Coursework Description

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At the of this practically based coursework you should be able to:

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$$ Explain the architectural differences and similarities between MBR $($Master Boot Record$)$ and GPT $($GUID Partition Table$).$

$$ Investigate the security implications that threaten modern operating systems when using MBR versus GPT$.$

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Resources required

$$ A USB memory stick, hard disk, or flash memory card with a capacity of at least $16$GB

$$ Operating system or application capable of creating disk partitions

o$$ Can use Linux from a virtual machine

$$ Software capable of extracting and viewing low$-$level MBR and GPT information

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Practical Methodology and Preparation

$$ DO NOT DOCUMENT THIS PREPARATION PROCESS IN YOUR REPORT :

o$$ YOU ONLY NEED TO ANALYSE THE RESULTING BOOT SECTOR$/$TABLE$.$

$$ Use MBR to create THREE partitions

$$ The size of the partitions must be the last three digits multiplied by $2$ of your student ID in megabytes.

o$$ E$.$g$.$ if your student ID is w$12345678$ the size of the partitions must be $678$ x $2=1,356$ Megabytes

$$ Format the first partition with exFAT

o$$ Name the first partition your SURNAME

o$$ Use cluster size of $16$K

$$ Do not format the second partition

$$ Format the third partition with NTFS

o$$ Name the second partition your FIRST NAME

o$$ Use cluster size of $64$K

$$ Save the MBR configuration

o$$ Can use Linux dd

$$ Repeat the above process in creating the partitions using GPT

Report Notes

$$ PLAGIARISM $($COPY$+$PASTING AND PARAPHRASING FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES INCLUDING AI GENERATED$)$ AND THE PRESENTATION OF WORK GENERATED FROM AI OR GRAMMAR CHECKING SOFTWARE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. IT MUST BE ENTIRELY YOUR OWN WORK. ANY WORK WITH UNACCEPTABLE PLAGIARISM SCORES WILL BE REPORTED AND DEALT WITH OFFICIALLY.

$$ COLLUSION WILL ALSO NOT BE TOLERATED. YOU ARE NOT TO BASE YOUR WORK ON THE WORK OF ANYONE ELSE. ANY WORK BEARING RESEMBLANCE TO THE WORK OF ANYONE ELSE WILL ALSO BE REPORTED TO ACADEMIC STANDARDS. YOU CANNOT JUST CHANGE THE NUMBERS.

$$ Critically compare the information stored in the respective partition information for the two methods

o$$ You must present screenshots of the partitioning information that have been created relating to your name and ID $($volume name and partition size$)$

o$$ Where appropriate, annotate screen shots

$$ You must demonstrate that you can MANUALLY INTERPRET the MBR or GPT

o$$ i$.$e$.$ calculate from binary and not dependent on results from any graphical tools or running commands from the command line

$$ DO NOT USE ANY TSK $($THE SLEUTH KIT$)$ COMMANDS OR ACTIVE DISK

$$ NO mmls$,$ fsstat, img$\_$stat, mmstat, etc.