Shadow Copy

How to restore files using the Shadow Copy client

The Volume Shadow Client is installed by default on all campus-standard installations of Windows.

  • The instructions below are to be used only when attempting to restore data from the following locations within the Network File Storage system:
    • from your S:\ drive (referred to as your < USERS > directory share)
    • from your W:\ drive (also referred to as your < USERWEB > directory share)
    • or from your Y:\ drive (referred to as your <DEPT> directory share)
  • If you need to restore data files in a location other than your MST personal < USERS >, < USERWEB >, or <DEPT> volume, you will need to map a drive to the desired folder within that volume.

Recovering Lost Files or Folders with Copy

  1. Click My Computer and browse to the location where the file was located (typically the S:\ drive is for personal data files, the W:\ drive is for personal web pages, and the Y:\ drive for department data files).
  2. Right-click on the folder where the file was located and click Properties.
  3. Click the Previous Versions tab.
  4. Select a backup to view and then click Open (strongly recommended option, see the note below).
    CAUTION: If you click copy, then the the entire volume you are attempting to restore will be copied to your currently active volume (i.e. within < USERS >, < USERWEB >, or <DEPT>) and you will have to choose a new name for the copied volume. You may not have enough storage space to accommodate the copied data, which could cause other issues. Also, if you click restore, then the entire contents of your currently active < USERS >, < USERWEB >, or <DEPT> volume will be overwritten by the restored Shadow Copy. For these reasons, S&T IT strongly recommends using the View option and only restoring those files which need to be restored. You will still be able to select all the files of a given folder if necessary and move them via Copy and Paste in bulk.
  5. Select the file(s) to be recovered.
  6. Right-click the file(s) to be recovered and click Copy.
  7. Browse to the location where the recovered files will be placed.
  8. Right-click the folder where the recovered files will be placed and click Paste. The recovered files now appear in the chosen location.

Restoring a Lost File or Folder with Previous Version

CAUTION: This is the process of reverting to an older version of files and folders. It will replace the current version of the files and folders with the backup copies. If any files or folders have been modified since this backup occurred, the changes to those files and folders will be lost.

  1. Right-click the folder where the deleted or corrupted files were located and click Properties.
  2. Click the Previous Versions tab.
  3. Select a restore point before the files were deleted or became corrupted.
  4. Click Restore. A message will appear warning you about rolling back to a previous version.
  5. Click Yes. At this point, be ABSOLUTELY SURE that there are no files in this location that will be overwritten by this process.
  6. The deleted or corrupted files have been restored to the folder where they were previously located.