ANDREW'S IT LESSON OF THE MONTH- Using Previous Versions

Previous Versions (AKA Shadow Copy), is a self-service backup system available to those who store files on the SAIAB file servers. This service provides you with immediate access to previous versions of your files without having to ask IT to restore a backup from tape.

Summary:

·         Previous Version backups are taken twice per day (06h30 and 13h10)

·         We aim to keep files going back two weeks, but currently we’re keeping over a month of changes

Although the overall principle is the same, Previous Versions can be used for restoring individual files or the contents of a folder.

Restoring an earlier form of a file:

This is useful when you have made changes to a file and wish to see how it looked previously.

1)      Navigate to the file using Windows Explorer, right click and select properties

 

2)      Click on the ‘Previous Versions’ tab

3)      In Previous versions, click on the version you want to view and click Open.

Note: This will open a read only version of your file

4)      You can either copy and paste anything you need from this document or use ‘File’ then ‘Save As’ to save this version of your document.

OR

If you’re certain you want to roll back changes made to your file, click ‘Restore’. Please use the restore button sparingly as it will overwrite the current form of your document.

Restoring a deleted file:

Restoring a deleted file is very similar to retrieving the previous version of a file, except you work with folders.

1) Navigate to the folder / directory one level up from where the file was deleted.

Note: In the example, z:\specify\specify.log has been deleted

2) Right click on the folder and select properties.

3) Now click on the ‘Previous Versions’ tab

4) Select the point in time you wish to go back to and click Open

5)      Drag and drop your deleted file from the window representing the past into the folder where the file was deleted from.

Note: You can also open the previous version of the file and then ‘File’ then ‘Save As’ to save this version of your document elsewhere.