Lesson 2: Configuring Data Protection

631

Complete PC Restore restores the disk image exactly as it was when it was backed up. The

backup consists of a large virtual hard disk (VHD) file and a number of small Extensible

Markup Language (XML) documents. If you have included more than one hard disk in the

image, all included hard disks will be restored. The OS installation disk is used only to load the

System Recovery tools. It does not install the OS. You would use Complete PC Restore if, for

example, a virus attack has corrupted or erased the disk partition that contains your OS and

wiped out all your restore points.

MORE INFO VHD files

For more information about VHD files, access http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/virtualserver

/2005/proddocs/vs_tr_a_virtualhd.mspx?mfr=true.

If your entire hard disk suffers a hardware failure and you replace it, you will need to use an OS

installation disk to load the System Recovery tools. If the computer came without an installa-

tion disk but was supplied with a recovery partition, you need to contact the manufacturer or

retailer. You can specify only hard disk (internal or external) or optical media when creating

a Complete PC Backup, so these are your only restore options.

If you carry out a Complete PC Restore, you will need to revalidate your OS. Otherwise, there

would be nothing to prevent dishonest persons from creating a Complete PC Backup on opti-

cal media from a computer with a validated OS and applying the image to other computers.

NOTE

Windows Vista editions

Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore is not included with Windows Vista Home Basic or

Windows Vista Home Premium editions.

Restoring Damaged or Deleted Files by Using Previous Versions

Previous versions are either backup copies (copies of files and folders that you back up by

using the Back Up Files wizard) or shadow copies (copies of files and folders that Windows

Vista automatically saves when it creates a restore point). You can use previous versions of files

to restore damaged files or files that you, or users you support, accidentally modify or delete.

You can open previous versions, save them to a different location, or restore a previous version

of a damaged file to its original location.

Shadow Copies

Shadow copies are automatically saved as part of a restore point. If System Protection is

enabled, Windows Vista automatically creates shadow copies of files that have been modified

since the last restore point was created. Typically, new restore points are created once a day.