What is AltStream?

Trevor

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Jun 25, 2020, 12:10:01 PM6/25/20

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What is the "AltStream" option? I can't find any documentation on it.

Thank!

Trevor

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Jun 25, 2020, 1:02:55 PM6/25/20

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I looks like it might be for Alternate Data Streams but when would this be needed/used?

Rick

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Jun 26, 2020, 1:33:34 PM6/26/20

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Sometimes you want to keep the Alternate Data Stream (Fast copy can embed a hash into it as the verify info field) or other applications can also use the ADS to store metadata. (It is how you windows marks files from the web)

Rick

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Jun 26, 2020, 1:37:13 PM6/26/20

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Generally you don't need the ADS and if you copy to a non-ADS supporting file system (FAT32/exFAT) it will get discarded anyways. Unless you know you need it you probably don't need that option enabled. Viruses can also hide nasty stuff in the ADS so it is generally not needed for most use cases.

Trevor

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Jun 26, 2020, 2:30:43 PM6/26/20

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Thanks, appreciate the response.

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