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→Using Computer Management to Enable and Configure Volume Shadow Copies
Schedule the shadow copy snapshots by clicking on the ''Schedule...'' button. By default, Windows configures two snapshots each day (at 7:00am and 12:00pm respectively). To remove a currently defined snapshots select it from the drop down list and click on ''Delete''. To modify a run, select it from the drop down list, modify the settings in the lower section of the dialog and click on ''OK''.
To specify additional schedules, click on the ''New'' button and specify the days and time of the snapshot. Note that snapshots can also be configured to occur at user logon, system startup and even when the system is idle. In fact, Windows Server 2008 provides considerable flexibility in terms of scheduling shadow copies. It is important to keep in mind, however, that there are disadvantages to running a shadow copy too frequently. Firstly, shadow copies are resource intensive tasks, especially on large volumes where many files are subject to frequent changes. Repeated snapshots during periods when the server is heavily utilized may well degrade overall system performance. Secondly, it is important to keep in mind that Shadow Copy retains the last 64 versions of a file. Therefore, if a snapshot is run every hour, the oldest restore point available to a user will be approximately two and half days in the past. If, on the other hand, snapshots are taken twice a day, the user will have the luxury of restoring a file from a point as much as 32 days ago. it Tt is important, therefore, to strike a balance between longevity and frequency.
The following screenshot illustrates the Shadow Copy scheduling dialog: