Microsoft KB Archive/304606

= Description of the Shadow Copies Feature in Windows Server 2003 =

PSS ID Number: 304606

Article Last Modified on 4/21/2004

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q304606



SUMMARY
This article provides a description of the Shadow Copies feature in Windows Server 2003.



MORE INFORMATION
The Shadow Copies feature provides point-in-time copies of files on network shares. With shadow copies of shared folders, you can view the contents of network folders as they existed at points of time in the past. This feature may be very beneficial in the following three scenarios:
 * You want to recover files that were accidentally deleted. This is the network equivalent of the Recycle Bin functionality. If you accidentally delete a file, you can open an old version of the file, and then copy it to a safe location. Shadow copies of shared folders can recover files that are deleted by any mechanism, as long as the required history folder exists.
 * You want to recover a file after you accidentally overwrite it. Shadow copies of shared folders can be very useful in environments where you commonly create new files by opening an existing file, making modifications, and then saving the file with a new name. For example, you might open a financial-modeling spreadsheet, make modifications based upon new scenario assumptions, and then save the spreadsheet with a new name to create a new spreadsheet. The problem arises when you forget to save the file by using a new file name, so that the original work is erased. You can use a shadow copy of the shared folder to recover the previous version of the file.
 * You want to check different versions of the same file while you are working on the file. You could use shadow copies of shared folders during the normal work cycle when you want to determine what has changed between two versions of the same file. For example, you might want to see what your original text looked like before you spent time editing the file.

Access Shadow Copies on Windows Server 2003 from Another Operating System
You can use the Shadow Copy Client to access shadow copies on Windows Server 2003 from client computers that are running other operating systems. For information about how to obtain the Shadow Copy Client, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e382358f-33c3-4de7-acd8-a33ac92d295e&DisplayLang=en

For more information about the Volume Shadow Copies feature, please view the Help topics on the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/topnode_snapshot.asp

Keywords: kbenv kbinfo KB304606

Technology: kbSBServ2003Pre kbSBServ2003Search kbSBServ2003St kbSBServSearch kbWinServ2003Ent kbWinServ2003EntSearch kbWinServ2003Search kbWinServ2003St

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