I've been asked on occasion, "What makes WinFE better or different than any other boot disc?".

WinFE is Windows based, not Linux.  For someone not experienced in Linux, the Windows environment may be easier to use due to familiarity with Windows.

Additionally, WinFE allows you to use your Windows based forensic applications in a forensically booted environment.  Rather than using a Linux CD and image with Linen, you can use a Windows CD and image with the full version of Encase or FTK Imager or X-Ways Forensics or other Windows based tool.

If your lab is Linux based, then WinFE may not be as comfortable as using a Linux based tool, but still may be an option to keep on hand (the opposite still remains true, if you focus on using Windows based tools, have some Linux options on hand as well).

Lastly, WinFE is updated by YOU, when YOU need it updated.  There is no need to wait for a distro to be upgraded every 6 months or longer before you can download it.  Current Linux ISO's available online still may have older versions of software that are outdated.  With WinFE, if any tool is updated/upgraded, you can do it immediately and always have the latest apps.

Other than that, its just user preference.

By now, most everyone involved with forensics knows about the latest release of FTK Imager 3.0.   In my opinion, this is perhaps the best release ever of FTK Imager and probably one of the top releases of software this  year because of one of the newest features and the price (FREE and MOUNTS IMAGES!).  Given other expensive software, or free software  that doesn't work as expected, or difficult to manage manual procedures to mount images, to now have FTK Imager 3.0 quickly and neatly mount an image is a nice addition to my Start Menu.



So the bigger deal with FTK Imager 3.0....it runs in WinFE.  With FTK Imager 3.0, you can mount images in WinFE and conduct analysis in the Windows Forensic Environment with any other tool that runs in WinFE, such as X-Ways Forensics, ProDiscover, or Encase.



Now I know what you are probably thinking.  FTK Imager "Lite" 2.9 will run in WinFE and that version doesn't support image mounting.  FTK Imager 3.0 needs to be installed, which is problematic in WinFE.  Well, right and wrong. FTK Imager 3.0 only needs to be installed on any system, then copy the program folder onto WinFE  to run as if it were installed.  Voila!  No need for the Lite version when you can have the full meal deal.

Now how's that for having a completely self-contained Windows Forensic Environment, running minimal processes on just about any system...technically, this is called, "Niiiccceee...."

And yet another use for WinFE.

This year, at the University of Washington's Digital Forensics Certificate Program, I am having each student create their own Windows Forensic Environment with as many forensic applications as we can fit on a USB drive.   This fulfills several objectives that any school or training program can incorporate at virtually no cost.

Students in forensic programs can learn to create a forensically sound bootable media and validate it through testing (how's that for a takehome assignment?).  Since WinFE can be used as a forensic platform on almost any computer (for those students without a 'forensic machine' at home), this bootable media may be more than enough to practice and do homework assignments on their home computer (...they can image...they can run forensic tools against an image or hard drive...they can do quite a bit).  Forensic software developers...consider making your applications run in a portable mode and VOILA, you just reached a second use (and market) for your application/s.  Anything that runs on WinFE is a tool I want and so far, only X-Ways Forensics fits that bill as a full fledged, portable forensic suite.

And yes, a Linux forensic environment can do many of these things as well, so why not do both?  The cost of a Linux CD...same as WinFE :)