Disabling previous version tab

Published by deri58 - Last update on November 15, 2009 10:28 AM by jak58

Disabling previous version tab








The Previous versions tab located under the properties of an element under windows vista allow the restore of an item at a later date. It acts as a shadow which is generated by the system for back up.

Moreover this function is very disk space consuming and sometimes useless. Below is a tips of how to disable this function:-

1. Disable shadow

  • Go to the menu Start and type services.msc in the search bar and then click OK.
  • Double click on the "Volume Shadow"
  • Change the startup type to "Manual" (Do not select "Off" as it will switch off System Restore).
  • Click on "Stop"
  • Go to the tab "Recovery".
  • Ensure that the three options "First, second and third failure" are on "Do Nothing".
  • Click on "OK" to confirm.

2. Disable the "previous versions"

  • Once the service disabled, the "Previous Versions" is useless.
  • So to lighten the menu and properties of elements, it is better to remove same as shown below:-
  • Before any configuration, make a back of the registry (recommended).
  • Open the Registry Editor (Start/run/regedit).

Scroll the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \
  • Create a new key with the name PreviousVersions (Edit menu> New> Key)
  • Create a new DWORD (32bits) under the following key with the name DisableLocalPage (Edit menu> New> DWORD (32 bit)).
  • Double click on the value and put 1 in the data fields.
See also