C
cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)
On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:01:26 -0700, Birk Binnard
Behind the scenes is a generic engine that keeps previous copies of
all changed files. These retained previous copies are then scoped:
- system files; scoped into "System Restore"
- data files; scoped into "Previous Versions"
There are simplistic (purpose-orientated) UIs to these two scopes.
All editions of Vista offer System Restore, which links previous
copies to Restore Points, along with registry and other content that
is stored as a "snapshot" of the moment the Restore Point was made.
The System Restore (SR) UI allows selection of one of these Restore
Points to restore. When selected, all backed-up material between that
time and the present is retro-applied to recreate the system state at
the time the Restore Point was made.
There's no UI that lets you pick out individual files, or query
changes in state (MS does have a downloadable tool to do that, using
the SR store for reference) and as you noted, you cannot set limits on
how much space is allocated to SR, or how many days to keep.
Some editions offer Previous Versions, that allows you to fall back to
older copies of your data files. The two Home editions of Vista do
not offer this, in keeping with the tradition of treating "home" users
as being too trivial to create any data of value (for example, XP Home
offers no Backup feature).
Here's where it gets really ugly...
http://www.pcpitstop.com/news/dave/2007-04.asp
....just because Home editions deny you a UI to access these backups of
your own data, doesn't mean to say they aren't there - they are, and
form part of the 15% of volume space that is dedicated to Shadow
Volume usage (i.e. both System Restore and Previous Versions).
If I were to steal your "Home" PC and upgrade it to Ultimate, I'd
unlock the UI to backup copies of data files you thought you'd
deleted, and I'd be able to restore and read them. Interesting?
One of the signs of a senescent industry, is where more effort is
spent on limiting value than creating it. In this sense, the Windows
platform has more than come of age... imagine, you have to put up with
all the overhead and disk space wasteage of creating and storing these
shadow copies, yet are denied access to them purely as a means of
limiting value, so that you'd be compelled to up-spend.
And that, Shane Nokes, is why I consider this a "stinky policy".
Behind the scenes is a generic engine that keeps previous copies of
all changed files. These retained previous copies are then scoped:
- system files; scoped into "System Restore"
- data files; scoped into "Previous Versions"
There are simplistic (purpose-orientated) UIs to these two scopes.
All editions of Vista offer System Restore, which links previous
copies to Restore Points, along with registry and other content that
is stored as a "snapshot" of the moment the Restore Point was made.
The System Restore (SR) UI allows selection of one of these Restore
Points to restore. When selected, all backed-up material between that
time and the present is retro-applied to recreate the system state at
the time the Restore Point was made.
There's no UI that lets you pick out individual files, or query
changes in state (MS does have a downloadable tool to do that, using
the SR store for reference) and as you noted, you cannot set limits on
how much space is allocated to SR, or how many days to keep.
Some editions offer Previous Versions, that allows you to fall back to
older copies of your data files. The two Home editions of Vista do
not offer this, in keeping with the tradition of treating "home" users
as being too trivial to create any data of value (for example, XP Home
offers no Backup feature).
Here's where it gets really ugly...
http://www.pcpitstop.com/news/dave/2007-04.asp
....just because Home editions deny you a UI to access these backups of
your own data, doesn't mean to say they aren't there - they are, and
form part of the 15% of volume space that is dedicated to Shadow
Volume usage (i.e. both System Restore and Previous Versions).
If I were to steal your "Home" PC and upgrade it to Ultimate, I'd
unlock the UI to backup copies of data files you thought you'd
deleted, and I'd be able to restore and read them. Interesting?
One of the signs of a senescent industry, is where more effort is
spent on limiting value than creating it. In this sense, the Windows
platform has more than come of age... imagine, you have to put up with
all the overhead and disk space wasteage of creating and storing these
shadow copies, yet are denied access to them purely as a means of
limiting value, so that you'd be compelled to up-spend.
And that, Shane Nokes, is why I consider this a "stinky policy".
The rights you save may be your own