Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations, 4th edition, Bill Nelson

I"m reading this for a graduate class on the topic. This book has a good base of information but this edition is dated in an industry that constantly evolving. The industry explanation is a bit remedial and it's not really easy to understand the technical sections the way they're presented either. I've seen better I've seen worse hence the three starts. Definitely get a newer publication though.

The book is good enough for a class that demands this edition. Newer editions have the chapters all jumbled and may cause more headaches in a class.

The book arrived from the seller in excellent condition and two days sooner than expected.

I read this book for an intro to forensics and investigations course, and felt it was very thorough. It assumes a US audience, as it goes into US legal cases and laws regarding investigations.

This books was assigned text book for "Digital Security" class. The two issues I had with book is the hands-on assignments never told you what the finished outcome is suppose to tell you. You go through the steps and end up with something. You do not know how to read it or even if you did it right. Second issue is it is not up-to-date. Data security is changing constantly, this book is outdated. Also, do not rent you do not have access to CD files needed for assignments.

The content in the book is really interesting. It teaches you a lot about the different programs and methods that investigators can use to find evidence. Learned a lot about the different programs and methods to recover evidence from a computer. Really good book.

I purchased this book in 2010 for an Information Assurance (IA) grad class on digital forensics and then needed it again for a Cybersecurity grad class I had to take which repeated digital forensics. The focus of the labs in the IA class was on Windows and, with a Windows Forensics companion book, I learned a lot from this book about the field of digital forensics. It contains an entire chapter on building a forensics lab and both grad classes had assignments on this aspect. I could only find one other book about building a forensics lab, which I bought as well to complete the assignment. The Cybersecurity grad course required three textbooks including this one and the labs focused on Linux run on a virtual machine. After reading all three textbooks, I must say that the Nelson book was loaded with information without being long-winded. As a student with tons of reading to do and not a lot of time, I appreciated the Nelson delivery. While the other two textbooks - written and edited by a digital forensic expert(s) - were also informative, it took forever to read the chapters and there were so many examples and cases and the language was so long-winded that I began to value the Nelson book even more. If I had to write a book on digital forensics, I cannot think of a way to impart the details that are necessary to practice such a discipline without it being boring - unless such a discipline is right up your alley. I loved reading my Business Law gigantic tome and was captivated every minute while others were groaning about it. Don't pay attention to reviews stating that the text is boring - it is less boring than other texts on digital forensics - it is the reader who finds the topic tedious - and it is. I think it takes a special kind of person to want to become a digital forensics expert, it is not for everyone. However, this textbook makes it so much easier to absorb the details than other texts on the subject. You don't really need Windows 7 in this book, I had Vista for the IA and W 7 for the Cyber classes. The labs executed in the IA class by following the Nelson book were so much cleaner and easy to follow than those conjured up by the Cyber class. If you are assigned this textbook for a digital forensics class, be thankful - be very thankful.

I'm a digital forensic student. This was one of the first books i read as a beginner. Not a fan. It is VERY repetitive and not very focused with it's delivery. This book almost seems to be written to discourage people in the field. There are many other CF books that are better for beginners. If you're starting out, don't turn a blind eye to the books from 2005. Then venture into the intermediate.

I Don't recommend this book. AND it's over 100 bucks?? I think colleges are choosing this book because of the end of the chapter assignments. LAME professors.

I'm not even sure I want to go into this field anymore as boring as this book made it seem. It has many things repeated over and over again just in different words.

The book itself is a good reference tool and is a good choice for a student and a practitioner looking for a foundation and advice on basic computer forensics. Unfortunately I bought a NEW book from an authorized AMAZON re-seller and what I got was a USED book that has been marked up in pen. I also paid for 1 day shipping as I needed the book immediately but the book was sent by UPS Ground and took 5 days. I've disputed this but its been a month now and the dispute has not been resolved. BUYERS beware! Maybe someone ar AMAZON will read this review and realize that they need to stand behind their products and services! My overall rating of the book is OK - my rating for AMAZON and the re-seller is POOR.

I was forced to purchase this book for a class, but it is actually a good book to read if you're interested in the subject material. It is a good balance of being simple enough for a beginner to understand but technical enough for an "expert" to get something out of it. It's starting to get a little out of date; it doesn't cover Windows 7 at all (but it's basically the same as Vista for most purposes). Overall it is a good book and worth the price if you are interested in computer forensics.

The Book (And CD) to have, if you are studying Computer Forensics and Networking Security ! There must be a hundred web references in this book, that points you to numerous agencies, businesses and software companies that are directly related to Computer Forensics and Security. Once you read this book, you will want to hang on to it from now on. A fantastic desk reference and easy to read and understand. Much better than going with the e-book! This is a book you will keep handy the rest of your career. The web links and references make it well worth the price alone.

I am currently using this textbook for my Computer Forensics class at my local community college. While I currently haven't read the whole book or looked through it, there certainly is a lot of information inside. It covers a wide range of OS's for computer forensics and doesn't appear so far to favor any particular forensic tools. It has links within the chapters guiding students to finding out more information on the topic just discussed and seems to be pretty accurate in that retrospect.

The DVD has plenty of basic forensic tools and covers the hands on sections. I particularly like the hands on sections at the end of each chapter and haven't had any problems with them yet.

My only con is that Chapter 2 discusses how to build a forensic center and/or multiple workstations. While this is useful, I thought that learning how to make a business plan for a forensic department was unnecessary. It's not that it didn't belong, in a student sense we skipped right past that part and did not talk about forensic business plans for corporate or law enforcement capacities.

All in all, a good book as I said before, the steps are easy to follow along and there are numerous citations leading to data that can be found online.

Highly recommend this book to those looking for insight into the industry of digital forensic investigations. It answered a bunch of questions for me and covers differences/similarities between corporate and public [law enforcement] investigations, overview and instructions of a few small forensics programs, description of hardware that forensics would be performed upon as well as tookits to use and is littered with useful links to must read information on the net.

Had to mark a star off since it's pretty pricey for the Kindle edition, especially since it doesn't come with the DVD. Luckily my professor had extra copies and I was able to run through all the tasks that utilize the DVD data. I'd like to knock another star off because of that, but that [the absence of a DVD] is an Amazon issue and not a book one.

I have just finished my computer forensics certification at the University of Washington, and we used the Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations (Third Edition) as the primary text for three courses. I found it to be a comprehensive treatise of all of the skills necessary to complete a successful digital investigation. In addition, I have had a chance to review portions of the soon to be released Fourth edition, which is even better. You can't go wrong with this computer forensics book. It should be a part of every computer forensics investigator's professional library.

I bought this book (3rd edition) at a modest price from a really great Amazon vendor, Jennifer's Attic. However, it is by far the worst textbook that I have ever used in my life. Simply put, it is replete with errors, omissions and useless repetition. I'd bet a dozen glazed donuts that the four authors who compiled this book have not recently gone through the book's one hundred plus activities and projects to check for errors and omissions. It's a required text for a graduate Computer Forensics course at a state university where I'm pursuing a computer science certificate to add to my 4 year Industrial Technology degree. If they care here's some recommendations to the authors for the next revision; 1. Cut out all the useless repetition - sure you can repeat things but gee... 2. Don't go into such depth on so many different complex software tools, 3. Verify that your activities and projects actually work - validate each one of them to correct the numerous errors and resolve the many omissions.

Summary for anyone interested in Computer Forensics; if you have to buy this book as a required textbook - don't take the course unless its mandatory and you have a great deal of extra time to waste. To everyone else - who's simply looking for a book - run for your lives. There must be several other computer forensics books that are better than this one.

P.S. I have no affiliation with any textbook authors or publisher and can't say what's a good book on this subject - just that this one's bad.

Product Details :
Paperback: 720 pages
Publisher: Course Technology; 4 edition (September 28, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1435498836
ISBN-13: 978-1435498839
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.4 x 9.1 inches

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