Vista To Ship With Shadow Copy Feature

[Winga]

Microsoft has incorporated into Vista, the shadow copy feature provided in Windows Server 2003.

The system automatically makes shadow copies of files and folders on a daily basis. You can also create shadow copies by setting a System Protection Point. When you right-click a file or folder, a Previous Versions tab appears, that lets you copy any of the stored previous versions, or restore the item to any of the prior states.

In the event of an inadvertent change or deletion of a file or folder, Previous Versions allows you to revert the file or folder to any previous version, restore a previous version from a backup (made with Windows Backup), or make a copy of a previous version.
Source: Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/4ac505e6-dd8b-4ae7-80fa-b9d77cd8104d.mspx)

[BLuKnight]

It's a good thing that huge hard drives are getting cheaper and cheaper. This is a great feature, but it can also be a hard drive hog.

[Leonardo]

Educate me here, please. What good are shadow copies on the same drive as the original files if the hard drive experiences a catastrophic failure? I don't get it. (I have zero experience with Windows Server 2003.)

[BLuKnight]

You're right. This shadow copy feature will not protect you from a catastrophic failure. You still need to backup your hard drive. This is more like versioning of files, like Word documents. If you want to go back to a previous version for any reason, it'll be readily available.