Forensic Air-Lite M-12 User Guide
1. Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12)
To TopThe Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12) is the latest addition to Forensic Computers’ line of high quality powerful forensic workstations.
To TopThis manual has two main sections: Quick Start and Useful Information.
The Quick Start section of the manual will give the user enough information about the Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12) and its accessories to get started. There is an overview of the additional components that come with the FAL M-12 and their use. The Useful Information section goes into more detail about specific components of the Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12).
To Top3.1 Unpacking Your Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12)
To TopThe Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12) system has the following items: the Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12), the wireless mouse, the Antec External Hard Drive Enclosure, the Manual Bag, the CD Wallet, the external USB Floppy Drive, the 34mm 2-port eSATA card, the 34mm 2-port FW 800 card, the two screwdrivers, the flashlight and the Forensic Write Protection Kit
When you first receive your FAL M-12, please familiarize yourself with all of its contents. The following table lists each of the items found in the kit.
| Photo | Description |
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Pelican 1510 LOC is considered the “World's Most Toughest Watertight Equipment Cases”, comes with an unconditional lifetime guarantee. The case itself comes with double-throw latches, an O-ring seal, 2” quiet heavy-duty quad wheels, metal padlock protectors, an automatic purge valve, and pick and pluck foam for cushioning. |
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Forensic Air Lite M-12 (FAL M-12) is equipped with a 12" wide screen display, a Core 2 Duo P9500 2.53Ghz processor and 4GB of RAM. |
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Wireless Mouse: The mouse requires batteries in order to run, so if you do have a problem later on, check the batteries. |
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Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure with a 1 TB SATA Hard Drive with eSATA and USB 2.0 interfaces |
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External USB Floppy Drive |
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Manual Bag |
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CD Wallet |
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Two 34mm ExpressCards: 2-port eSATA and 2-port FireWire 800 Card. The FireWire card supports “hot swapping” and “plug and play”. |
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Screwdrivers: |
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Flashlight |
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Surge Protector |
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Over time, an investigator will need to image and re-image their OS hard drive. As of December 2007 three types of software have been used to create the initial OS hard drive images sent out with Forensic Computers’ line of systems: Norton Ghost, Acronis TrueImage version 10 and Image for Windows.
3.2.1 Re-Installing the image for the OS Hard Drive (Image for Windows)
To Top(Your username and SN for IMAGE FOR WINDOWS will be located in your CD wallet. If it is not, call us with the serial number of your system and we will locate your IMAGE FOR WINDOWS serial number.)
- Enter the BIOS and ensure that the DVD_RW is set to boot before the hard drive
- Insert the DVD into the DVDRW
- The program will automatically start up and ask you to "press <space> for menu or wait for the restore to start"
- Wait for the restore to start as it will select the first hard disk (HD0) which is your OS drive
- The program will then ask if you want to continue with the restore on HD0 (this will erase everything on the drive and restore it to factory defaults.)
- Once the restore has completed and has been rebooted, the machine will be ready for use.
- For more advance and detailed instructions please refer to the PDF included on your Image for Windows CD
3.2.2 Re-Imaging the OS Hard Drive (Image for Windows)
To Top- Start Image From Windows from desktop shortcut/start menu
- Choose operation to perform: Backup (next)
- Select Partition: HD0 / specific hard drive (next)
- Select Destination: DVDRW (next)
- Backup Options (default settings) (Finish)
Image for Windows will burn an image of the drive to the disk and then proceed to automatically validate the disk. If errors occur during validation, one must start completely over with a fresh DVDRW.
To Top To TopThe following image shows the available ports of the FAL M-12.
On one side there are the following ports: one FireWire 400 port, one RS-232 Serial port and one USB 2.0 port. On the opposite side are: the power port, one VGA port, two USB 2.0 ports, two sound connections, and the 54mm/34mm ExpressCard slot. The 4 IN 1 media card reader and the sim card ports are in the front of the FAL M-12.
The 54mm/34mm ExpressCard slot is capable of reading either a 54mm ExpressCard or a 34mm ExpressCard. The 4-in-1 Card Reader is capable of reading the following: SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro.
4.2 ExpressCards (54mm and 34mm)
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The card that has replaced the PCMCIA card is the ExpressCard. ExpressCards, which are NOT bootable devices, provide extra interfaces for laptops (additional memory, wired and wireless networking, security devices, as well as multimedia devices). ExpressCards have two form factors: 54mm and 34mm. The 54mm card form has an ‘L’ shape with a 34mm connection and the 34mm card has a rectangular shape with a 34mm connection. A 34mm card will fit into a 54mm slot as well as a 34mm card slot, whereas a 54mm card will only fit in a 54mm slot.
4.2.1 Installing an ExpressCard (34mm)
To TopInstallation of an ExpressCard can be done while the laptop is ON and running. There is a triangle or arrow on the card to indicate the proper end to insert.
The two cards included with the FAL M-12 are the 34mm 2-port eSATA Card and the 34mm 2-port FireWire Card. The laptop has a 54mm/34mm slot which can take a 54mm or a 34mm card.
- Remove the 54mm/34mm slot protector. Note the side that is longer and thinner. The side that is longer is for the placement of 34mm cards.
- Hold the 34mm card in the upright position.
- Insert the 34mm card into the side where the longer portion of the slot protector was.
- DO NOT FORCE THE CARD. If there is any resistance, check the card orientation and try again.
- Auto-detection will occur.