Which method is least likely to be used in analyzing deleted files?

Virus scanning is least likely to be used in analyzing deleted files because its primary purpose is to detect and remove malware or viruses from active files and system processes. While some virus scanning tools may have capabilities to scan for malware in recoverable files, they do not specialize in recovering deleted files or analyzing their contents.

In contrast, file recovery tools are specifically designed to retrieve deleted files from storage media by scanning for remnants of these files. Timeline analysis can help establish when files were created or deleted, adding context to the investigation, and metadata examination is crucial for understanding file properties, including creation and modification dates, which can also pertain to deleted files. Therefore, virus scanning does not have a direct application in the recovery or analysis of deleted files, making it the least relevant method in this context.