Laptop Required

!! IMPORTANT! BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP CONFIGURED USING THESE DIRECTIONS!!

A properly configured computer system is required for each student participating in the workshop portion of this course. Before coming to class, download the forensic installation document from http://www.sans.org/training/ forensic_install_408.pdf that will describe the steps in detail to follow to complete the installation. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions exactly, you are guaranteed to leave the course unsatisfied since you will not be able to analyze the forensic images that we will hand out.

You will use VMware to simultaneously run a preconfigured forensic workstation built in a Windows XP environment that will enable you to perform hands-on analysis during class. You must have VMware Workstation 6.0, VMware Player 2.5, or VMware Fusion 2.0 or higher installed on your system prior to class beginning. If you do not own a licensed copy of VMware Workstation or Fusion, you can download a free 30-day trial copy from http://www.vmware.com VMware will send you a time-limited serial number if you register for the trial at their Web site. V Mware Player is a free download.

Due to the hard drive space and processing requirements for the lab exercises, students should bring a laptop meeting the mandatory laptop requirements listed below in order to get the most of the course.

Mandatory License Requirements:

• Very Important: Student must bring a Microsoft Windows XP Professional License Key with them to class at the beginning of the first day
• The key will look like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
• Corporate, Site, and Group Licenses are not acceptable as they fail the Windows Genuine Advantage Test.

Mandatory Laptop Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1.5 GHz or higher is recommended
• DVD/CD Combo Drive
• Wireless 802.11 B/G Networking Capability
• 1 Gigabyte of RAM minimum (2 or higher RAM is highly recommended)
• 60 Gigabyte Hard Drive minimum (HARD DRIVE SIZE IS CRITICAL)
• 40 Gigabytes of Free Space on your Hard Drive
• Download and install WINZIP 12 or higher on your Windows Machine
• The student should have the capability to have Local Administrator Access within the Windows OS
• Bring your WINDOWS Installation CD-ROMS or DVDs to the course

Mandatory Additional Items:

• One External USB 2.0 or Firewire Hard Drive ~40GB or higher in size
• One USB Thumb Drive (2-8 GB in size)
• One old, used, or out-of-computer IDE, SATA, or Laptop Hard Disk Drive from:
  • Hard Drive Purchased from EBAY or Craigslist
  • Hard Drive from USED PC at home/work
  • Local computer show
  • Hard Drive from any computer store

IN SUMMARY, BEFORE YOU ARRIVE AT THE TRAINING EVENT YOU SHOULD:

• Write down and bring with you a MS Windows XP Pro License Key (XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX)
• Bring the proper laptop hardware configuration
• Download the forensics install document and follow it exactly http://www.sans.org/training/ forensic_install_408.pdf
• Install VMware Workstation/Player/Fusion
• Bring the proper mandatory additional items