[wanted] Plugin to access shadow copies of network drives

[TealC]

Hi

Yesterday i needed to restore some files from a shadow copy of a network drive. I did this by opening the shadow copy in explorer, then dragging the files and dropping them on an open total commander tab. While the files were copied i noticed that the source path looked like this: x:\@GMT-2007.08.16-05.00.00\path\to\files, so i tried and entered "cd x:\@GMT-2007.08.16-05.00.00\" in tc's command line and it actually worked, i was viewing the shadow copy!
Obviously you need to know the date and time of the snapshot in order to access it, which brings me to my question: Is there a filesystem Plugin, which lists the available shadow copies of each connected network drive, so they can easily be accessed?
If not, would anyone be interested in creating such a plugin?

regards,
Marius

[theosdikaios]

Any news about this topic?

TIA.

[TealC]

unfortunately not.

a friend of mine tried implementing it using the scriptwfx plugin, but he didn't get far...

[norfie²]

It would be interesting for WVI users too. WVI saves restore points with help of Volume Shadow Service. The path looks like
\\localhost\C$\@GMT-2008.07.30-23.47.11
for a snapshot on drive C.

[TealC]

excuse my ignorance, but what's wvi?

[norfie²]

WVI is my abbrevation for Windows VIsta or Windows V6 what means Vista.

[HolgerK]

A very simple way to open previous versions in TC (only tested with vista) is to:

create the following registry entry:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\Open in Total Commander]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\Open in Total Commander\command]
@="c:\\Tools\\totalcmd\\totalcmd.exe /O  /T /R=\"%1\""

(of course the path to TC has to adapted to your local installation)

right click <RMB> on a drive button (for example [C:] )

select "Properties: Previous Versions"

select the date (C$: 28.07.2008)

<RMB> and select "Open in Total Commander"

Regards,
Holger

[norfie²]

2HolgerK
Your suggestion works with WXP (and W2k3 server) too.

Another way without any preparations but one step more like above:
1st: properties of a drive/directory
2nd: go to "Previous Versions", choose a version and press button "View"
3rd: choose a file or directory at new Explorer window, properties
4th: Now you see the location which can copied into TCmd.

[TealC]

Works for me too. Only with the difference, that in Windows XP you can not right click on the Date, but you need to display it in explorer first, then you can use the right-click solution. But it's better than copying the path, then going to TC, then change directory.

Thanks!

[DrShark]

In Windows 7, there is a handy feature in drive properties, called Previous versions. It allows to restore previous/archived versions of the files on the NTFS formatted drive if VSS is enabled.
In the list of "restore points" of the drive, select on and pick "Open" item in its contect menu. Then the browsing of the drive in Explorer allowed, the paths are presented like \\localhost\C$\Documents (‎8 ‎квітня ‎2012‎ р., ‏‎23:03), where (‎8 ‎квітня ‎2012‎ р., ‏‎23:03) is a date-time of snapshot (drive restore point).

Total Commander integration will allow more then just a browsing: usage of its Search and Sync Dirs tools will give great benefits in time saving.

[HolgerK]

http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=153815#153815

Regards
Holger

[DrShark]

http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=153815#153815

Thanks! The threads may be merged now.
2HolgerK
With your .reg file code on Windows 7 x64 I got an error:
You can only import binary registry files from within the registry editor (in russian: "Возможен импорт только двоичных файлов данных реестра")
After manually entering data using Registry editor and exporting the key, I got next working .reg file:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\Open in Total Commander\command]
@="C:\\totalcmd\\TOTALCMD64.EXE /O /T /R="%1""

[white]

[mod]Thread [Plugin request] FS plugin for VSS Previous Versions merged.

White (moderator)[/mod]

[X-Byte]

Unfortunately there seems to be a bug in how Total Commander handles the access to previous versions.
In my case I have a network share, presented by a NetApp file server which supports the access to previous versions.
In Explorer, accessing previous versions via the properties dialog and Open works flawlessly.
Opening the same path and version in Total Commander (GMT addition to the path) seems to work at first glance but TC always only shows the current version and not the previous one.

Anyone with access to a NetApp who can verify this behaviour?

Still, a more convenient and most importantly working way to access previous versions, integrated into Total Commander would be much appreciated. The quirky way using the context menu within properties/previous versions might be a workaround but won't work using TC in portable mode nor seems to be working at all with NetApp file servers.

[ghisler(Author)]

Explorer integration only works with Explorer. However, you can use the buttons "Copy" or "Restore" to access the older versions.