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Mini-WinFE is out of beta!

Digital Forensics
Brett Shavers
Monday, 14 October 2013
2841 Hits
9 Comments

miniwinfe



Mini-WinFE is out of beta!


The Mini-WInFE project is out of beta (it worked as expected).  This is a "mini" FE because it is a tad bit more than the original command line only version and a little less than the full-featured-every-option-available version.


It's fast to build (less than 10 minutes to build and burn to a CD), fast to boot, and fast to image.

Since is it primarily an imaging solution, scripts for FTK Imager, X-Ways Forensics, and the FAU imaging utilities and included.  X-Ways does not "come with" this WinFE, you need a license for X-Ways.  FTK Imager, like FAU, is free for you to download for use in this Mini-WinFE.

This is the build you want when you need a Windows based imaging boot system.  It has been developed from a forensics acquisitions perspective, without an option to build anything other than a write-protected, WinFE OS.

The project is freely downloaded at http://reboot.pro/files/file/375-mini-winfe/

Superb documentation on the Mini-WinFE by Misty can be found here: http://mistype.reboot.pro/mini-winfe.docs/readme.html

More wallpaper has been added to the download page.
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Quick video on building a Mini-WinFE
X-Ways Forensics and WinFE

About the author

Brett Shavers

Brett Shavers

 

Comments 9

Guest
Guest - Toy on Monday, 14 October 2013 11:07

Daddy is pleased.

Thanks.

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Daddy is pleased. Thanks.
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Guest
Guest - Brett Shavers on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 11:17

Thanks Dad.

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Thanks Dad.
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Guest
Guest - Jonas on Monday, 14 October 2013 19:52

Awesome
Thanks

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Awesome Thanks
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Guest - Mark on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:03

Brett / Misty,

First, Thanks for all you work on this project.

I am just getting started with the WinFE environment so please take that into consideration if my comments are ignorant.

When using the Mini-WinFE environment I ge the following error when trying to use the blackbox program. "The system cannot find the file X:\Programs\bblean\blackbox.exe" I am navigating to the X:\Programs\bblean dir and then executing blackbox.exe. Am I doing something incorrectly?

~mh

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Brett / Misty, First, Thanks for all you work on this project. I am just getting started with the WinFE environment so please take that into consideration if my comments are ignorant. When using the Mini-WinFE environment I ge the following error when trying to use the blackbox program. "The system cannot find the file X:\Programs\bblean\blackbox.exe" I am navigating to the X:\Programs\bblean dir and then executing blackbox.exe. Am I doing something incorrectly? ~mh
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Guest - Mark on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:10

Follow up comment ...

The only program that I can get to launch is FTK Imager. I must be doing something incorrectly. ???

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Follow up comment ... The only program that I can get to launch is FTK Imager. I must be doing something incorrectly. ???
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Guest - Brett Shavers on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 15:25

For the programs included in Mini-WinFE, choose the "Find Programs" from the menu, type "y" and then enter, then "y" enter. That will put the tools on the start menu. You will have FTK Imager, the write protection application, X-Ways Forensics, and the FAU tools.

You can drill down to the D:\Programs folder to find the programs there too.

Blackbox is basically your explorer GUI shell. You should be able to use the FAU tools in a command shell. If you plug in another USB or CD with portable apps, you can run them under WinFE too. You'll need to mount and read/write the media, but it's an easy way to use an app on the fly if you didn't plan on it being needed at the time.

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For the programs included in Mini-WinFE, choose the "Find Programs" from the menu, type "y" and then enter, then "y" enter. That will put the tools on the start menu. You will have FTK Imager, the write protection application, X-Ways Forensics, and the FAU tools. You can drill down to the D:\Programs folder to find the programs there too. Blackbox is basically your explorer GUI shell. You should be able to use the FAU tools in a command shell. If you plug in another USB or CD with portable apps, you can run them under WinFE too. You'll need to mount and read/write the media, but it's an easy way to use an app on the fly if you didn't plan on it being needed at the time.
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Guest - Mark on Wednesday, 16 October 2013 05:34

Brett,

I don't see and menu to select "Find Programs" from. When I boot from the ISO (doing this in VMWare 9 on Windows) I get the cmd window. There is a message in the window that says "a winpeshl.ini file is present, but no commands were successfully launched. This could be caused by incorrect formatting or an invalid executable name. Please consult the documentation for more information." I have unchecked FTKImager and X-ways in case that was the issue but still get that message.

I am using Win 7 Pro (no SP) 32-bit as my source.

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Brett, I don't see and menu to select "Find Programs" from. When I boot from the ISO (doing this in VMWare 9 on Windows) I get the cmd window. There is a message in the window that says "a winpeshl.ini file is present, but no commands were successfully launched. This could be caused by incorrect formatting or an invalid executable name. Please consult the documentation for more information." I have unchecked FTKImager and X-ways in case that was the issue but still get that message. I am using Win 7 Pro (no SP) 32-bit as my source.
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Guest
Guest - Mark on Wednesday, 16 October 2013 07:47

Ok, figured it out. You must use 7zip to unzip the zipped distribution file. I was really starting to think I was a complete idiot..

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Ok, figured it out. You must use 7zip to unzip the zipped distribution file. I was really starting to think I was a complete idiot..
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Guest
Guest - Brett Shavers on Wednesday, 16 October 2013 07:53

No problem. I just put up a short video, just in case. WinRAR works for unzipping too.

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No problem. I just put up a short video, just in case. WinRAR works for unzipping too.
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Guest
Sunday, 07 August 2022

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