Google Desktop Forensics

Over time, as the amount of data stored by the average computer user grew considerably, searching large amounts of data became a slow task that did not always return the desired results. The need for faster and more accurate searching led to the development of desktop search utilities such as Google Desktop. As Microsoft Windows improved its searching capability by including a similar indexing service, desktop search utilities were no longer needed or as popular as they once were. Google Desktop was discontinued as of September 14, 2011; it is no longer updated or supported, and is no longer available for download via Google’s website. However, existing Google Desktop installations will still function, and Google Desktop may still be downloaded (via other software download sites), and used. At this time, DC3 continues to receive cases where Google Desktop is still installed, or its artifacts have been left behind.