How to use Shadow Copy or Previous Versions on Older Versions of Windows.
Shadow Copy is one of Microsoft’s server features that I always rant and rave about. I use it habitually and so should you. For those of you who don’t know A shadow copy is essentially a previous version of the file or folder at a specific point in time. It creates copys or revisions of your files on a schedule so you can grab a copy before you made some stupid edits. Or if your co-worker deleted a file you have been working on… No problem Shadow Copy to the rescue…
Some people say this feature is only available to Vista Ultimate Business Clients but over @ AskTheAdmin we know that this has been available to us for almost 4 years now running xp and using server 2003 standard as our file server.
You don’t even need to be running active directory for this one all you have to do is create a share. and then activate the previous version tab from the server.
It will ask you how often you want it to make a copy for you and where you want to keep the data. the best part is it uses an incremental backup so if you choose more frequent backups it wont use more space. Shadow Copy also lets you specify a maximum limit of space to use.
Now there is a previous version client for all versions of windows os here. I am running this on my 2000 pro clients and my users love it. The servers shares are set to back up 3 times a day and I don’t have to hear it when those end users want to restore. They can just drag and drop themselves without any risk of corrupting or otherwise screwing up my main backup!
I couldn’t imagine living without this as we have made it a part of our backup/restore procedure and I don’t spend 15% of my day doing backups and restores!
Do you Shadow Copy?? Got any tips or tricks? Hit us up in the comments… C’mon everyones doing it!
_TheShadowedAdmiN_
June 29, 2007 - 9:41 am
what does the $ mean after the share in your picture. if you dont mind me asking?
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June 29, 2007 - 9:45 am
Well Erika if you append a $ to the end of a share name in windows it makes it a “Hidden Share” meaning if you type \\servername at the run menu you will not see the share there.
Remove the $ and the share is normal again.Good way to remove things from prying eyes – out of sight out of mind!
People shouldn’t be able to see what they shouldn’t access – 2 tempting.
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June 29, 2007 - 9:51 am
That was such a quick answer admin. thanks & good to know. enjoy your weekend
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June 29, 2007 - 10:21 am
Y’all know I am a bit of an MS hater, but VSS is one of the best things out there that they’ve added. Sure other apps/storage appliances have it, but it is great to have it at the server OS level.
It has saved my bacon on more than one occasion, let me tell you. If you have a 2003 box and VSS isn’t enabled all over the joint you’re seriously exposed.
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