How to use Vista's Shadow Copy

What is Vista's Shadow Copy?

Shadow Copy (aka Volume Snapshot Service) is probably unheard of by most Vista users. This is because it is only enabled in Business and Ultimate editions and most users have Vista Home Basic or Home Premium. However, it is still available in the Home editions and you need it! In fact even the basic editions use it to for the System Restore functionality.

Vista uses Shadow Copy to maintain periodic snapshots of all files and folders on your hard disk! It does this every day and whenever a Restore Point is created. For this to work you must have System Restore Enabled on all drives. System Restore enables you to 'roll back' your computer's system files to a previous date. Shadow Copy does the same for your files!

You can use Shadow Copy to recover deleted files but also (and this is the cool part) previous versions! This works as long as there has been a restore point between the date of the original or previous file/change and the latest save that you want to undo. You can go back in time to any previous save subject to there being a relevant Restore Point.

Using Vista Shadow Copy

To make it accessible in the Home Editions you need to download and install a free tool: Shadow Explorer. Do it now so that it is there if (or should I say when?!) you need it.

Now you need to ensure that System Restore is enabled:

1. Open System Properties: Right Click "My Computer"
2. Choose the "System Protection" tab
3. Ensure that all drives are ticked.

Assuming that at least one restore point has been made you can now use Shadow Copy.

Shadow Copy (Business and Ultimate)

1. Right-click the File or Folder and choose "Restore Previous Versions". That's it! You will see a popup tab "Previous Versions" and all previous versions will be listed.
2. Use the open button to examine the files to find the one(s) you want to restore.
3. Highlight it and Click "Restore".
4. This will overwrite your existing version. If you don't want this to happen then rename the existing version first.
5. An alternative is to use the 'Copy' option or simply drag the file to a new location.

Shadow Copy (Home Basic and Premium) using Shadow Explorer

1. Shadow Explorer has the look and feel of Windows Explorer.
2. At the top are drop-down menus for choosing the partition and restore point you want to view.
3. To restore a file: right-click the file and choose "Export".
4. Choose a location where you want the file to be restored to.
5. As above, restoring to the original location will overwrite your existing version. If you don't want this to happen then rename the existing version first.
6. An alternative is to use export the file to a new location.

Final Word

As always, I encourage anyone with a comment, suggestion, question, idea, criticism or inspiration to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Please also see The Inland Magazine Computer Problems Forum if you have a specific IT problem.

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