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Mathematical Sciences Computer Support Group

How to restore your files stored on network shares from Windows XP


How to restore your files stored on network shares from Windows XP

Prerequisites:

 

Introduction

Network shares or drives are backed up with a unique NetApp technology called Snapshots. The Snapshot feature allows you to recover files and directories that were deleted, corrupted or altered on your network drives with out CSG intervention.

A Snapshot is a frozen, hidden, read-only view of files and folders at a specific point in time. CSG has scheduled a number of different Snapshots to help users with their restore needs as follows:

  1. An hourly Snapshot is taken each hour. Twenty four hourly Snapshots are available to view.
  2. A nightly Snapshot is taken each night at 12:00AM. Seven nights of nightly Snapshots are available to view.
  3. A weekly Snapshot is taken each Monday at 12:00AM. Two weeks of weekly Snapshots are available to view.

Instructions:

  1. Right-click "My Computer" and select "Open" from the menu.



     
  2. Right click on a "Network Drive" depending on which files you would like to access and click on "Properties" from the menu. Remember, Snapshots only exist on file shares located on \\netapp1 or \\netapp2, not on \\webedit!



  3. Click the "Previous Versions" tab.



     
  4. In the "Previous Versions" window, select the Date/Time of the backup/Snapshot you want to browse to and click "View".


     
  5. Navigate around the files and directories till you find the one you're looking for. Then you can drag and drop it onto your desktop, double click it to open a read-only copy of the file, or use Cntl C and Cntl V to cut and paste it where you want it restored to.

    If you still can't find the file or directory you're looking for, or are looking for files older than a week or two, send an email to request@divms.uiowa.edu. Weekly full backups are kept on tape for 12 weeks.