Windows 7 : Recovering After a Crash or Other Problem (part 2) - Restoring Previous Versions of Files & Recovering Files from Backup

2. Restoring Previous Versions of Files

Windows 7 tracks changes in files and folders using Previous Versions. When you configure System Protection for a disk, System Protection creates previous versions of files and folders automatically as part of restore points. Any personal file or folder that was modified since the last restore point is saved and made available as a previous version.

NOTE

Typically, restore points are made once a day. If you modify a file more than once in the same day, only the version of the file that was current at the time of the restore point is saved as a previous version.

Previous versions are created for pictures, music, videos, email, documents, and other types of personal files. Previous versions are not created for files and folders that the operating system uses.

You can use previous versions of files to restore files that were inadvertently changed, deleted, or damaged. Although System Protection creates previous versions daily for all drives being monitored by System Protection, only those versions of files that are actually different from the current version are stored as previous versions. You can enable or disable previous versions by enabling or disabling System Protection on a particular drive.

Figure 3. Checking for previous versions

Accessing previous versions of files and folders is a snap. To view previous versions of a file or folder, right-click the file or folder and then select “Restore previous versions.” This opens the file or folder’s Properties dialog box to the Previous Versions tab, as shown in Figure 3. Your computer will then search the available restore points and applicable backups for previous versions of the selected folder or file. When previous versions are available, the Previous Versions tab lists the previous versions of a file by name, date, and location and previous versions of folders by name and date. Select the previous version you want to work with and then click:

• Open to open the selected previous version. By opening the file you can ensure it’s the version you want to restore.

• Copy to create a copy of the selected previous version. By copying the file, you can keep the current version and the selected previous version.

• Restore to revert the file or folder to the selected previous version. By restoring the file or folder, you overwrite the current version. The restore cannot be undone.

NOTE

Although you can restore previous versions of files from backup locations, you cannot restore previous versions of folders from backup. Additionally, only the Restore option is available with previous versions of files that are in backup locations. You cannot open or copy files created by Windows Backup.

If no previous versions are found, you’ll see a message stating this. In this case, you may need to check your computer’s configuration to ensure that System Protection is monitoring the related disk. Keep in mind that System Protection does not create previous versions of offline files cached on your computer or system files. For offline files, previous versions may be available on the server where the file is stored. Changes made to system files are tracked as part of restore points, and you must recover the computer to the restore point to go back to a previous state.

NOTE

If the folder in which the file was stored has been deleted, you must open the Properties dialog box for the folder that contained the file or folder that was deleted. Use this folder’s Previous Versions tab to restore the folder and then access the file or folder to recover the previous version of the file you are looking for.

3. Recovering Files from Backup

Windows 7 allows you to recover individual files from backup locations using the Previous Versions features as discussed in the previous section. You also can recover files using Windows Backup. To recover files using Windows Backup, follow these steps:

Figure 4. Selecting the files and folders to restore

1. In Control Panel, under the System and Security heading, click the “Back up your computer” link.

2. In Backup and Restore, click Restore My Files to restore your files or click Restore All Users’ Files to restore the files of any user.

3. On the “Select the files and folders to restore” page, shown in Figure 4, use the following techniques to select the files and folders to restore, and then click Next:

   • To restore individual files, click the “Browse for files” button. In the “Browse the backup for files” dialog box, you’ll see a list of all the folders and files in the backup. Select files to restore and then click Add Files. Repeat this process to select other individual files to restore.

   • To restore folders and all their contents, click the “Browse for folders” button. In the “Browse the backup for folders” dialog box, you’ll see a list of all the folders in the backup. Select a folder to restore and then click Add. Repeat this process to select other folders to restore.

   • To search for a particular file or folder, click the Search button. In the “Search for files to restore” dialog box, type all or part of the filename or folder to search for, and then click Search. In the Search results, select the files or folders to restore, and then click Add. Repeat this process to search for other files and folders to restore.

   NOTE

   If the items you want to restore are stored in the current backup location, you can use the options in the Restore Files window to select items to restore. To restore files from a different backup, click “Choose a different date.” In the Restore Files dialog box, you’ll see a list of all backups by backup period. Use the Show Backups From list to select how far back the backup you want to use was made. Click the backup you want to restore files from and then click OK to return to the “Browse or Search” page.

4. On the “Where do you want to save the restored files?” page, the “In the original location” option is selected by default. You use this option to restore files to their original location. To restore files and folders to an alternative location, select “In the following location,” click Browse, select a restore location, and then click OK.

5. Click Restore to restore the selected files and folders. If there is already a file or folder with the same name in the location you’ve selected, you can:

   • Overwrite the current version with the restored version by clicking Copy and Replace.

   • Keep the current version and discard the restored version by clicking “Don’t copy.”

   • Keep both versions by clicking the “Copy, but keep” option. The new filename will be the same as the old filename, but with a numeric suffix, indicating the version increment.

   NOTE

   If you want to use the same response for all conflicts, select the “Do this for all conflicts” checkbox before you click an option.

6. Your files and folders are restored as appropriate. Click Finish.