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Step by Step: File History

Article ID: 2771185 - View products that this article applies to.

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This article is provided by MVP Jay Pilarta. Microsoft is so thankful that MVPs who proactively share their professional experience with other users. The article would be posted on Jay Pilarta's website or the Crimson Spectrum

(http://aiscer.wordpress.com/)

blog later.

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Summary

File History when enabled protects files from within the Libraries, Desktop, Favorites, and Contacts folders and creates copies of the files. In any event of a System Refresh, Reset or Crash the files that were backed up through File History can easily be restored. File History's Restore interface has been made easy and simple to find and restore any version of files that were lost or damaged. File History is turned off by default and needs to be turned on manually and configured how it will save copies of files. Also, before using File History you will need an external storage device or network location with enough storage space to save copies or versions of files for all Users.

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More information

To Enable File History

Open Control Panel by either Right-Clicking from the left corner or by pressing together the Windows Key+X, and then select Control Panel from the Advanced Menu options.

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From the Control Panel window, select under System and Security the option for "Save backup copies of your files with File History".

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From the left pane choose "Select drive". You can use a portable hard drive or choose to "Add network location". For setting up a network location see the How-To for File Sharing on a Home Network
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2485631)
.

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Once an external drive or network location has been selected, click on "Turn On" and File History will save copies of your files for the first using the default specified folders.
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File History can be configured through its Advanced Settings of how it saves files and how long it will keep the versions of the files.
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To Restore a File or Folder

Find and click on "Restore personal files" from the left pane. A "Preview, Restore and Restore to" option is available by right clicking on a specific folder or file that can be restored. The "Restore to" allows restoring a file to another location.
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Restoring a file or folder is also available through File Explorer from the Ribbon interface and selecting "History". The History button will only be available if File History has been enabled or when the folder was part of File History's included folder locations.
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To Exclude Folders

To configure File History to exclude specific folder locations, click or select the "Exclude folders" link and hit "Add" in the proceeding window.
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Browse and choose the folder to be excluded by File History. All contents in this folder will not be saved and kept by File History.

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Hit "Save changes" to apply the settings to exclude the selected folder.
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