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Guided Lab

Lab contract: recover the intended version​

Use a new, clearly named disposable folder. A plain-text editor and file manager suffice. On a managed device use a location you may edit. Do not delete or overwrite real coursework, account settings or the only copy of anything important.

  1. Inside the practice folder create working, backup and restored directories. Create working/plan.txt with exactly these three content lines:
Topic: files
Minutes: 25
Next: explain saving
  1. Save and reopen it. Record the path and all three lines as the intended version. Copy it to backup/plan.txt. Open the backup to confirm its content. Copying is not moving.
  2. Change only the working file's minutes to 250. Save, close and reopen. Predict whether the independent backup will change; inspect it. If your environment synchronizes those locations, choose genuinely separate practice copies before proceeding.
  3. Copy the backup to restored/plan.txt. Reopen and compare each line with the intended version. Record actual contents, not just a “copy completed” notification. Preserve the altered working file as failure evidence.
  4. Create a second backup named incomplete.txt containing only the first two original lines. Restore it into a separate restored/incomplete.txt. The copy should succeed, but your content check should fail because the third line is missing. Do not repair the expected result to match the incomplete copy.
  5. Stage a wrong-file incident by opening the altered working version when the task asks for the restored version. Diagnose using full paths and content. Keep one hypothesis, one reversible check and its outcome.
  6. Write the tested failure boundary: this recovers a small file from a wrong edit; same-device copies do not protect against device loss. Describe a separate-location plan for real coursework without uploading anything for this exercise.

Deliverable​

Keep the three original/restored artifacts, incomplete-control artifact, state/path diagram, one-page incident note and a redacted permission/recovery plan. Use practice records. No screenshots of credentials or private account settings. An actual file restore is required; a written promise to back up later is insufficient. If file access is unavailable, prepare the plan and leave the practical gate pending.

The normal restore and the deliberately incomplete restore must produce different verdicts. That distinction is more important than speed or using a particular operating system.