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Map shadow copy as drive

windows logoQ. 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
Last updated Sep 27, 2018