Retrieve Deleted Files Using Shadow Copy In Server 2003

by Brian Burgess on

In IT having good backups is extremely essential.  Your worst nightmare is when an end user deletes the company yearly accounting reports.  If your business is using Server 2003 getting those files back in a hurry is extremely easy with the Shadow Copy feature.  This feature was added to Server 2003 for just such instances.  In fact, by educating the end users they can retrieve the files without having to involve IT.

Have them navigate to the network drive where the file was located and right click any open area in the explorer window and choose properties Previous Versions.  As you can see it will list several previous versions of the files and folders on that drive.

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Usually I have the pick the most recent version.  Keep in mind that any unsaved data entered into the files that was not saved will need to be re entered.  This works very well without having to recreate the files from a backup tape or drive.

Brian Burgess worked in IT for 10 years before pursuing his passion for writing. He's been a tech blogger and journalist for the past seven years, and can be found on his about me page or Google+