Recovering deleted folders

This guide describes how users can restore files or entire folders themselves if they have accidentally deleted them or damaged them in some other way.

This guide applies to files and folders stored on the Hera or Dione servers, i.e. users' home folders (drive P:), personal web presentations (drive W:), and, in the case of employees, files on drive N: (Examples and Projects).

General Information

The file recovery system creates a virtual snapshot of all files on the server every day at 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. If a user subsequently modifies or deletes a file, the system automatically saves its previous version in a dedicated space on the server.

The number of previous file versions retained on the server cannot be determined precisely, as it depends on the amount of changes made on the server. During holidays, relatively few changes are made, and file versions from several previous weeks may be available. However, during periods of intensive work throughout the semester, recovery may only be possible for the past few days. Therefore, always try to restore files as soon as possible.

File recovery is only possible from computers running Windows XP (or later) connected to the internal UHK network (recovery cannot be performed over the Internet).

Restoring a File

The easiest option is to restore a single file. You would use this procedure, for example, if you edited a document, deleted or modified some data, saved the document, and can no longer use the "Undo" function.

1. In a file manager (File Explorer, Total Commander, etc.), open the folder containing the document.

2. Right-click the file you want to restore to display the context menu. Select the last option, Properties.

3. The document properties window will open. Select the Previous Versions tab.

4. A list of previous versions of the file will appear, showing the date and time when the file was saved in the disk snapshot. The number of versions depends on how far back the server's stored change history extends and how many changes were made to the file during that period. Select the version you want to restore.

5. At this point, it is important to decide whether you want to keep the existing file. If not, click Restore, and the selected version will overwrite the current file. If you want to keep the current version, click Copy..., which opens a folder selection dialog. Select the folder where you want to save the older version of the file and click Copy. The system will restore the previous version of the file to the selected folder, and the existing file will remain unchanged.

   If you are unsure, always choose Copy... and decide later which of the two files you want to keep.

Tip: If you have completely deleted a file and remember its full name, you can restore it by creating a new (empty) file with the same name. The Properties tab will then display the previous versions of the original file.

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Restoring a Folder

You may need to restore an entire folder if you have deleted a file and cannot remember its exact name, or if you have deleted an entire folder. In this case, we always recommend using Copy... to prevent newer files from being overwritten.

1. In a file manager (File Explorer, Total Commander, etc.), open the parent folder where the document or folder was stored.

2. Right-click the folder you want to restore to display the context menu. Select the last option, Properties.

3. The folder properties window will open. Select the Previous Versions tab.

4. A list of previous versions of the folder will appear, showing their dates and times. In this case, all folder versions will always be displayed, depending only on how far back the server's stored change history extends. This means that dates will also be displayed for periods during which no changes were made. Select the version you want to restore.

5. Click Copy... to open the folder selection dialog. Select the folder where you want to restore the previous version of the folder and click Copy. The system will restore the previous version to the selected folder, and the existing folder will remain unchanged.