Tech Tip: Overwritten a file in Vista or Windows 7 by accident?

If you have accidentally overwritten a document or file in Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7, don’t dispair – you may be able to recover it without the need for tape backups etc.
Vista and Windows 7 comes with a clever feature called shadow volume copy. This effectively keeps a copy of your old files when they get overwritten by new ones. There is only so much space allocated for this feature – so make sure you don’t delay in trying to restore your file.
If you accidentally delete a file or folder, right click the containing folder or the file and choose Restore previous versions. All the files and folders that you deleted or modified will be there.
Select the version you need back and click “restore”. Your file should now be reverted back to that version.