FS: Disable the Restore button in Previous Versions

Previous Versions (or, Volume Shadow Copy Service) is a very powerful way of letting users manage their own files in an enterprise environment. One issue however, especially for department-shares, is the possibility to restore a file using Previous Versions. There is no pretty way to disable this using a group policy or something similar, but it IS possible.

By default it is possible for users to restore files. By following the next steps you can turn this off so that only Open and Copy can be used.

1. Fire up the registry (regedit).
2. Browse to: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer to turn it on or off for the current user or HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer to turn it off for the local machine. I suggest turning this off on a user basis, so that your IT Administrators can still manage this if needed.
3. Create a new REG_DWORD with the name NoPreviousVersionsRestore. The value for this entry is 1.

It isn't needed for the users to log off and on again for the setting to be put into place. I suggest putting this in a group policy preference for ease of management.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Stefan Hazenbroek