Option D is the strongest answer because the workstation has been running continuously for weeks and may contain critical evidence in RAM . CHFI emphasizes the importance of live acquisition when a running system may hold volatile artifacts such as memory-resident malware, open sessions, unsaved work, active processes, encryption keys, or network connections. In this scenario, shutting the system down would likely destroy some of the most valuable evidence.
A live acquisition allows the examiner to preserve memory and other transient data before moving on to broader collection steps. This is particularly important in a case involving malicious code injection, where evidence may exist only in RAM, temporary locations, or active process space. Because the workstation is heavily used and active, live acquisition maximizes the amount of evidence that can be preserved at the time of collection.
Option A sacrifices volatile evidence. B is incomplete and not forensically comprehensive. C may be useful in some environments but is less appropriate than a direct live acquisition from the running system. Therefore, the best CHFI-aligned strategy is live acquisition from the running workstation .