Change the settings for Shadow Copies of Shared Folders

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To change the settings for Shadow Copies of Shared Folders

1. Open Computer Management.

2. In the console tree, right-click Shared Folders, select All Tasks, and click Configure Shadow Copies.

   Where?

   • Computer Management/System Tools/Shared Folders

3. Click the volume where you want to make changes, and then click Settings.

4. In the Settings dialog box, change the settings as appropriate.

Notes

• To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure.

• To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

• There is a limit of 64 shadow copies per volume that can be stored. When this limit is reached, the oldest shadow copy will be deleted and cannot be retrieved.

• The following table lists the settings that you can configure.

  Setting	Description
  Storage area	Specifies the volume where the shadow copies are stored. The default setting is the volume that contains the source files. It is recommended that you use a separate volume on another disk to provide better performance for heavily-used file servers. You can only change the storage volume when there are no shadow copies present. If you need to change the storage volume for a volume that has already been enabled, you must first delete all of the shadow copies on that volume.
  Maximum size	Specifies the maximum amount of space that will be used to store shadow copies on a particular volume. The default size is 10% of the size of the volume that contains the source files that are being shadow copied. If the shadow copies are stored on a separate volume from the source files, change this default to reflect the amount of the storage volume that you want to dedicate to shadow copies. The storage limit must be at least 300 megabytes (MB); with this limit, only a single shadow copy can be stored. If you set a restrictive storage limit, verify that the number of shadow copies that you have scheduled will fit within those restraints. If shadow copies are deleted prematurely due to storage limits, you may be defeating the purpose of enabling Shadow Copies of Shared Folders. Click Details to compare the amount of space used on your storage volume with the maximum storage limit.
  Schedule	Specifies settings for creating a schedule to take shadow copies on a regular basis. Schedule shadow copies at a time of day that will work best for your users. The default schedule is 7:00 A.M. and 12:00 noon, Monday through Friday. For more information on creating a schedule for Shadow Copies of Shared Folders, see "Defining a schedule for shadow copies" in Related Topics.

Information about functional differences

• Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Shared Folders overview
Enable Shadow Copies for Shared Folders
Disable Shadow Copies for Shared Folders