Configuring Volume Shadow Copies

Volume Shadow Copies is a Windows Server 2012 R2 feature that enables you to maintain previous versions of files on a server, so if users accidentally delete or overwrite files, they can access a previous copy of those files. You can implement Volume Shadow Copies only for an entire volume; you cannot select specific shares, folders, or files.
To configure a Windows Server 2012 R2 volume to create Shadow Copies, use the following procedure.
1. Open File Explorer. The File Explorer window appears.
2. In the Folders list, expand the Computer container, right-click a volume and, from the shortcut menu, select Configure Shadow Copies. The Shadow Copies dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-10.



FIGURE 2-10 The Shadow Copies dialog box

3. In the Select A Volume box, choose the volume for which you want to enable Shadow Copies. By default, when you enable Shadow Copies for a volume, the system uses the following settings:
- The system stores the shadow copies on the selected volume.
- The system reserves a minimum of 300 MB of disk space for the shadow copies.
- The system creates shadow copies at 7:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. every weekday.
4. To modify the default parameters, click Settings to open the Settings dialog box.
5. In the Storage Area box, specify the volume where you want to store the shadow copies.
6. Specify the Maximum Size for the storage area or choose the No Limit option. If the storage area becomes filled, the system begins deleting the oldest shadow copies.
However, no matter how much space you allocate to the storage area, Windows Server 2012 R2 supports a maximum of 64 shadow copies for each volume.
7. Click Schedule to open the Schedule dialog box. By using the controls provided, you  can modify the existing Shadow Copies tasks, delete them, or create new ones, based on the needs of your users.
8. Click OK twice to close the Schedule and Settings dialog boxes.
9. Click Enable. The system enables the Shadow Copies feature for the selected volume and creates the first copy in the designated storage area.
10. Close File Explorer.
After you complete this procedure, users can restore previous versions of files on the selected volumes from the Previous Versions tab on any file or folder’s Properties sheet.