Today, Esther is going to show off the Previous Versions. This feature is part of the Shadow Copy feature in Windows Vista. This is a really helpful feature that has saved me numerous times!   It essentially makes incremental back-ups of your work - so if you accidentally delete content, you can find it again and recover it with a single click.  Anyone who has modified a document and clicked "save" instead of "save as" will appreciate Previous Versions!

Video: Windows Vista Demo: Previous Versions

Let me know what you think of this and the other features we've discussed this week (Search and Live Icons) - we'd love your feedback!

Windows Vista incorporates in its editions “Ultimate”, “Business” and “Enterprise”, a function Shadow Copy which preserves various versions of your files and files “photographed” at various moments. It thus allows a return behind in time.

The “preceding versions” of a file do not constitute under Vista a true process of “versioning” able to trace all the modifications. The preceding versions accessible via the mechanism from Vista are only those which “were captured” at the time of the realization of a point of restoration.

It thus should, initially, be made sure that the creation of the points of restoration is not only active but that it is it also for the discs where your documents are located. For that, go in the Control panel and made an instantaneous research on “points of restoration”. Locate the function Activate or to decontaminate the automatic creation of points of restoration. Click above. In the tab System Protection, check that the disc system as well as the discs where your documents are stored is well notched. Note also the presence of the button “Create” which makes it possible to create a point of restoration constantly.

In the second time, it can be useful to program a release of points of restoration one or twice a day (for example, the morning and after midday) in order to be able to find at least a version of the day before or morning. Launch the planner of tasks since the Start menu. If you never threw an eye on this tool, you will be probably surprised by the number of tasks of maintanence parameterized of office in Vista.

The system must much of its stability in time with these automated jobs. In the list of the active tasks, locate that called SR. It is the contraction of “System Restore”, the function of creation of the points of restoration.

If you want to modify this planned task, you will discover by the trigger tab that it carries out by defect a daily point of restoration at midnight, and another with each starting of the system. To modify the values, click on the button “Properties” in the shutter of actions. To add a second point of restoration, click on the tab “Releases” then on “New” and choose the options which are appropriate to you: “A the programmed hour”, “Each day”, “13: 00” to start a safeguard of the versions at the semi-day, etc

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