analyzeMFT – a Python tool to deconstruct the Windows NTFS $MFT file

Three elements combined last week to inspire me to write a tool to deconstruct the Windows NTFS $MFT file:

1. I’ve been wanting to learn Python for quite awhile. (I found a “Learning Python” book on my shelf published in 1999.
2. Mark Menz’s MFT Ripper started me wondering about the significance of the MFT sequence number.
3. I’d been trying to get through the SANS 508.1 book but couldn’t bear to read about NTFS structures yet again.
4. I wanted to start building a framework for doing more detailed timeline analysis.

So, last week I sat down and wrote analyzeMFT.py.  Please keep in mind that this is a novice Python programmer’s code and is definitely a work in progress. A simple project page and a link to the source can be found here.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or improvements, please do let me know. I’d like to keep building on this and making it as useful as possible.