On one of my earlier article I’ve explained on how to restore an older version of a file in Windows Vista. I’ve also mentioned in that article that it applies to Windows Vista Ultimate, Business and Enterprise versions. But if haven’t spend those $$$ on Ultimate, Business or Enterprise versions of Vista you still have a way to restore earlier versions of files.

The trick to restoring an earlier version of a file is possible by a technology, Windows Vista Volume Shadow Copy Service, that’s available in all versions of Windows Vista. It’s only that Microsoft put on a viewer to view those backed-up copies only on the higher versions of Vista. But with a free tool, Shadow Explorer, you can still view and get back to the older versions of files if you are running Vista Home Premium or Home Basic.

Shadow Explorer works close with the Windows Vista Volume Shadow Copy Service to give you the ability to restore earlier versions of files on all versions of Windows Vista. All you do is download and install Shadow Explorer. And then when you launch Shadow Explorer, you have to click on the folder or file that you want to restore from an earlier version and then when you click on the dropdown at the top it shows you a list of all available backups (shadow copies) for your selection. Choose the timeline you want it to be restored from. It’s quite simple.

If you have any questions regarding this please make sure to ask in comments.

[Image credit: ThisIsUseful]