.. / Shortcut (LNK) Files

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• File/Folder Opening
• External Device/USB Usage

Description

• Shortcut Files automatically created by Windows

  • Recent Items
  • Opening local and remote data files and documents will generate a shortcut file (.lnk)

  Location

  XP:
  * C:\%USERPROFILE%\Recent
  
  Win7/8/10:
  * C:\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\
  * C:\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office\Recent\
  
  Note these are primary locations of LNK files. They can also be
  found in other locations.
  

Interpretation

• Date/Time file of that name was first opened
  • Creation Date of Shortcut (LNK) File
• Date/Time file of that name was last opened
  • Last Modification Date of Shortcut (LNK) File
• LNKTarget File (Internal LNK File Information) Data:
  • Modified, Access, and Creation times of the target file
  • Volume Information (Name, Type, Serial Number)
  • Network Share information
  • Original Location
  • Name of System