Q. I would like to copy some data from a shadow copy image, is there any way that I can access it as a drive or directory (mapped or mounted)?
A. Yes, this can be achieved in the following steps:
Open command prompt and run:
vssadmin list shadows
This will produce the following output:
Contents of shadow copy set ID: {f1fd6616-f07c-4172-8769-64225525adcf}
Contained 1 shadow copies at creation time: 3/4/2017 2:24:38 PM
Shadow Copy ID: {1b9874a0-18a7-4037-88ea-3b40a379c377}
Original Volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{0906c50f-7a14-11e6-bc68-806e6f6e6963}\
Shadow Copy Volume: \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy6
Originating Machine: orion
Service Machine: orion
Provider: 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0'
Type: ClientAccessibleWriters
Attributes: Persistent, Client-accessible, No auto release, Differential, Auto recovered
We are interested in the following line:
\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy6
You can then mount/map the directory using this command:
mklink /D C:\restore \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy6\
Where "c:\restore" is a link name. The name can be anything, but it cannot be an existing directory.
Note the trailing slash. It is important, otherwise the mapped directory will not be accessible
