Data Restore

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What Does Data Restore Mean?

Data restore is the process of copying files from a backup, typically a separate disk, to the original location or other appropriate file locations in order to facilitate proper database operations.

Techopedia Explains Data Restore

With data restore, all of the restored data must be from the backup version. A good example is the Windows operating system (OS) restore function, where all system data is restored or replaced by data from a specific backup date or, in this case, a restore point.

In some applications, like user databases for games and source code versioning, data restores to a previous and more stable version (or rollback) may occur. This is usually a last resort, when the current version becomes very buggy or unusable.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.