any prg to find media contents of crypted files

[mymandarin123]

my friend keeps lot of media(.dat .mpg .avi) files on his hdd.but he employs a simple method of hiding them by renaming the file extensions of all media files to (.txt .dat or similar).
now is there any prg which will search the entire hdd for media files(.dat .mpg .avi) based on their file headers rather than their extensions.

[setarip]

And why don't you simply ask your "friend" how he/she knows which formats the files are really in?

[mymandarin123]

hey that was too easy but what if i want to snoop on him

[mymandarin123]

by the way my friend just renmaes .dat to .txt files,.mpg files to .dat ,.avi files to .sys .
he has got the files scattered all over his hdd and he keeps a rename batch file with the path of all files to perform all the conversion automaticlly and once he is finished operations with the files he just runs another batch file to rechange the extensions of the files back to the previous.he keeps this batch file password protected using winzip so that no one knows where the location of files are.
now this encrytion is a simple process but quite effective ,although the size of the files can reveal the truth (though not always small media files!).
moreover here since i know his conversion scheme it is a little easy but what if i don't know the conversion scheme hence i want ot know if there is any prg which can search for media file by their headers rather than extensions ???

[benderman]

One way might be to use the windows search function. Simply search every file for a significant text. Every avi-file contains the strings "avi ", "hdrl" and "movi". A lot of the files you find with this method will be avi files. But some other files can contain that strings, too.

[mymandarin123]

thanks for the reply .
i tried all the 3 strings with .dat .mpg and .avi(mpeg4) files with all file extensions of media files changed to .txt
hdrl ---returns only avi files
movi --returns only avi files
avi --returns all 3 file types
although this solves part of the problem but all the 3 strings along with the specified files(avi dat mpeg) also diplays many other files.
(like using the avi string for search in the root dir(c displays almost all files of windows and system folder and even mp3's.although this can be limited to some extent by setting a size limit)
although it is a good method but it still requires lot of time when searching entire hdd
and also displays lot of files which have no video content whatsoever.
although i appreciate ur help i hope there might be still be some more powerful search technique with more precise strings.

[setarip]

To benderman and Batman

Where are your scruples? (Not kidding)...

[Enchanter]

I had a similar problem with someone snooping around my computer. I employed a program (Not gonna tell you the name ) that completely hides all the files in the folder and make them undeletable, uneditable and such (Changing WIndows settings would have no effect). Needless to say, a more concentrated effort on cracking the protection took place whenever I was away from the computer, but fortunately the protection withheld (I did have to frequently alter the protection settings though, in order to confuse the "would-be-cracker").

By the way, I'm surprised that Benderman gave an advice on this. I didn't expect that at all...

[Batman]

I figured if Benderman could offer advice it would be legitimate. From the message I got the impression he was just wanting quick access to media or showing off. I could be wrong. I'll delete my post.

[Enchanter]

hey that was too easy but what if i want to snoop on him

This is indicative enough...

[Batman]

I guess you guys are right.

I click too fast but think too slow

[mymandarin123]

in reply,
hey that was too easy but what if i want to snoop on him
hey u all took my one little post in totally wrong sense.
it was just bad selection of words to get my idea through.
what i intended was that a prg that could search the hdd for media files and index them (just like say any mp3 manager software ) ,it was only that i considered all wild possibilities for their extensions.
i was not trying to actually snoop on anyone or trying to show off,perhaps i should have been more careful with my selection of words to avoid all this unwanted confusion.

[Enchanter]

Trying to "snoop" around or crack the protection that your friend put on his system speaks strongly for itself, doesn't it?

[mymandarin123]

well each of us have our own perception,it's very hard to change it.
i tried my best to explain the case. if u don't believe it then that's okay for me.
thanx for all the help.