CDR Mystery

[ellucidate]

Can anyone advise me on a forensic matter concerning CDRs?

I recently had some C90 audiotapes transferred onto CDRs purportedly to the 'Red Book Standard' employing a HHB CDR 850 CD writing machine. It was supposedly a straight analogue to digital conversion without any intermediate computer processing.

However when I examined one of the CDs on my PC a window launched labelled 'Sound Forge'. I cannot recall exactly what I did to trigger the launch, but I was using RealPlayer at the time and was connected to the internet and was variously clicking on properties and the like to examine the CD. I was also clicking on my own burn to disc option. My system is a fairly recently freshly installed copy of Windows XP Pro SP2 on a new hard-drive. I do not have nor ever have had Sound Forge or any other audio processing software on my system. The CDs play OK although they possess anomalies.

I do not understand the technology but I am informed that there could be small files and artefacts as well as the audio tracks on my CDs and perhaps one of those was associated with Sound Forge and was carried across in the writing process and it was launched somehow accidentally?

Does anyone have an opinion as to what occurred and does anyone know how I can launch the same window again or interrogate my CDs to determine what is exactly on them beyond the audio tracks? Try as I might, I cannot repeat what occurred.

Thanking in advance anyone who can assist.

 

[roadworker]

Perhaps a "Soundforge light " version is embedded in 1 of your programs without you knowing it.......
Rightclick a music file,go to properties......there you can see what program windows uses as default to open your files.....

 

[ellucidate]

Perhaps a "Soundforge light " version is embedded in 1 of your programs without you knowing it.......
Rightclick a music file,go to properties......there you can see what program windows uses as default to open your files.....

roadworker

My default programme for opening music files is Windows Media Player. Sometimes I use RealPlayer or iTunes.

 

[ellucidate]

I have now acquired a programme called CD/DVD Inspector which allows a search of the sectors of the CDs. Unfortunately I do not have the knowledge to do it, as obviously the CD sectors are in computer code. Can anyone on the forum assist me?

 

[scarecrow]

CD/DVD Inspector is exclusively sold with a comprehensive, bulky manual, plus a detailed video presentation... If you haven't received them, then you have been cheated. Please contact Infinadyne (100 S. Atkinson Road, Grayslake, IL 60030) to sort this out.
As for the "Soundforge" logo, it seems that you have installed something using some version of the Soundforge program, limited or full edition. Even Microsoft was caught using (on Windows XP) media files created by a pirated Soundforge copy, so this shouldn't disharten you...

 

[ellucidate]

Scarecrow

I am investigating a forensic matter. I suspected that the audio on my CDs had been edited of content prior to download, so when I accidentally triggered the Sound Forge pane I could not believe my luck. You will appreciate my despair at not being able to repeat the event.

CD/DVD Inspector indicates that there are small data files present on my CDs but it does not seem they can be opened or examined in a conventional way. All that seems possible is a sector search. However I do not know what to search for as the sectors are in computer code which I do not understand.

I believe there is a Sound Forge label or tag on my discs, but I need to know what computer code would identify it so that I can perform a search?

 

[Duracell]

CD/DVD Inspector indicates that there are small data files present on my CDs ...

actually no need to read out the unicode of these files;
first step could be to tell us, which files (file types) are stored at your CDs;
and as second step: How many sessions and what type of sessions are written at the disc?

Greetings from
Duracell

 

[ellucidate]

actually no need to read out the unicode of these files;
first step could be to tell us, which files (file types) are stored at your CDs;
and as second step: How many sessions and what type of sessions are written at the disc?

Greetings from
Duracell

There are two audio tracks on each of three CDs, but I have no way of knowing what the other small file types are or how to access them, that is what I am trying to find out.

They are single session discs but I don't understand what you mean by type of session or where I could find that out.

 

[Duracell]

if this is a standard one session AudioCD, then there cannot be more than plain audio tracks;
the problem seems to be your Windows; you installed a software which did associate plain AudioCDs with a any installed Sound Forge stuff;

again there is nothing beside music at you CDs; you have to fix the "file type association"; re-link AudioCDs to Windows' standard CD player, that's all;
open "My Computer" > right click at your CD drive > properties > AutoPlay

 

[ellucidate]

if this is a standard one session AudioCD, then there cannot be more than plain audio tracks;
the problem seems to be your Windows; you installed a software which did associate plain AudioCDs with a any installed Sound Forge stuff;

again there is nothing beside music at you CDs; you have to fix the "file type association"; re-link AudioCDs to Windows' standard CD player, that's all;
open "My Computer" > right click at your CD drive > properties > AutoPlay

You are incorrect Duracell. CD/DVD Inspector indicates that there are files present on my audio CDs as well as audio tracks, albeit small ones. At one stage a RIN code was launched and displayed for example.

I did not install software and I had no Sound Forge programme or anything like it installed. I have never done any music or sound editing nor would I know how to.

 

[roadworker]

Did you copyprotect your music cd's when you burned them with the HHB CDR 850 ?
Because if you transfered music from tape to cd,it should be audio only,but some protections can add a data track when burning the final cd......I have an old Philips CDR770 audiocd copier,this 1 can only record audio,and add no data session,but perhaps yours can....
If there's no SoundForge trace on your system,it could be that that spyware crap RealPlayer directed you to a demo....

 

[ellucidate]

Did you copyprotect your music cd's when you burned them with the HHB CDR 850 ?
Because if you transfered music from tape to cd,it should be audio only,but some protections can add a data track when burning the final cd......I have an old Philips CDR770 audiocd copier,this 1 can only record audio,and add no data session,but perhaps yours can....
If there's no SoundForge trace on your system,it could be that that spyware crap RealPlayer directed you to a demo....

The point is roadworker, I didn't burn the CDs. As I said earlier, this is a forensic matter, a criminal investigation. I suspect the person who produced the CDs edited the audio prior to the burn. From analysis of the analogue tape recordings it is now fairly certain they did, for example the tapes seem to be stereo but are suspiciously like mono made into stereo and I have come to learn that this can be achieved using Sound Forge.

I agree there is a possibility that RealPlayer invoked the launch of the Sound Forge pane while I was examining the CDs, but my point is something on the CDs must have triggered it, ie there must be data relating to Sound Forge on the CDs, however small?

 

[VIPER_1069]

It could quite easy be one of these interative dvd disks with bonus/extras to be used on a computer such as screensavers , wallpaper, artwork or web links ... i know the original SPIDERMAN i have has this on it and it trys to install an interactive player when the disk is insterted and auto runs

maby something you looked at in the past and its installed something as a background process and this is then hijacking your audio disks when they auto run ?!

 

[scarecrow]

Anyway, an "audioCD" with some extra files is not really an audioCD- on that only raw datastreams are allowed in multiple tracks (up to 99).
Your disks fall into the CD-Extra category, and since an audio track (which is even not a real file!) cannot trigger something like a Soundforge logo, I would checkout either the small data files or what's installed in my harddisk.

 

[ellucidate]

It could quite easy be one of these interative dvd disks with bonus/extras to be used on a computer such as screensavers , wallpaper, artwork or web links ... i know the original SPIDERMAN i have has this on it and it trys to install an interactive player when the disk is insterted and auto runs

maby something you looked at in the past and its installed something as a background process and this is then hijacking your audio disks when they auto run ?!

With respect VIPER_1069, they are not DVD discs but CD-DAs made privately in connection with legal proceedings.

I run anti-spyware regularly plus antivirus etc and clean my PC of internet files and my PC is used almost exclusively for business purposes. I have never installed or run any computer game on it. I do however have media players and listen to internet radio and music CDs.

 

[ellucidate]

Anyway, an "audioCD" with some extra files is not really an audioCD- on that only raw datastreams are allowed in multiple tracks (up to 99).
Your disks fall into the CD-Extra category, and since an audio track (which is even not a real file!) cannot trigger something like a Soundforge logo, I would checkout either the small data files or what's installed in my harddisk.

I would dearly love to checkout the small data files, but I simply do not know how! I am sure someone in the CD manufacturing industry must know how to get at this data, after all what is the point of RIN codes and the like if no-one can access them?

 

[ellucidate]

Anyway, an "audioCD" with some extra files is not really an audioCD- on that only raw datastreams are allowed in multiple tracks (up to 99).
Your disks fall into the CD-Extra category, and since an audio track (which is even not a real file!) cannot trigger something like a Soundforge logo, I would checkout either the small data files or what's installed in my harddisk.

I would dearly love to checkout the small data files scarecrow, but I simply do not know how?

 

[ChickenMan]

Have you tryed reading the disk with IsoBuster, it should allow extraction of all individual files, be them audio or data.

 

[ellucidate]

Have you tryed reading the disk with IsoBuster, it should allow extraction of all individual files, be them audio or data.

I bought IsoBuster, but as with CD/DVD Inspector, it does not display any data files because they must be too small, ie the data indicated by CD/DVD Inspector is simply less than 'track size' (300 or more blocks).

Data is definately on the CDs, because I got a RIN code 'pop up' at one stage!

Again I am left with a sector by sector analysis, that I just do not know how to perform?

 

[ChickenMan]

Hmm.. CDRWin will allow viewing of each sector of the CDR, best of luck.