Windows 11 - Previous versions, cannot seem to get it working.


andrew129260

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So back on windows 7 it was fairly straightforward, right click a file, choose properties and previous versions.

When I moved to windows 10, I had to manually enable the Shadow copy service and set it to automatic startup, plus enable the system protection which was not enabled by default on a clean install (same with win 11), then create a task under task manager which would run the wmic shadowcopy call create Volume='C:\' command.

Only then would it work and the previous versions tab would function correctly without having to use file history.

Now however, I am on windows 11 22H2 and I cannot for the life of me get the previous versions feature to work following the steps I did for windows 10.

Not sure what I am missing here. Should I give up and use file history? I could use it over my network connected to my router or something, but I would rather just use previous versions the way it used to work. I do my backups manually. The main reason I use it is it's very convenient to restore virtual machine files back to a previous state before a change was made etc.
 

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    Laptop
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    Lenovo ideapad flex 14API 2 in 1
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    Ryzen 5 3500u
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@andrew129260

We've all had to make one or two changes when moving on from Windows 7.

Most have realized, that you just can't beat 3rd party backup software. Programs like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper.
All those out-dated Microsoft methods, didn't really work... ALL the time. 3rd party backup software does.

I think once you give one of them a try, you will see how utterly useful they are.
 

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    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
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    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
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    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
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    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
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    Firefox 3.x ??
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    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
@andrew129260

We've all had to make one or two changes when moving on from Windows 7.

Most have realized, that you just can't beat 3rd party backup software. Programs like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper.
All those out-dated Microsoft methods, didn't really work... ALL the time. 3rd party backup software does.

I think once you give one of them a try, you will see how utterly useful they are.
I already use macrium reflect. That has nothing to do with my question......
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ideapad flex 14API 2 in 1
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3500u
    Motherboard
    LENOVO LNVNB161216 (FP5)
    Memory
    12GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
    Hard Drives
    256 GB Samsung ssd nvme
    Internet Speed
    800mbps down, 20 up
    Other Info
    Your awesome for reading this.
  • Operating System
    Chrome OS
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Memory
    4GB
    Browser
    Chrome ;)
So back on windows 7 it was fairly straightforward, right click a file, choose properties and previous versions.

When I moved to windows 10, I had to manually enable the Shadow copy service and set it to automatic startup, plus enable the system protection which was not enabled by default on a clean install (same with win 11), then create a task under task manager which would run the wmic shadowcopy call create Volume='C:\' command.

Only then would it work and the previous versions tab would function correctly without having to use file history.

Now however, I am on windows 11 22H2 and I cannot for the life of me get the previous versions feature to work following the steps I did for windows 10.

Not sure what I am missing here. Should I give up and use file history? I could use it over my network connected to my router or something, but I would rather just use previous versions the way it used to work. I do my backups manually. The main reason I use it is it's very convenient to restore virtual machine files back to a previous state before a change was made etc.
It was always a but of a fudge to get shadowcopy working like Windows 7. I am not surprised it is not working in Windows 11.

It is not clear exactly what you are trying to achieve. I assume you can only revert to version at point a shadowcopy was made in a Restore Point?

If all you want is backups that you can restore, there are a number of file syncing tools.

AOMEI Backupper Pro has a syncing feature which will sync in real time, sync on demand, sync one direction from folder A to B i.e. add a file to folder A and it gets synced to folder B, same in reverse B to A. It also has a two-way syncing feature i.e. add file to either folder A or B, and it gets synced to folder B or A.

Of course, that only keeps latest version of file once you save file you are working on.

If you want to be able to go back to one of several previous versions, File History Backup will do the job, but there are other 3rd party tools that will do similar.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
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    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
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    Yep, got one
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    Stella Artois
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    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
So back on windows 7 it was fairly straightforward, right click a file, choose properties and previous versions.

When I moved to windows 10, I had to manually enable the Shadow copy service and set it to automatic startup, plus enable the system protection which was not enabled by default on a clean install (same with win 11), then create a task under task manager which would run the wmic shadowcopy call create Volume='C:\' command.

Only then would it work and the previous versions tab would function correctly without having to use file history.

Now however, I am on windows 11 22H2 and I cannot for the life of me get the previous versions feature to work following the steps I did for windows 10.

Not sure what I am missing here. Should I give up and use file history? I could use it over my network connected to my router or something, but I would rather just use previous versions the way it used to work. I do my backups manually. The main reason I use it is it's very convenient to restore virtual machine files back to a previous state before a change was made etc.
You could have look with shadowcopyview . If that seems to work, then the shadows are fine.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
It is not clear exactly what you are trying to achieve. I assume you can only revert to version at point a shadowcopy was made in a Restore Point?

Yeah, so for example on windows 7 and 10 I would use my virtual machines and would be able to restore to a version a day ago or a few days ago for instance by right clicking the virtual machine folder and using restore previous versions. I would dedicate a fair bit of drive space to system restore/shadow copies. This made it easy cause it was all on the same drive and I could quickly restore a file without having to hookup an external backup drive or use file history over a network drive for example. I understand it's not a backup, and it wasn't 100% relied on, just convenient.

ou could have look with shadowcopyview . If that seems to work, then the shadows are fine.

Thanks, I tried this. It seemed to show only a few copies, and not all of my virtual machine folders, despite having more than enough space. Strange. And it does not show up under the previous versions tab in file explorer.

It seems to me though the best course of action is to just hookup an external hard drive to my router and use that for file history. The problem being that I noticed file history seems to backup every hour and while you can adjust the settings it doesn't seem to account for laptops, and I dont want the laptop battery draining trying to do a file history backup every hour. I could use one drive, as that respects power settings, but I dont want to pay for more storage that would be needed for large virtual machine files.

Hope this all makes sense, and thanks all.

(yes again, I understand its not a backup, and I do use macrium for system image backups.)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ideapad flex 14API 2 in 1
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3500u
    Motherboard
    LENOVO LNVNB161216 (FP5)
    Memory
    12GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
    Hard Drives
    256 GB Samsung ssd nvme
    Internet Speed
    800mbps down, 20 up
    Other Info
    Your awesome for reading this.
  • Operating System
    Chrome OS
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Memory
    4GB
    Browser
    Chrome ;)
I just booted into win11 created a shadow copy and couldn't get anything to show under previous versions tab
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Yeah, so for example on windows 7 and 10 I would use my virtual machines and would be able to restore to a version a day ago or a few days ago for instance by right clicking the virtual machine folder and using restore previous versions. I would dedicate a fair bit of drive space to system restore/shadow copies. This made it easy cause it was all on the same drive and I could quickly restore a file without having to hookup an external backup drive or use file history over a network drive for example. I understand it's not a backup, and it wasn't 100% relied on, just convenient.



Thanks, I tried this. It seemed to show only a few copies, and not all of my virtual machine folders, despite having more than enough space. Strange. And it does not show up under the previous versions tab in file explorer.

It seems to me though the best course of action is to just hookup an external hard drive to my router and use that for file history. The problem being that I noticed file history seems to backup every hour and while you can adjust the settings it doesn't seem to account for laptops, and I dont want the laptop battery draining trying to do a file history backup every hour. I could use one drive, as that respects power settings, but I dont want to pay for more storage that would be needed for large virtual machine files.

Hope this all makes sense, and thanks all.

(yes again, I understand its not a backup, and I do use macrium for system image backups.)
Pretty sure there is a setting to limit number of backup versions in FHB. It should not do any backups after first one unless anything has changed.

You could just create a simple robocopy batch file that backups up your vhds if they have changed on source drive to backup drive, then assign a shortcut to run it on demand?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
It seems Microsoft removed access for the Previous Versions tab in File Explorer; this will only work when using File History.
If you are using wmic shadowcopy call create Volume='C:\' you will need to use a 3rd party tool to view and extract files like ShadowExplorer or ShadowCopyView. The copies are been created, just that Microsoft for all their wisdom have hidden them.
Pete
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 11
But this was discussing Previous Version\Shadow Copy without using FileHistory as that need a separate drive attached.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 11
thanks for the ideas everyone. I'll need to think about my next course of action
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ideapad flex 14API 2 in 1
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3500u
    Motherboard
    LENOVO LNVNB161216 (FP5)
    Memory
    12GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
    Hard Drives
    256 GB Samsung ssd nvme
    Internet Speed
    800mbps down, 20 up
    Other Info
    Your awesome for reading this.
  • Operating System
    Chrome OS
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Memory
    4GB
    Browser
    Chrome ;)
But this was discussing Previous Version\Shadow Copy without using FileHistory as that need a separate drive attached.
I would like to know if that is possible.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
If a file, folder, or drive was not included in a restore point, added to File History, or included in a Windows Backup, then there will not be any previous versions available for it. :(

 

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  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
If a file, folder, or drive was not included in a restore point,..then there will not be any previous versions available for it.


It doesnt seem to work if a file folder or drive is included in a restore point.

Only seems to work if file history or windows backup are used.

There might some registry value that would be a workaround, but I dont know what it is
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
It doesnt seem to work if a file folder or drive is included in a restore point.

Only seems to work if file history or windows backup are used.

There might some registry value that would be a workaround, but I dont know what it is

I agree the restore point option is not as reliable for previous versions.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium

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