Previous Versions is an incredibly useful feature built into Windows 7, which allows the OS to record and view earlier versions of files without a flux capacitor. Here’s a detailed guide to using this excellent feature.

以前的版本是Windows 7内置的非常有用的功能，它使OS无需通量电容器即可记录和查看文件的早期版本。 这是使用此出色功能的详细指南。

This feature goes beyond the functionality of the Recycle Bin as it allows you to:

此功能超越了回收站的功能，它使您可以：

• Recover files you may have permanently deleted.恢复您可能已永久删除的文件。
• View or restore a version of a file which you have saved over.查看或还原已保存的文件版本。
• Allow you to compare current and/or previous versions of a file side by side.允许您并排比较文件的当前和/或先前版本。

With a little bit of dedicated hard drive space, an automation script and scheduled task, you can leverage this feature to guard against inadvertent file deletions and overwrites which traditional backups may not adequately cover.

借助少量专用硬盘空间，自动化脚本和预定任务，您可以利用此功能来防止意外删除和覆盖传统备份可能无法充分覆盖的文件。

使用以前的版本：一个简单的演示 (Using Previous Versions: A Simple Demonstration)

Before covering the configuration options, we are going to demonstrate the awesome power of previous versions. If you are already familiar with this, you can jump to the section about configuration.

在介绍配置选项之前，我们将演示以前版本的强大功能。 如果您已经对此很熟悉，则可以跳到有关配置的部分。

Assume we have a folder on our desktop which has 3 files which have previously been captured as previous versions. We will use these files throughout the demonstration.

假设我们在桌面上有一个文件夹，其中包含3个文件，这些文件先前已被捕获为以前的版本。 在整个演示过程中，我们将使用这些文件。

Making Changes to the Original Files

更改原始文件

Now we are going to permanently delete (Shift+Delete) the Excel file,

现在，我们将永久删除(Shift + Delete)Excel文件，

edit the text file,

编辑文本文件，

and rename the Word document.

并重命名Word文档。

Recovering the Original Files

恢复原始文件

Once the text file is closed, we lose the ability to undo our changes. So in the event we need to recover a previous version of the file, simply right-click on the file and select the Restore Previous Versions menu option.

文本文件关闭后，我们将无法撤消所做的更改。 因此，如果我们需要恢复文件的先前版本，只需右键单击该文件，然后选择“恢复先前版本”菜单选项。

In the Previous Versions tab of the file’s Properties dialog, you will see all of the previous versions (or snapshots) of this file which have been captured. Select the version you want to view or restore from.

在文件的“属性”对话框的“以前的版本”选项卡中，您将看到已捕获的该文件的所有以前的版本(或快照)。 选择您要查看或还原的版本。

• Clicking the Open button will open the the selected copy in the default program. This is the file at the time to snapshot was taken.单击“打开”按钮将在默认程序中打开选定的副本。 这是拍摄快照时的文件。

• Clicking the Copy button will prompt you for the location where you want to create a copy of the selected version.单击复制按钮将提示您输入要创建所选版本的副本的位置。

• Clicking Restore will replace the current version with the selected version. You will be prompted to confirm you really want to do this.单击恢复将用所选版本替换当前版本。 系统将提示您确认您确实要执行此操作。

But what about the Word Document we renamed or the Excel file we deleted? When you open the previous versions of the renamed file, there is nothing there. If a file is deleted, there is obviously no file to view the previous versions of.

但是，我们重命名的Word文档或删除的Excel文件呢？ 当您打开重命名文件的先前版本时，那里什么也没有。 如果文件被删除，则显然没有文件可以查看其先前版本。

In the event of a file being renamed or deleted, you have to view the previous version of the the containing folder. You do this by right-clicking on some white space in the folder and selecting the Properties option.

如果文件被重命名或删除，则必须查看包含文件夹的先前版本。 通过右键单击文件夹中的某些空白并选择“属性”选项，可以执行此操作。

In the Previous Versions tab, you can see snapshots made of the folder as a whole.

在“以前的版本”选项卡中，您可以查看整个文件夹的快照。

By double-clicking the folder in the list or clicking the Open button you can view the contents of the folder at the time the snapshot was made. You can see here that the Word Document has the original file name and the contents also contain the Excel file which we permanently deleted.

通过双击列表中的文件夹或单击“打开”按钮，可以在创建快照时查看该文件夹的内容。 您可以在此处看到Word文档具有原始文件名，并且内容还包含我们被永久删除的Excel文件。

From here you can view or copy the respective file versions. Additionally, you can use the Copy and Restore buttons in the Previous Versions tab exactly as you would have against an individual file.

在这里，您可以查看或复制相应的文件版本。 此外，您可以完全像对待单个文件一样使用“以前版本”选项卡中的“复制和还原”按钮。

Recovering a Deleted Folder

恢复已删除的文件夹

What about the case where an entire folder is deleted?

如果删除整个文件夹，该怎么办？

Currently our Sample Files folder is on the desktop, so we are going to permanently delete (Shift+Delete) it.

当前，我们的Sample Files文件夹位于桌面上，因此我们将永久删除(Shift + Delete)它。

In order to recover this folder or a file inside of this folder, we have to view the previous version of the parent folder. In our case the desktop.

为了恢复此文件夹或该文件夹中的文件，我们必须查看父文件夹的先前版本。 在我们的例子中是台式机。

Unfortunately, if you right-click on the desktop, there is no Restore Previous Versions or Properties option.

不幸的是，如果在桌面上单击鼠标右键，将没有“还原以前的版本”或“属性”选项。

So in order to get to this, we need to get to the Windows Explorer view of the desktop folder.

因此，为了做到这一点，我们需要进入桌面文件夹的Windows资源管理器视图。

Open your profile folder from the Start Menu.

从“开始”菜单中打开您的个人资料文件夹。

Inside of the Windows Explorer view of your profile, there is a Desktop folder. Right-click on this folder and select the Restore Previous Versions option.

在您的配置文件的Windows资源管理器视图中，有一个Desktop文件夹。 右键单击此文件夹，然后选择“还原以前的版本”选项。

As you can probably guess, you can now view historical snapshots of your desktop contents.

您可能已经猜到了，现在可以查看桌面内容的历史快照。

Open the respective previous version and you can view the contents of the desktop at the time of the snapshot. Notice this snapshot contains the folder we permanently deleted previously.

打开相应的先前版本，您可以在快照时查看桌面的内容。 请注意，此快照包含我们之前永久删除的文件夹。

By opening the Sample File folder, we can now recover the contents of what we previously deleted.

通过打开示例文件文件夹，我们现在可以恢复先前删除的内容。

While this is just a very basic example, it demonstrates just how powerful this function is. The same methodology can be use to recover files from almost any folder on your computer, not just your documents.

尽管这只是一个非常基本的示例，但它展示了此功能的强大功能。 可以使用相同的方法从计算机上几乎所有文件夹中恢复文件，而不仅仅是从文档中恢复文件。

设置和配置以前的版本 (Setting Up and Configuring Previous Versions)

Previous versions of files are recorded as part of a System Restore Point. So whenever a restore point is created, if you have the option set to capture previous versions of files, this data will be recorded at that time. It is important to note that this function is smart enough to know that only changes to documents should be recorded. For example, if you have not updated a document in 3 months, a new snapshot is not captured each time a restore point is created.

文件的早期版本记录为系统还原点的一部分。 因此，无论何时创建还原点，如果您设置了捕获早期版本文件的选项，那么该数据将在那时记录。 重要的是要注意，此功能足够智能，可以知道仅记录对文档所做的更改。 例如，如果您有3个月未更新文档，则每次创建还原点时都不会捕获新快照。

To view or change your current settings, open the System item in the Control Panel and click the System Protection item. If you get a UAC prompt, select the option to continue.

要查看或更改您的当前设置，请在“控制面板”中打开“系统”项，然后单击“系统保护”项。 如果出现UAC提示，请选择选项以继续。

Under the System Protection tab, select the drive containing the files you want to monitor for previous changes and click the Configure button.

在“系统保护”选项卡下，选择包含要监视其先前更改的文件的驱动器，然后单击“配置”按钮。

Under the Restore Settings section, make sure you have one of the options which includes previous files selected.

在“还原设置”部分下，确保选择了其中一个选项，其中包括先前选择的文件。

Under the Disk Space Usage, set the amount of space you want to allow for storing previous versions of files. The more space you allow here, the farther you can “go back” to a previous copy of a file. However, by dedicating space for this feature, you lose the respective amount of storage for new files so be sure to take this into consideration when making this setting.

在“磁盘空间使用情况”下，设置要允许存储以前版本的文件的空间量。 您在此处留出的空间越多，可以越远地“返回”文件的先前副本。 但是，通过为该功能分配空间，您会丢失用于新文件的相应存储量，因此请确保在进行此设置时将此考虑在内。

Apply your settings and System Restore will start using them immediately.

应用您的设置，系统还原将立即开始使用它们。

创建系统还原点 (Creating System Restore Points)

As mentioned above, previous versions are captured as part of a System Restore Point. Restore points are created automatically by Windows whenever certain installations are done and also, according to Microsoft documentation, once a day (although my observations do not support this). However, if you want to take complete control over when restore points are taken, you can create them yourself either manually or via a scheduled task.

如上所述，以前的版本被捕获为系统还原点的一部分。 Windows会在完成某些安装后自动创建还原点，并且根据Microsoft文档，每天还会创建一次还原点(尽管我的观察并不支持此操作)。 但是，如果要完全控制何时使用还原点，则可以手动或通过计划任务自行创建它们。

Manually Creating a Restore Point

手动创建还原点

To create a System Restore Point manually, in the System Protection tab in the System Properties dialog, simply select the respective drive and click the Create button.

要手动创建系统还原点，只需在“系统属性”对话框的“系统保护”选项卡中，选择相应的驱动器，然后单击“创建”按钮即可。

Give the new restore point a name and click Create.

为新的还原点命名，然后单击“创建”。

Automating the System Restore Point Creation

自动创建系统还原点

If this function is something which you intend to use heavily or simply want some additional insurance against accidental file overwrites and deletes, creating a Scheduled Task to force the creation of a System Restore Point is the way to go. While there is not a simple command you can run to create a restore point, we have provided a VBScript file which allows you to automate the process of creating a restore point. You can download this script at the end of the article.

如果您打算大量使用此功能，或者只是想为意外的文件覆盖和删除提供一些额外的保证，那么创建计划任务以强制创建系统还原点是您的最佳选择。 虽然没有可以运行的简单命令来创建还原点，但是我们提供了一个VBScript文件，该文件可让您自动化创建还原点的过程。 您可以在文章末尾下载此脚本。

Create a new Scheduled Task which runs as an administrator on the respective machine. Make sure you have the Run with highest privileges box checked.

创建一个新的计划任务，该任务在相应计算机上以管理员身份运行。 确保选中“以最高权限运行”框。

In the Triggers tab, configure how often you want a restore point created. Remember, snapshots of files are captured as part of the System Restore Point.

在“触发器”选项卡中，配置要创建还原点的频率。 请记住，文件快照是作为系统还原点的一部分捕获的。

In the Actions tab, configure the task to run the CreateRestorePoint.vbs script provided at the end of the article.

在“操作”选项卡中，配置任务以运行本文结尾处提供的CreateRestorePoint.vbs脚本。

In the Conditions tab, select the option to Wake the computer to run this task.

在“条件”选项卡中，选择“唤醒计算机以运行此任务”选项。

In the Settings tab, select the option to be able to run the task on demand as well as the option to run the task as soon as possible after a missed schedule.

在“设置”选项卡中，选择能够按需运行任务的选项，以及在错过计划后尽快运行任务的选项。

Apply your changes and you are all set.

应用更改，一切就绪。

以前的版本与备份 (Previous Versions vs. Backups)

As you can see the previous versions function is quite powerful. However, to be clear, this is not a replacement for regular system backups as it will not protect against drive failure. That said, previous versions offer several conveniences and functions that backups and file syncing services may not:

如您所见，以前的版本功能非常强大。 但是，需要明确的是， 这不能代替常规的系统备份，因为它不能防止驱动器发生故障。 也就是说，以前的版本提供了一些便利和功能，而备份和文件同步服务可能没有：

• Ability to view or restore deleted/overwritten files with just a few clicks (in the event your backup drive is not available).只需单击几下即可查看或还原已删除/覆盖的文件(如果您的备份驱动器不可用)。
• Ability to pick from several snapshots of the same file as they were captured at different points in time.能够从在不同时间点捕获的同一文件的多个快照中进行选择。
• Historical snapshots can be created at regular, frequent intervals to provide in-day protection against accidental “oops”.可以定期创建频繁的历史快照，以提供针对意外“哎呀”的日常保护。
• No uploading or downloading required.无需上传或下载。

Previous versions, however, make a great compliment to backups and file syncing services as it not only adds an extra layer of protection but also the conveniences from above at no additional cost.

但是，以前的版本非常适合备份和文件同步服务，因为它不仅增加了额外的保护层，而且还提供了从上面获得的便利，而无需支付任何额外费用。

Download CreateRestorePoint Script

下载CreateRestorePoint脚本

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/56891/use-windows-7s-previous-versions-to-go-back-in-time-and-save-your-files/