One thing I simply don't understand is why the software vendors (the 2 big ones in any case) always seem to under value how important reliability is compared to all of the new bells and whistles. If you look at their marketing material, they are always talking about the new features built into the new version but very little about how stable and reliable the actual product is.
many times, there are specific software tools that will carry out the specialist tasks and when you want a tool to provide an overall forensic analysis of the operating system, you just want the thing to work, be reliable and accurate. Is that too much to ask?
One thing I simply don't understand is why the software vendors (the 2 big ones in any case) always seem to under value how important reliability is compared to all of the new bells and whistles. If you look at their marketing material, they are always talking about the new features built into the new version but very little about how stable and reliable the actual product is.
many times, there are specific software tools that will carry out the specialist tasks and when you want a tool to provide an overall forensic analysis of the operating system, you just want the thing to work, be reliable and accurate. Is that too much to ask?
To be fair "It still works" doesn't make for very good advertisement copy does it?
Apple have made several fortunes by using "It Just Works" as both an advertising slogan and a product vision. Accessdata and Guidance appear to have forgotten that most of their end users are computer experts and putting a nice GUI on their products but hampering their function is not the best way to go.
Not much to add re En7 as we still use En 6. However you will find that most Sale of Goods type legislation only applies to consumers, not businesses (or organisations such as the police). Business transactions are generally assumed to be between "grown ups" and the state does not wish to get involved and expects the civil courts to be used should what are, effectively, contractural disputes ocurr. However the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 might possibly apply!
We have 4 licenses and will not be paying the support fees for this year. Version 6.19 works fine for us and we will continue to monitor Version 7.0, but when, or if, it is fixed we will re-evaulate. Until then why pay support for a broken product, or for version 6.19 when it works but won't be supported with upgrades or training?
I am part of a digital forensic training team and we have put EnCase V 7.X through our internal testing using thoroughly tested and vetted training images which hundreds of student examiners have reviewed over the past three years. (Note not all of our examiners are new to the field, some have been doing this since the '90's) Version 7.1(.2) &(.3) were all tested with these known images. While version 7.1 was totally unusable, we have seen some progress with the current release. But, taken from the baseline of completely unusable, it was not a high bar. If we only run one module at a time, we can nurse the program to perform without crashing, most of the time now. However, some things are still broken, like reviewing EFS files in Windows XP systems. Additionally, processing times are still nowhere near where they were in version 6.19. If you've been around since version 3.X, as many of you appear to be, then you may remember that Guidance has a long history of pushing betaware out with each major version release. Version 4 was horrible and I believe it took them nearly a year to get it stable. The point is this behavior by Guidance is nothing new, what is different this time is forums like this where we practitioners can now all compare notes and realize "the emperor has no clothes". Guidance can't control the message anymore. You would think after the AccessData debacle with version 2 that all forensic vendors would have learned their lesson. Apparently not. In good conscience, I cannot train any new practitioners into this field with the current version of EnCase, our shop will stick with version 6.X unless/until version 7 becomes stable.
In case you missed it, here's a blog from Steve Salinas, Forensic Business Unit Product Marketing Manager, Guidance Software. There's a place to comment directly to him at the bottom of the blog. Unless you know someone in GSI management, this may be your best bet for getting your message to the powers-that-be in Guidance.
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One point to note with respect to SMS is that if you decide to not renew (cancel it) and continue with v6 - all well and good. However, in a year or so when E7 does become usable, and it's the only version of EnCase that supports the new ReFS file system in Windows 8, you will still have to pay for the missed SMS between cancelling and the point at which you re-engage. Guidance gets your money regardless.
It's fair to say that a whole boatload of us refusing to renew our SMS now, will make a financial point which will hopefully focus their attention, but other than that I'm not sure what it achieves.
Trying to get a refund for those of us who purchased the upgrade from 6 to 7 is, in my opinion, a fools errand.
Any civil litigation will focus on the point that you paid for 6 and your SMS gave you access to 7 - if you aren't happy with 7, go back to 6. Not sure about the situation with purchasing 7 from scratch, you may have a case, but I'm no lawyer!
Ultimately, the best way to beat them is with your wallet. Don't renew your SMS until E7 is working and look carefully at alternatives, especially X-Ways Forensics - can't say enough good things about this tool.
Kind regards,
Fin.
I am part of a digital forensic training team and we have put EnCase V 7.X through our internal testing using thoroughly tested and vetted training images which hundreds of student examiners have reviewed over the past three years. Version 7.01(.02) &(.03) were all tested with these known images…
In the interests of fairness and timeliness, we just ran Version 7.03.02 over our baseline image and so far, everything we have tried seems to work. This is a limited test, obviously. The image is a baselined XP 32-bit system with Internet Explorer 6.X. It has not crashed once running the scripts. Indexing functions, etc. Additionally, the EFS functionality seems to be repaired and working now. We'll run it across a Win7 64-bit system next and keep our fingers crossed. This is following the same paradigm as the version 4 release. Nothing new is under the sun…
This is the second forum I have encountered where people are having troubles with EnCase V7. I wonder if any of you are using the recommended 64 bit platforms, or are you using 32 bit platforms?
V 7.03.02 seems to get better 'press' than any other version, so, is everyone current?
Also, you do know about the free training, correct?
I am not trying to discount your feedback, just want to make sure that you have the information from the other forum.
We are waiting to buy but at the level of feedback we are seeing, V7 is not ready for Prime Time.
Hi,
I cannot comment on anyone else but we are using 64b Windows 7, dual E5630 CPU, 24GB ram, SSD system drive, separate sata3 drive for cache, separate raid0 for .e01 and the latest available release of v7.
Regards
John