Data loss prevention technologies have evolved in Windows Vista in
comparison with Windows XP. In this regard, Microsoft has made
available Shadow Copy in Windows Vista Enterprise, Business
and Ultimate. Shadow Copy is a feature that saves point-in-time
copies of the files that are being modified concurrently with the
user's workflow. Being turned on by default in all the Vista editions
in which it has been implemented, Shadow Copy will allow users to
restore previous versions of files even if they have modified the
documents past the point where they lost all the data. Microsoft
informed that Shadow Copy saves incremental copies of the files and
that therefore the disk space occupied by shadow copies will be
minimal.
“In Windows Vista, System Restore is now based on the VSS technology,
which keeps track of block-level changes across your entire volume(s).
In contrast, Windows XP System Restore would keep copies of changed
system files by using a file system filter. The Windows XP method isn't
performance efficient because it works above the file system level,
impacting every system operation. It is also not consistent as it
doesn't have needed information across the entire volume. It wouldn't
restore, for instance, applications that place binaries (purposely or
maliciously) in the user profile,” explained Eduardo Laureano, the
Program Manager for System Restore.
Laureano also redefined the perspective Microsoft has over “minimal.”
The fact of the matter is that shadow copies can grow to occupy as much
as 15% of a volume. This is in fact the maximum limit. They will not
expand over that, and the growth is strictly correlated with the volume
of changed blocks on a system.
“Once they reach their cap, 15% of your volume, older shadow copies
will be deleted to free up room for new ones. With these improvements
in place, the Windows Vista solution allows for a more reliable
(restore points are readily available), robust (supports a much broader
set of repair scenarios) and efficient (seamless impact on performance)
System Restore,” Laureano added.
in vista data security has been given a lot of importance...lets enjoy these kinda advanced features provided by MS and keep our data secured and prevent it frm damages...
