Shadow Copy is a Windows Vista (and Windows 2003/2008) feature, also known as Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS), that automatically creates point-in-time copies of files as you work, so you can quickly and easily retrieve versions of a document you may have accidentally deleted or altered. Shadow copy is automatically turned on in Windows Vista and creates copies on a scheduled basis of files that have changed. But Microsoft grants access to these copies only in Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions.

ShadowExplorer is a freeware utility mainly aimed at Windows Vista Home edition users to allow access to the shadow copy storage and make the point-in-time copies of the backup files available to the user.

Key features of ShadowExplorer include:

+ Show available point-in-time copies
+ Browse through Shadow Copies
+ Retrieve versions of files and folders

Windows Vista Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions users can use this tool to export the shadow copy data to another physical disk as a backup against drive crashes.

Click here to download Shadow Explorer for Windows Vista.