FTK Imager

FTK Imager is a free, essential utility for forensic data acquisition. It is the industry standard for creating forensic images of hard drives, memory, and other storage media. FTK Imager is known for its reliability and its ability to create bit-for-bit copies of evidence while maintaining strict data integrity. It also allows for quick previewing of files and folders, making it an excellent tool for initial evidence assessment.

While it is not an analysis tool, it is a foundational piece of software that every forensic investigator should have in their toolkit.