Upgrade Vista Home Premium to Ultimate: Shadow Copy - Part 3
Enhancing Vista Home Premium with File Versioning
Vista Ultimate incorporates a functionality known as Shadow-Copy, which automatically generates snapshots of your saved files’ various iterations. This allows for the straightforward restoration of previous file versions should a deletion occur. This capability was also present in Server 2003, and has proven invaluable in numerous instances when users accidentally removed data from network shares.
The addition of this feature to Vista Home Premium is achievable through the installation of the complimentary utility, Filehamster. Filehamster operates in the background, diligently tracking changes to the files and directories you designate for monitoring. The installation process is both rapid and uncomplicated, initiating with an intuitive setup wizard.
Setting Up Filehamster
First, you will need to select the storage location for your backup files.
Subsequently, a name should be assigned to the backup library. Multiple libraries can be created as needed, even after the initial wizard has been completed.
To begin monitoring a directory, navigate to the newly created watch file, right-click, and select “Add File or Directory.” As an example, a music directory can be chosen.
Configuring Monitoring Parameters
You will then be prompted to browse to the desired location. Monitoring can be applied to an entire directory or to individual files.
Various watching parameters can be configured based on the sensitivity of the directory. For frequently modified folders, such as those containing music recordings, tabs, or lyrics, comprehensive monitoring is recommended.
Select the files to be initially copied for backup. The extent of this initial copy can be adjusted according to your preferences.
The resulting watch tree represents the initial revision. Filehamster will continue to run in the background, observing and recording all changes to the designated directory. Numerous files and/or directories can be added for monitoring.
File Recovery
File recovery using Filehamster is comparable in efficiency to utilizing Shadow-Copy in Server 2003. Furthermore, additional functionality is available through various add-ons for this versatile utility.
Related Articles:
- Turn Vista Home Premium Into Ultimate Part 1
- Turn Vista Home Premium Into Ultimate Part 2