It is quite difficult to lose data these days due to ubiquitous cloud storage and ultra-reliable media. However, sometimes things go very, very wrong. Perhaps this is a ransomware attack or targeted deletion by an angry relative.
Regardless of why your files disappeared, Windows (since Vista) has a clever feature that might just save your bacon.
It is called volume shadow copy and acts as an automatic backup solution that automatically saves copies of files in the background.
Most users are completely unaware of shadow copy and unfortunately the built-in downgrade tool in Windows is not very user-friendly.
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Fortunately, there is an excellent free program called Shadow Explorer that allows you to explore all the data stored in the shadow copy. If you’re lucky, the files you’re looking for will stay there.
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Please note that this is different from recovering deleted files using deleted file recovery software. This includes restoring data that has been marked for deletion. Deleted file recovery software can be used in parallel with Shadow Explorer
Explore shadow copy
The first thing you need to do is download the software and install it. Both a traditional installer and a portable version of the program are available.
Once installed, launch Shadow Explorer and you will see this window. It is very similar to the classic explorer.
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Everything is pretty clear here. Select the drive in the upper left corner of the window, and then select a date from the drop-down list. If a drive is selected but nothing appears in the right pane, then System Restore is disabled on your system.
Check out my previous post on how to enable / disable System Restore on Windows.
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Available files are now displayed. Find the files or folders you want. If you find the one you want to save, just right-click it and select Export.
Shadow Explorer” />
You will then be prompted to select a save location.
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Once you choose where to save, you will find that the files and folders are safely delivered to where you chose. It is so simple! You can also go to “File” – “Configure System Protection” to check the current shadow copy settings.
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This basically opens the System Restore tab in Windows.
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Make sure that protection is enabled for all drives containing important data that you want to back up versions of. You can also manually create a system restore point by clicking the Create button. Enjoy!
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