Ubuntu Manpage: rifiuti2 - MS Windows recycle bin analysis tool

NAME

       rifiuti2 - MS Windows recycle bin analysis tool

SYNOPSIS

       rifiuti [-hvz] [-x | [-8n] [-t delim]] [-l codepage] [-o outfile] filename

       rifiuti-vista [-hvz] [-x | [-8n] [-t delim]] [-o outfile] file_or_directory

DESCRIPTION

Rifiuti2 analyse recycle bin files from Windows. Analysis of Windows recycle bin is
usually carried out during Windows computer forensics. Rifiuti2 can extract file deletion
time, original path and size of deleted files and whether the deleted files have been
moved out from the recycle bin since they are trashed.

Rifiuti2 supports a wide range of Windows versions, from Windows 98 to Windows 10. The
command used for analysis depends on the version of Windows producing the recycle bin (not
the version of users´ system!), which uses vastly different format before and after Vista:

• rifiuti-vista: For Vista or later, which is located in \$Recycle.bin\<SID>\. Each
deleted file has its own accompanied index file remembering the original path, file
size and deletion time. If original file is permanentsly deleted, so is the index
file.

• rifiuti: For Windows 98 to XP, which uses a single index file named INFO2 under
either \RECYCLED\ or \RECYCLER\<SID>\ (depending on filesystem). This file keeps
track record for deletion status and info for all deleted items, including those
permanently removed or restored.

By default, both programs dump tab-delimited fields on screen, which can be viewed on
screen or imported into spreadsheet program. -x option instructs program to dump XML
formatted content instead.

Index field has different meaning for pre-Vista and post-Vista versions. INFO2 has an
index number for each of deletion item indicating the chronological order of items. For
Vista version, it means the index file name instead, which matches pattern
“$Ixxxxxx.<ext>”, where x is random alphanumeric character.

Deleted time is represented in UTC time by default. Under tab-delimited mode, the original
date/time format is preserved, while in XML mode ISO 8601 date/time format is used. For
example, 3PM at 2014 X´mas represented in these modes would be respectively:
2014-12-25 15:00:00
2014-12-25T15:00:00Z
It would be easier for spreadsheet programs to interpret first format.

File size and file path are self-explanatory, but there are some special notes. File size
can mean the real size of deleted file, or the cluster size it occupies on filesystem,
depending on recycle bin format. File path might not always be displayable on local system
because it might contain characters from other localized version of Windows.

OPTIONS

-o, --output=FILE
Write output to FILE.

-x, --xml
Output in XML format instead of tab-delimited values. With XML mode, all plain
text options are disallowed, and result is always in UTF-8 encoding. See below for
plain text options.

-l, --legacy-filename=CODEPAGE
Show legacy filename if available (like “D:\Progra~1\”), and specify the CODEPAGE
used in the Windows system producing this INFO2 file. Any encodings supported by
iconv(1) can be used, though for maximum accuracy of file name results, it is
better to stick with Microsoft codepages (such as CP850 or CP1252 for west European
version, CP932 for Japanese, etc).

Note: This option is mandatory if INFO2 file is created by Windows 98. This option
does not exist in rifiuti-vista.

-z, --localtime
Present deletion time in numeric time zone of local system running the program. By
default, UTC time is displayed, which is the time value recorded in index files.
Using the X´mas example above, the time for Berlin (without daylight saving time)
would be 2014-12-25T16:00:00+0100 in ISO 8601 format.

Note: It is possible to use any timezone of users´ choice by setting $TZ
environment variable, though not recommended. See ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE section
below.

PLAIN TEXT OUTPUT OPTIONS
-t, --delimiter=STRING
String to use as delimiter (TAB by default). Several escaped characters are
recognised: \r (CARRIAGE RETURN), \n (NEW LINE), \t (TAB), \f (FORM FEED), \v
(VERTICAL TAB), \e (ESCAPE)

-n, --no-heading
Don´t show recycle bin path name, version and header for each field

-8, --always-utf8
Always display result in UTF-8 encoding

MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS
-v, --version
Print version information and exit.

-h, --help
Show help options and exit.

--help-all
Show all help options and exit.

--help-text
Show plain text output options and exit.

EXAMPLES

       rifiuti-vista -x -z -o result.xml \case\S-1-2-3\
              Scan for index files under \case\S-1-2-3\, adjust all deletion time for local  time
              zone, and write XML output to result.xml

       rifiuti-vista -n -8 \case\S-1-2-3\
              Show tab-delimited result on screen in UTF-8 encoding without header

       rifiuti-vista -t '\r\n' \case\S-1-2-3\$IF96NJ3.rtf
              Only analyse a single index file and print each field in its own line

       rifiuti -t ',' -o result.csv INFO2
              Change tab-delimited result to comma-delimited and write to result.csv

       rifiuti -l CP1255 -8 -n INFO2
              Read  INFO2  from  Hebrew  version  of Windows, display 8.3 file names on screen in
              UTF-8 encoding without header

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The following environment variables affect execution of program:

       CHARSET, LC_CTYPE
              If recycle bin path contains non-ASCII character, these variables affect  how  they
              are  displayed.  UTF-8  capable systems are recommended to set CHARSET=UTF-8 or use
              appropriate UTF-8 values for LC_CTYPE explicitly, otherwise path might be displayed
              in Universal Character Name sequences like \u1234.

       RIFIUTI_DEBUG
              Setting  it  to  any  non-empty  value would cause programs to print more debugging
              output to stderr.

       TZ
              If non-empty, indicate user-specified time zone when -z option  is  used.  Normally
              the  time zone information is obtained from system and there is no need to set this
              variable. However, it can be used as a facility to  temporarily  override  timezone
              for  some  programs,  which  can  be used for situations like constructing timeline
              event.

              This value is OS dependent. For example, for timezone in Los Angeles, the value for
              Windows   is   “PST8PDT”,   while   corresponding   value   on   Linux   would   be
              “America/Los_Angeles”. Please consult manual for your  operating  system  for  more
              info.

              Please see BUGS section below for problems when using this variable.

EXIT STATUS

       Both programs return 0 on success, and >0 if error occurs.

       However  rifiuti-vista  is  more permissive: it still returns success if some (not all) of
       index files are invalid.

HISTORY

       Rifiuti2 is a rewrite of rifiuti, a tool of identical purpose written by Foundstone  which
       was later purchased by McAfee. Quoting from the original FoundStone page:

              Many  computer  crime  investigations  require  the  reconstruction  of a subject´s
              Recycle Bin. Since this analysis technique is executed regularly, we researched the
              structure  of  the  data  found  in the Recycle Bin repository files (INFO2 files).
              Rifiuti, the Italian word meaning "trash", was developed to examine the contents of
              the  INFO2  file  in  the  Recycle  Bin.  ...  Rifiuti is built to work on multiple
              platforms and will execute on Windows (through Cygwin), Mac OS X, Linux,  and  *BSD
              platforms.

       However, since the original rifiuti (last updated 2004) can´t analyze recycle bin from any
       localized version of Windows (restricted to English),  this  rewrite  effort  is  born  to
       overcome  the  limitation.  Later  rifiuti2  was  improved to add support for Vista format
       recycle bin, XML output and other extra features not available from original version.

BUGS

       In very special circumstance (which author can´t reproduce now),  index  file  of  certain
       deleted item can be corrupt, causing incorrect deleted file size to be stored. There is no
       way to report correct size.  This problem shouldn´t happen after Vista though.

       Handling of non-ASCII file argument is not satisfactory; it may not work in  certain  case
       under MinGW bash.

       Non-ASCII  deleted item path name may not be always displayed appropriately, especially on
       systems with non-UTF-8 locale (such as Windows cmd, where output  is  restricted  to  ANSI
       codepages).   Storing UTF-8 result into file with -8 or -x option and then opening it with
       Unicode capable editor could be a solution.

       The calculation of local time might not be correct. For example, documentation of _tzset()
       function on Windows has this statement:
              The  C  run-time  library  assumes  the  United  States´ rules for implementing the
              calculation of daylight saving time (DST).
       Therefore the time might not be correct in case the files inside recycle bin are  produced
       on  Windows  using  other  countries  as  region settings. Besides, the difference between
       standard time and DST is hardcoded to be one hour, which is incorrect for a  few  selected
       regions.

       So it is always better to use UTC time whenever possible.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to

              https://github.com/abelcheung/rifiuti2/issues

       Information about rifiuti2 can be found on

              https://abelcheung.github.io/rifiuti2/

COPYRIGHT

       Part  of  the  work  of  rifiuti2  is  derived  from Rifiuti.  Both pieces of software are
       licensed under the simplified BSD license.

AUTHOR

       The main author of rifiuti2 is Abel Cheung <abelcheung@gmail.com>

       The original author of rifiuti is Keith J. Jones <keith.jones@foundstone.com>

       Anthony Wong <ypwong@debian.org> helped in Debian packaging and was author of the original
       manpage.