkage: “Majestic Metro” version post. It definitely requires an update since the Consumer Preview release of Windows 8 has come out a while back and some of the things from that one either no longer apply or may not work in this release.

Truth be told, tonight will be the first opportunity I’ve budgeted myself to load up with Windows 8 Consumer Preview version in a virtual machine.

Windows 8 “Consumer Preview” Version - Start Here to Get It

Windows 8 - Related Betas

OK. None of these are required for Windows 8 Consumer Preview. However they are related to it and I thought some folks might be interested in playing around with them as well. If you don’t know what these even are, then just skip down to the next section.

Windows 8 - Install It

There are a number of methods and platforms to install Windows 8. Review all the ones below carefully to figure out which works best for you. I personally am currently going with installing it into a Virtualbox session. When I get closer to pulling the trigger on installation to one of my laptops at home, I’ll first install it into a VHD and then dual-boot my system so the Win8 install can run on real “hardware” to check driver compatibility and system performance on the iron rather than in a virtual system. I did that before with Win7 and found it very beneficial.

Windows 8 - Under the Hood Stuff

These are the things that make me look forward to Windows 8 despite the stupid fact the “classic” interface is stripped out and requires considerable effort to restore using tips/tweaks/third-party tools to accomplish. Note: when I say “classic” I’m not talking about the theme that is a toss-back to Windows 2K/XP but rather the “classic” GUI with the program bar, the “start” menu, the system tray icons, etc.

Windows 8 - To Go

Windows “To Go” is basically a feature in Windows 8 that allows it to run “full OS” from a supported USB storage device like a flash drive or external hard-disk drive. I guess it could be considered an advanced version of WinPE but with all the benefits of the OS with no feature strip-out or additional “hacking” required that custom WinPE builds require to get past a plain DOS box environment “out of the box”. It is very intriguing to me and should be a cool option…if you meet the license requirements as well have a robust and super-fast USB device/port.

Windows 8 - Tweakages

Getting Windows to the way you like it is still important. Here are some important (to me) tweaks, tips, and tweaking tools to make it possible.

Windows 8 - Deeper Insights

Windows 8 - DaRT (Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset)

This off-line system boot tool is kitted out with a collection of system administration tools to aid in the diagnosis and recovery of a tanked Windows system.  This isn’t as easy to get your hands onto so some work and signup with Microsoft is required to get it.

Indirectly related but still interesting.

Windows 8 - Usage Tips

New user interface, new things to learn navigating around and completing basic tasks without beating head on desk…

Windows 8 - Miscellanea & Rumor Mongering

Already mostly covered in the linkage above, but sometimes you just can’t resist poking that ant-pile with a stick…

Cheers.

--Claus V.

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Saturday, April 07, 2012

For-Sec LiveCD Updates

It has been a while since I updated the ISO files on my iodd external drive/ISO boot device.

I’ve amassed quite a collection of forensic, security, WinPE, and pen-test distros on it and unless something major gets released, I usually don’t pay close attention to keeping them current.

So during a slow Saturday, I figured I would surf the webs and grab the latest versions of the primary LiveCD distros I keep handy on it.

Turns out there are quite a few updates to be had; most all of them pretty recent!

DEFT 7.1 ready for download - DEFT Linux - Bug fixes, updated packages, new tools and exciting bells-n-whistles. Released around 03-30-2012.

CAINE 2.5.1 SuperNova - Forensic LiveCD version released 11-18-2011. I really like this one and as a added bonus, this distro includes an auto-run tool menu if used in a running Windows system: WinTaylor 2.5.1.

PALADIN 2.06 - Forensic LiveCD from SUMURI group. Free download but registration is required for download access. The LiveCD is free and there is a USB version also available at a nominal cost though you can make your own if you wish. I don’t think this is a “recent” release version, but it was newer than the previous version I had.

Raptor 2.5- Forensic LiveCD from ForwardDiscovery group. Current version released 02-26-012. Free download but registration is required for download access. The LiveCD is free and like Paladin, is also available as a pre-installed USB device for a small expense. Raptor is cool in that they have versions for both Intel and PowerPC systems.

Matriux 1.2 “Krypton” - The Open Source Security Distribution for Ethical Hackers and Penetration Testers LiveCD. Current version was released 02-16-2012. Check out the “arsenal” list for a full roundup of the included packages.

BackTrack 5 R2 Release - Penetration Testing Distribution - Latest release version came out around 03-01-2012. This is one of the largest and best for/sec distros out there and includes an amazing collection of tools with extensive documentation on the website and in the community.

GnackTrack - phillips321.co.uk - is (and apparently ever will be) frozen at the final release as the developer is moving on to newer things and since Back Track now comes in both Gnome and KDE flavors.

Blackbuntu Linux & BackBox Linux are new Sec distros to me but since phillips321 recommended them that makes them worth checking out in my book.

Security Onion 20120405 - LiveCD from Doug Burks is out and includes options for a local install if desired. If the file-naming and post date is any indication, then this release is just a few days out of the oven as of 04-05-2012. I deeply appreciate Doug’s work as he is super-good in keeping it fresh and updated frequently.

Windows Forensic Environment - WinFE - Last but definitely not least, Brett Shavers remains hard at work in the Windows PE (FE focused) WinFE building project. Though not an “off-the-shelf” ISO, the process for building your own is pretty straight-forward and all the hard work has already been done. Recent WinFE building work includes a neat GUI-based app from a script you can add into your WinFE building project.

Need some places to start with WinFE building?

These WinFE Blog posts by Brett are particular good.

Finally, these last Linux LiveCD distros are really, exactly For-Sec but I’m really liking them for when I just need to pop-onto a system in my own secure environment and am not comfortable with just what is lurking on the “live” host system. Recently mentioned here on GSD but still sharing the goodness all the same. Besides, it just looks cool if anyone is shoulder-surfing.

Software Protection Initiative - Lightweight Portable Security.  This is a USAF/DOD project and is super-cool and super sharp.  The latest versions were released 02-16-2012. The “Deluxe” version is larger than the primary version as it also contains OpenOffice and AdobeReader software.

Selected info from the page linked above:

Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) creates a secure end node from trusted media on almost any Intel-based computer (PC or Mac). LPS boots a thin Linux operating system from a CD or USB flash stick without mounting a local hard drive. Administrator privileges are not required; nothing is installed. The LPS family was created to address particular use cases: LPS-Public is a safer, general-purpose solution for using web-based applications.

Read the LPS-Public Quick Start Guide. (PDF link)

Read the LPS-Public User's Manual. (PDF link)

Easter Joy,

--Claus V.

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Tools, Tips, and Reverse-Image Searches

Last week must have been pretty quiet as folks prepared for the Easter weekend. I didn’t collect near as much material as usual.

That’s a good thing seeing as I’m still digging out the piles of linkage I’ve been buried under.

Submitted for your edification:

NoVirusThanks - Funny name, great tools and freeware utilities for sysadmins and incident responders alike.  I have a few other "elite go-to” sources that offer a spectacular range of utilities for my prime toolsets and I’ve had to add NoVirusThanks to my list.

  • Sysinternals Utilities - Microsoft SysInternals.
  • Nirsoft - Nir Sofer’s amazing collection of freeware tools and utilities.
  • woanware - Mark Woan’s collection of forensics and network security utilities.

There are lots of other great producers of quality freeware Windows tools and utilities both for system administration, incident response, and forensics, but these sites seem to pack the best of them into a single place.

Wireshark · Wireshark 1.6.7 Released - Mostly bugfixes but check out the full 1.6.7 release notes if you care. Then go download the latest version of Wireshark in your favorite flavor.

Just when I thought I covered the series in my last post, Girl, Unallocated slips in a new installment, #2.4 with some timeline/SIFT work.

David Kravets from Wired’s Threat Level authored the post How Forensics Claims Facebook Ownership Contract Is 'Forged' that offers some certainly interesting items out of a forensic examination. I find value in reading publically released incident response and forensic analysis reports to pick up tips as well try to understand both the good, the great and especially the less than stellar (to then be avoided) in techniques used.

New Tools, Registry Findings - Windows Incident Response blog - Harlan Carvey passes on some new tips, tools, and registry bits of his own, one of which is the super-handy RegRipper Plugins maintenance tool from the super-cool Cheeky4n6Monkey. Read both Halan’s and Cheeky’s posts to get some idea if this tool would helpful.

Get out the Vote!

The Forensic 4cast Awards hosted by Forensic 4cast is open for voting through June 17th.

Take a look at the stellar nominees for each category and pass some love and kindness in support of the hard work these oft-unrecognized forensicators do day-in and day-out. Everybody likes some props now and then and here’s a way to show your appreciation for the top-shelf work done in the forensic community. Go and Meet the 2012 Nominees then cast a vote.

The humble GSD blog treads far below these giants but it was cool to see a kind link-back over in a recent SANS Digital Forensics Case Leads blog post. That’s some mighty fine company to be sandwiched amongst. I’m encouraged that some of these posts are as helpful to others as they are rewarding for me to share. Semper paratus, my friends.

Where’s That Image?

And here is how Claus finds new tools/techniques. Scary.

I was ripping though my RSS feed pile this past week and came across this post over at Boing Boing! That piqued my interest: Moon boxes and mystery men. I’m a sucker for old black-n-white techy photos of stuff from bygone era’s. Stuff like old space program photos, crazy industrial equipment, even the ads over at Phil Are Go!

Anyway.

While the question posed by Frank Munger was interesting, I was more curious if/where the photo had previously appeared on the WWW.

So I downloaded the “original” image, popped over to Google Images, clicked on the tiny blue camera in the search bar, uploaded the image I had downloaded and…bingo got the results. Of course, looking down a bit more on the page I found that Frank Munger had since found the answer he was seeking Y-12's moon-box mystery solved, although the Boing Boing didn’t update their story. That particular itch was now considered scratched, but that did lead me to look around for more reverse-image search tools.

There may be times when you find an image on a system or drive and want some more information about it. You could do a search on the file-name but those can be renamed. While you may not be able to draw many conclusions from an image search, it might give you some additional context for understanding.

Since the last time I went blogging about reverse-image-lookup tools on the web was quite a while ago, there are some new ones worth bookmarking.

Google Images - Check out these related links for more information on how to use this Google search feature: Search by Image · Inside Google Search and Search by Image - Google Images Help.

TinEye Reverse Image Search - One of the originals and still quite good. TinEye also offers some Plugins for major web-browsers.

Bing Images - While Bing does some great image searches based on terms, it doesn’t (yet) seem to support reverse-image searching.

Anyone know of any other reverse image search sites and/or tools worth recommending?

Cheers!

--Claus V.

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Sunday, April 01, 2012

Forensic Linkfest - microwave-ready meals

My “For-Sec” to-be-blogged pile is bustin out at the seams.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to find the time to toss the meat on grill in a way that gives it justice…so as of now, that material is still slow-smoking.

In the meantime maybe you will find something noteworthy in the following links-of-note prepared for quick consumption.

NetWitness - Investigator Freeware - Version 9.7.5.4 released 03/16/12. I’ve used this NFAT tool successfully in the past, but had stopped looking for updated versions. So the other day when my one-year’s registration period had expired and I had to “re-enlist” I was advised an update was available. There are a number of free NFAT tools, and each provides its own slant. NetWitness Investigator Freeware version is a must-have tool for your assessment collection. Get the update!

MIR-ROR - This incident response toolset has now been updated to version 2.0: HolisticInfoSec: MIR-ROR 2.0 released. Sure you have to dump a few of the ingredients in the provided bowl before you bake, but it’s, well, a piece of cake. The result is a collection of tools that can speed up your assessment and information collection on a suspect system.

65 Open Source Replacements for Security Software - Datamation’s Cynthia Harvey has composed a knock-out list of great Open Source tools. I’m confident that anybody who regularly reads this blog will find something new or interesting in this list.

NAFT Release - Didier Stevens has released his Network Appliance Forensic Toolkit than can handle network appliances but also supports memory dumps of OS’s like Windows. Basically (for now) it extracts network packets from memory dumps or other devices via pattern recognition.

The Latest Version of Redline Finds Indicators of Compromise and More - Mandiant’s Redline tool has now been updated.

Brett Shavers has a number of new posts about progress in the WinFE building and toolsets.

The Girl, Unallocated forensic blog has been a great source of how-to’s and advice on approaching investigations. This latest series is quite interesting.

Prefetch analysis posts are quite plentiful.

Corey Harrell also has a great in-depth timeline study based on Volume Shadow Copy data. Sharpen your Saw on this one!

We are all learning more and more as Chrome gains in popularity. SANS Computer Forensics and Incident Response blog’s “johnmmccash” has a great roundup of material in his Forensically mining new nuggets of Google Chrome post.

Finally, Security Ripcord blog’s Don C. Weber has a technical post on Hard Drive Acquisition Information Using faidds and makes some interesting observations in the process.

Cheers!

--Claus V.

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Neat Portable File Encryption Program via the USAF!

The other day I needed to transfer a file securely though the emails but didn’t want to deal with setting up a certificate-based method such as Comodo’s Secure Email or an OpenPGP email solution like Enigmail. I wanted to be able to keep this file in my web-based email account for access but didn’t want to leave it in the “free-n-clear” in case my account ever got hacked. Sure, I could have made an encrypted file volume in TrueCrypt and copied it up, but that seemed like overkill.

I just wanted to encrypt the file and decrypt it as needed without a lot of drama as needed when I found myself on a guest system.

I found a big selection of freeware tools to do this and while they all were quite full-featured, they all seemed to be a bit more expansive then the simple task I was looking for. Those that I explored included:

Almost any of these almost fit the need I had, but I just didn’t feel the match was perfect. Plus I wasn’t really looking for something I might have to install on a guest system…especially if it might not be running Windows.

Finally I found exactly what I was looking for courtesy of the US Air Force Research Laboratory geeks.

Software Protection Initiative - Encryption Wizard Public. From the page.

Encryption Wizard (EW) is a simple, strong, Java file and folder encryptor for protection of sensitive information (FOUO, Privacy Act, CUI, etc.). EW encrypts all file types for data-at-rest and data-in-transit protection. Without installation or elevated privileges, EW runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and other computers with Sun Java. Behind its simple drag-n-drop interface, EW offers 128-bit AES encryption, SHA-256 hashing, searchable metadata, archives, compression, secure deleting, and PKI/CAC/PIV support. EW is GOTS - Government invented, owned, and supported software. Over 35,100 copies of EW protect a wide variety of data.

EW comes in two, fully-compatible and interoperable editions, EW-Public and EW-Govt. Anyone can download and use EW-Public. Designed for US Federal Government (and contractor) computers, EW-Govt is accredited by the Army and Air Force for NIPRNet and SIPRNet. EW is free to users.

It was a piece of cake to use.

I downloaded the latest version (EW-Public) v3.3.1

I unzipped the archive (included 2.09 MB PDF user guide, 1.21 MB “jar” application, and 2kB text file for getting started).

I ran the EW-Public-3.3.1 “jar” file and got a cool splash logo followed by the application.

I selected the file I needed to encrypt and drag/dropped in on the application window.

I hit the “Encrypt” button and provided/confirmed a “passphrase.” (note it will provide you feedback on the strength as you go.)

Hit the “next” button and decided if I wanted to keep the original file after encryption or delete it. Your choice. Added it. Done.

Note, it does not randomize or otherwise change the file name itself, so you may want to do so if the file name makes it more interesting to snooping eyes.

To decrypt, launch the app, drag the encrypted file onto the application,choose the “Decrypt” button, pass your passphrase and you are good.

It is a breeze to use, is 100% portable, and is very fast. If you are afraid the system you are working on doesn’t have Java for some bizarre reason, keep a copy of jPortable along side this jar file application.

If you want to encrypt many files at once, drag them all and then encrypt and it will create a “many-in-one” compressed/encrypted file. Sweet!

The PDF User Guide v3.3.x is very detailed and well worth reading if you are interesting in using this tool.

Yes, I know using a US military/govt developed tool for encryption may not appeal to the tinfoil-hat wearing crowd, but on the other hand if you need a fast, easy to use file-encryption tool, this is a great choice. It’s good enough for me and has my full confidence.

Bonus Find:

Software Protection Initiative - Lightweight Portable Security - The same team that developed the encryption tool above also has a public version of a secure ISO-based live-CD linux build that also includes Encryption Wizard - Public. Download the ISO and you burn it to a CD (or create a bootable USB drive from the included “install to USB” tool in Windows on the root of the ISO/CD) and use this distro to securely run on a system.  It’s light-weight and no frills. There is also a “deluxe” version that includes OpenOffice and AdobeReader which are stripped out of the “lite” version.

It’s a nice lite little distro for special needs usage and was an unexpectedly pleasant find.

Cheers!

--Claus V.

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No Foolin! Free Download Gold.

Lots of good freeware downloads these past several weeks.

Get panning.

Update for Windows Live Essentials 2011 now available - Windows Experience Blog. Trying to find out exactly what gets updated in these releases is always challenging. Comments on this page report issues with Live Mesh after the upgrade. read these comments if you rely on it before updating. Blaine points us to this page, Windows Live Essentials 2011 release notes that still isn’t great but is better than nothing.

Thesycon USB Descriptor Dumper - displays USB descriptors of any USB device.

sCheckbook - DonationCoder.com - bare-bones check-register application. No bells or whistles. Just the simple basics to record check information and keep a running tab. Others apps are out there with lots more features, but if you are training a young adult in the habits, this could be a simple place to start.

Universal USB Installer – USB Pen Drive Linux - “Live” Linux Booting USB creator tool. Select a distro, go though the steps, and it will load and configure your USB device with the ability to boot a system from that distro. See the link to see all the supported distros. It’s a very comprehensive collection.

Digital Lagniappe’s Photo Collage - Screen saver that tosses images from folders onto your desktop. I’ve been using SE-ScreenSavers for a long time, but this new screensaver is very nice. Options are light but enough to get the job done. It’s a pleasant change.

Audacity 2.0 - My favorite, go-to audio editor got a major version bump lately. I really like the performance and though I have only just started to feel like I have mastered the basics, I’m excited about this new version. For a rundown of the major new features: Audacity 2.0 Update Brings Lots Of Bug Fixes & New Features post addictivetips.com, Six years of betas later, Audacity 2.0 debuts post betanews.com. Also, don’t forget that Wavosaur free audio editor with VST and ASIO support is alike and kicking also.

Oracle VM VirtualBox - Updated to v 4.1.10. Changelog – Oracle VM VirtualBox, and Forum discussion on the 4.1.10 release. First go round I had trouble installing the updated VirtualBox Extension Pack for 4.1.10 and it kept bombing out part way though. VB quickly identified the issue and updated the pack and the new one went on smoothly. You should always download and install the matching Extension Pack when you update the main VirtualBox application. Head over to the Downloads page and grab both.

ISO Toolkit 5.0 - Tweaking with Vishal - This is a nice do-it-all tool to work with ISO files. Wish I had been able to include it in my Mostly ISO burning post a while back. A more detailed review can be found at this freewaregenius post.

If ISO Toolkit is too “geeky” then consider CD Manipulator MOD instead to manage your ISO file and disk-burning needs. The pictures speak for themselves. More details on the features over at this addictivetips post: CD Manipulator: Read/ Write & Master CDs, Create Easy Duplicates.

Greenshot remains my current screen-shot utility of choice. Though not perfect, it runs stably on XP and Windows 7 and contains enough editing and markup extras to make it more than adequate for my screen capture needs. That said, I saw two more screen-shot tools that you might be interested in: aeroshot and livecapture. This post has more details on the former if you are interested: Live Capture: All-In-One Screenshot Tool With 12 Different Modes by AddictiveTips. Their 5 Best Free Screen Capture Software For Windows post is a good place for a pros/cons review of several of these screencapture tools so you can find one that fits your particular needs.

And yesh. Time to update Flash again.

Game on with Adobe Flash 11.2 and AIR 3.2 - BetaNews

Adobe Flash Player APSB12-07 - 28 March 2012 - SANS ISC Diary

New, easier-to-update Flash designed to snuff out malware attacks - ArsTechnica

What’s my Flash Player version? Where’s the latest Flash update? -Ed Bott

Current Version Downloads via FileHippo

  • Flash Player 11.2.202.228 (IE) 64-bit - Download
  • Flash Player 11.2.202.228 (IE) - Download
  • Flash Player 11.2.202.228 (Non-IE) 64-bit - Download
  • Flash Player 11.2.202.228 (Non-IE) - Download

Keeping these updated has been challenging but this new version now gives you options for it to automatically check for and apply updates, notify you of updates (but do nothing else), or to not bother checking for updates. Choose wisely!

Cheers!

--Claus V.

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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Backup Material

It has been quite a while since I specifically visited the subject of Sync & Backup Tools (freeware).

Since then there have been lots of new tools and applications developed so I thought I would return with a link-dump of sorts.

Generally, my own personal backup strategy remains a bit pragmatic. Wish I could be much more organized like ComptuerZen’s Scott Hanselman.

Here then are a few simple routines I use for different purposes, followed by a list-of-lists of various freeware backup programs.

Collections to USB

I have a few “production” folders on my main system that contain a deep collection of portable applications, how-to documents, reference materials, common third-party browser plugin updates, and incident response checklists and guides. These are replicated to a number of USB sticks and portable USB hard-drives for use in the field.

For this type of situation, what I need more is a synchronization program rather than a true “backup” application.

The one I always reach for is DSYNCHRONIZE from Dimo’s Tools. It has lots of options and is quite fast. AddictiveTips blog has recent post going over its finer points: Perform Real Time Sync, Backup Large Storage Mediums With DSynchronize.

This is the easiest by far type of “backup” process I have. I’m just replicating the master set of folders and files onto the USB sticks as needed and DSynchronize cleans up the changes I make in the main folders to the replicated spawn quite nicely.

“My Documents” to USB HDD Storage

The next set of things I have to back up are the “My Documents” folder for myself and the girls, as well as related personal files and folders.

This is where things get a bit more complicated.

I have a few USB hard-disk drives for backup duties. Each one is formatted into two partitions. The first partition is usually just around 100 MB or less. The second volume is the remaining GB’s.

I format the first partition NFTS and load it with a few critical portable software applications; most important of which is TrueCrypt.

The idea behind this first volume is that in the event I ever have to grab-n-get with the drive, all the tools I need to restore data from the drive to another system are on the drive itself. No hunting around.

I then use TrueCrypt to create an encrypted partition out of that second volume. The first partition is relatively tiny as it only needs to keep a few tools in the clear and helps keep me from being tempted with putting any important docs in the free and clear there. The second volume is fully encrypted and that’s where all the good stuff stays. I also put a copy of my portable backup application on it as well.

I then just need to attach the USB device to my system(s), allow it to find the first partition, run TrueCrypt and mount the second volume and attach to it. Then I can run my backup tool and put the backup files into the encrypted volume.

For the backup program itself, I’ve come to rely upon Back4Sure by Ulrich Krebs.

TinyApps recommended Back4Sure some time ago and that was good enough for me to check it out. I’ve become very pleased with it’s ease of use and reliability.  If I had to go with a second, Create Synchronicity might be a close second also recommended by TinyApps: Backup to drive label instead of drive letter.

Whole System Backup

This is kinda cheating, but once in blue-moon I will also use ImageX to create a full-disk image of my primary system and dump the image file into one of those TrueCrypt volumes as well.

This takes lots longer but is a good option for a catastrophic system failure.

Although I could use one of the more regular data backups to get another system going again, this allows me to hunt down and extract any bits-n-pieces of data that get scattered sometimes in weird places if the need ever arises.

List of Backup/Sync Tools

Here below is a list of additional freeware backup tools, programs, utilities and the like. Some are quite new and others are quite old. They are not really listed in any particular order. Take some time and click around. Sometimes the trick is finding one that has the right balance of ease-of-use with options needed for a particular job. Like me, you may find that using a combo of tools for different purposes may be the best solution.

These first ones are more in the class of focused file set backups. Though some could probably handle a system-wide backup job, they mostly would be better suited for backing up a specific subset of files/folders from a system rather than the whole enchilada.

These next ones are more of the specialty enchilada menu-fare. These will cover more of a whole-drive backup rather than limited file/folder sets. That said, they still primarily run within the existing Windows system so should be familiar and dependable for geeks and grannies alike.

Finally, we can step off the well tread path and go to more geeky options that are system-backup and imaging tools for the tech-crowd.

I suppose if you were super-geeky or a forensicator, you could also use any of the various tools you probably are aware of for making sector-based drive images. However for personal “backups” I prefer to use file-based backup methods as having a forensically sound exact duplicate of my drive isn’t as critical as having the files I need available for easy restore or off-loading.

More information:

Back it up,

Encrypt it if it’s personal (or even it it isn’t),

Cheers.

--Claus V.

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