Have you ever accidentally saved over a file you were working on? Accidental file deletion or modification is a common cause of data loss. Windows Vista includes a useful innovation to help you protect your data: Shadow Copy. This feature automatically creates point-in-time copies of files as you work, so you can quickly and easily retrieve versions of a document you may have accidentally deleted.

Shadow copy is automatically turned on in Windows Vista and creates copies on a scheduled basis of files that have changed. Since only incremental changes are saved, minimal disk space is used for shadow copies. On my PC, Vista Home Premium is currently keeping about 10 days worth of shadow copies (screenshot).

Up until now, this feature has only been available in the Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista.

With today’s “This Is Useful” tool, access to shadow copies is now available to Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium users.

Shadow Explorer is a free utility that unlocks this feature for home users. Shadow Explorer enables you to go back in time and access your files and folders as they were on previous dates. IT works on single files as well as whole folders.

Learn more and download it free from shadowexplorer