Configure File History in Windows 10 – Step by Step Guide

Configure File History in Windows 10 – Step by Step Guide

File history is a feature of Window operating systems that allows you to take backup of network files and helps to recover these files if something goes wrong. It works much like the same way as the Shadow Copy feature works. To configure the File History feature in Windows 10, you need either a USB media or a network drive where you will save the file history data. If you are using a virtualized platform such as VMware Workstation or VirtualBox, you can use the Shared Folder feature to configure File History.
Alos read the following articles:

• How to use system restore in Windows 10
• Top 10 new features of Windows 10

The Shared Folder feature allows you to share the host system’s data with the virtual machines. In addition, Shared Folder can also be mapped as a network drive in the virtual machines. This network drive can be used to save the file history data. In this post, we will use VMware’s Shared Folder feature to configure File History inside Windows 10 virtual machine.
To configure File History in Windows 10, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Open the Virtual Machine Settings, click Options, and then select Shared Folders in the left pane. In the right pane, select the Always enabled radio button, and then click Add, as shown in the following figure.
2. On the welcome page of the Add Share Folder Wizard, click Next. On the Name the Shared Folder page, click Browse, select the folder of the local host machine that you want to share. For example, C:\Users\Public. It will be used to store the file history backup data.
3. Click Next and then click Finish to close the Add Shared Folder Wizard. Close the Virtual Machine Settings.
4. On your Windows 10 system, open File Explorer, and create some test files for the testing purpose.

Enable File History in Windows 10

1. To enable the File History feature, open the SETTINGS window, and select Update & security. On the UPDATE & SECURITY window, select Backup and then click More options .
2. On the BACKUP OPTIONS screen, click See advanced settings, as shown in the following figure.
3. On the File History window, click Select a network location. On the Select
4. drive window, click Add network location.
5. In the Folder text box of the Select Folder window, type \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\<shared folder name> and click Shared Folder.
6. On the Select Drive window, ensure that your network location is added, and then click OK.
7. On the File History window, you can see that the Turn on option is now highlighted. Click Turn on.
8. Wait until the File History is on message appears and then click Run now.
9. Wait for a few seconds and close all the active windows. Navigate to the Documents folder and delete the files that you have created previously. Also, empty the Recycle Bin.

Recovering Deleted Files Using File History

To recover deleted files using the File History feature, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Press the Start button, type file history in the search box, and then select Restore your files with File History, as shown in the following figure.
2. On the Home – File History window, double-click the Documents. On the Document – File History window, select your deleted files, in this case, Text File1 and Text File2 and then click Restore button to recover the deleted files.
3. Navigate to the Documents folder and verify that your files are recovered.

That’s all you need to configure File History in Windows 10 and recover files using this feature. If got stuck anywhere don’t hesitate to share your issues. Just drop your queries in the comment box, we will catch you soon.

July 24, 2016 by ProTechGurus

How To Connect USB Devices To VMware Virtual Machines

VMware Workstation and VMware Player allow you to connect the removable devices, such as USB drives and USB printers to a virtual machine. However, in the case of USB printer, you also need to enable virtual printing for the virtual machine. When you connect a USB device to a VMware virtual machine, you can use it in the same way as you use in a physical system. However, a USB device can be connected either to the physical system or to the virtual machine at a time. You can customize the settings for a removable device, for this, you need to change the virtual machine settings. Before customizing the removable device settings, ensure that the virtual machine, to which you want to connect the USB device, is powered on. In this post, we will explain how to connect USB devices to VMware virtual machines.

Steps to Connect USB Devices to VMware Virtual Machines

To connect USB devices to VMware virtual machines, you need to perform the following steps:

1. On the VMware Player console, click Player (click VM, if you are using VMware Workstation) and select Removable Devices. In the removable device options, select the device that you want to connect, such as USB Pendrive, and then select Connect. The following figure shows how to connect USB Device to VMware Virtual Machines.
2. Once the USB device is connected to a VMware virtual machine, it should be displayed inside the virtual machine. Use it as you wish. The figure shows that a USB drive is connected to the VMware virtual machine.

Disconnecting USB Devices

1. To disconnect the USB device, select the virtual machine, click Player (VM) and select Removable Devices. Select the device that you want to disconnect and then select Disconnect.
2. Now, the device is free to use on the host machine.

Want to learn more? Let’s start to share files between host and guest systems.
That’s all you need to do to connect and disconnect USB device in VMware Virtual machines.