Limitations

  • Journal Size/Wrapping: The USN Journal has a maximum size limit (configurable via fsutil, but rarely changed by users). Once this limit is reached, the oldest entries are overwritten by new ones (it "wraps around"). The time span covered by the Journal depends heavily on disk activity levels and the configured size. On very active systems, it might only cover hours or days; on less active systems, it could potentially span weeks or months.

  • Journal Clearing: The Journal can be deliberately deleted using fsutil usn deletejournal /D C: (requires admin privileges). This action is highly suspicious and itself detectable via:

    • Event Logs: Generates Event ID 3079 in the Application log.

    • Journal Metadata: Tools parsing the Journal (like JournalTrace showing "Oldest Entry" or analyzing $J/$MAX modification times via FTK Imager/MFTECmd) will show a very recent creation/modification time, indicating it was recently wiped and recreated.

  • FAT32/exFAT: These file systems do not have a USN Journal. Journal analysis techniques are completely inapplicable to volumes formatted with FAT32 or exFAT.

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