Windows 7 / Getting Started

How to Restore a File with Previous Versions

With Previous Versions, users can quickly restore a file to an earlier state that was established either when a shadow copy or a file backup was made. Previous Versions cannot restore a file from a System Image backup, even though you might be able to extract the file manually from the System Image disk image. However, System Image backups do initiate a Volume Shadow Copy, and a version of a file might be available from the shadow copy.

To restore an earlier version of a file, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the file and then click Restore Previous Versions. The Previous Versions tab appears.
    Note If you delete a file but remember the filename, create a file with the exact same filename in the same folder, and follow the steps in this section using the new file. The file can be empty; as long as the filename matches, you'll be able to restore an earlier version. Otherwise, you can view the Previous Versions tab in the Properties dialog box for the parent folder and restore only the file you need. You can also browse for the file manually using the Backup And Restore Center.
  2. If an earlier version of the file is available, click it and then click Restore if the button is available. For system files, you can click Open or Copy. The Copy File dialog box appears.
    When restoring a file, you can overwrite the existing file or save it with a different name.
  3. You can choose to overwrite the existing file or save the recovered file with a different name.
  4. Click Finish.

To allow users to take advantage of previous versions, provide them with an online backup solution using the Backup And Restore Center. Most often, backups for computers connected to your internal network are saved to a shared folder on a server. For mobile users, backups can be saved to external hard disks.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Disks and File Systems
  2. Overview of Partitioning Disks
  3. How to Choose Between MBR or GPT
  4. Converting from MBR to GPT Disks
  5. GPT Partitions
  6. Choosing Basic or Dynamic Disks
  7. Working with Volumes
  8. How to Create a Simple Volume
  9. How to Create a Spanned Volume
  10. How to Create a Striped Volume
  11. How to Resize a Volume
  12. How to Delete a Volume
  13. How to Create and Use a Virtual Hard Disk
  14. File System Fragmentation
  15. Backup And Restore
  16. How File Backups Work
  17. File and Folder Backup Structure
  18. How System Image Backups Work
  19. How to Start a System Image Backup from the Command Line
  20. How to Restore a System Image Backup
  21. System Image Backup Structure
  22. Best Practices for Computer Backups
  23. How to Manage Backup Using Group Policy Settings
  24. Previous Versions and Shadow Copies
  25. How to Manage Shadow Copies
  26. How to Restore a File with Previous Versions
  27. How to Configure Previous Versions with Group Policy Settings
  28. Windows ReadyBoost
  29. BitLocker Drive Encryption
  30. How BitLocker Encrypts Data
  31. How BitLocker Protects Data
  32. TPM with External Key (Require Startup USB Key At Every Startup)
  33. TPM with PIN (Require PIN At Every Startup)
  34. TPM with PIN and External Key
  35. BitLocker To Go
  36. BitLocker Phases
  37. Requirements for Protecting the System Volume with BitLocker
  38. How to Enable the Use of BitLocker on the System Volume on Computers Without TPM
  39. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on System Volumes
  40. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on Data Volumes
  41. How to Manage BitLocker Keys on a Local Computer
  42. How to Manage BitLocker from the Command Line
  43. How to Recover Data Protected by BitLocker
  44. How to Disable or Remove BitLocker Drive Encryption
  45. How to Decommission a BitLocker Drive Permanently
  46. How to Prepare AD DS for BitLocker
  47. How to Configure a Data Recovery Agent
  48. How to Manage BitLocker with Group Policy
  49. The Costs of BitLocker
  50. Windows 7 Encrypting File System
  51. How to Export Personal Certificates
  52. How to Import Personal Certificates
  53. How to Grant Users Access to an Encrypted File
  54. Symbolic Links
  55. How to Create Symbolic Links
  56. How to Create Relative or Absolute Symbolic Links
  57. How to Create Symbolic Links to Shared Folders
  58. How to Use Hard Links
  59. Disk Quotas
  60. How to Configure Disk Quotas on a Single Computer
  61. How to Configure Disk Quotas from a Command Prompt
  62. How to Configure Disk Quotas by Using Group Policy Settings
  63. Disk Tools
  64. EFSDump
  65. SDelete
  66. Streams
  67. Sync
  68. MoveFile and PendMoves