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2.2.2.2.4 Data Protection Listener

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 The Data Protection Listener<7> enables a user to back up their data to a different device from the device where it is currently located. This feature allows the user to recover data if the original copy is damaged.

Data protection is intended to be a backup solution for home users. One of the objectives of data protection is to enable multiple users in a single household to share the same external device. To achieve this goal, the HomeGroup infrastructure is used. A user on one PC configures an external device and selects to share that device within the homegroup. The sharing of the device creates a folder on the external device with a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) share to the folder, and broadcasts a message containing information about the UNC share in the homegroup. The UNC share is then visible to all users across all PCs within the homegroup. Users can then select the shared device and specify it as the location where all data is to be sent for backup.

The broadcast message contains the GUID {ADBCFEA5-D8FC-4a46-B12B-EB1FFE39BF17}.

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <xs:element name="DPSharedTargetInfo" >
   <xs:complexType>
     <xs:sequence>
       <xs:element name="SchemaVersion" type="xs:int" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" />
       <xs:element name="TargetUNC" type="xs:string" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" />
       <xs:element name="FriendlyName" type="xs:string" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" />
       <xs:element name="UserName" type="xs:string" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="1" />
     </xs:sequence>
   </xs:complexType>
 </xs:element>
 

SchemaVersion: The version number of the schema defined for the broadcast message.

TargetUNC: The UNC path of the share which is accessible only to users in the homegroup. Users can select this UNC share as the external device to use for data protection, that is, the device where all of the user data is sent for backup.

FriendlyName: A name that is used by all users in the homegroup to refer to the shared device.

UserName: The name of the user who originally configured and shared the device in the homegroup. This user knows which physical device has the UNC share.