How to Recover Lost Files in Windows Vista

When I deleted or overwrote a file by mistake (Windows XP), I simply Ctrl + Z to undo an action and most of the time it works like a charm at restoring files. Windows Vista however has Shadow Clone (also known as Volume Snapshot Service or VSS) feature that will allow users to restore current files with the ones previously saved.

Methods for Creating Shadow Copies

This feature is purposely built in Vista for Windows Vista's backup utility, System Restore and the Previous Versions. Here's a partial excerpt from Microsoft's site on how shadow copies are created.

There are two methods for creating shadow copies: making either a complete copy (a full copy or clone) or copying only the changes to the volume (a differential copy or copy-on-write). Each method results in two data images — the original volume and the shadow copy volume. The functional difference between the two is that the original volume maintains full read/write capabilities, whereas the shadow copy volume is read-only. This read-only status ensures that the shadow copy volume remains a point-in-time copy until its status is changed by the administrator for a specific purpose.

How to user this feature?

To restore a shadow copy that’s stored on your computer, simply right-click the file and click Restore previous versions. When you select the option, the Previous Versions tab is selected in the properties window (see picture below). There is none in the list since I turn off the restore system. Anyway, if the restore system is turned on and there are changes recently on a file, the list of previous version of the file or folder that you want to restore should come up. Simply click Restore, and the file or folder is restored.