Patent ID: 8244841

Claim:
In a computing environment, a method comprising: receiving a request to perform an operation to restore data based upon a first group policy object, the first group policy object including: a globally unique identifier, settings of the first group policy object, discretionary access control lists and a first state including settings, the first group policy object being a backup on a file system; attempting to perform the operation to restore data to change a second group policy object having a second state to a state that includes at least some of the settings of the first group policy object, the operation including replacing settings in the second group policy object with the settings of the first group policy object, the attempting to perform the operation to restore data including restoring data to the second group policy object based on the backup; determining whether the data exists, and if not, whether the data can be reanimated; if the data is represented by a tombstone, then determining an age of the tombstone; if the age of the tombstone has not exceeded its lifetime, then reanimating and restoring the data; if the age of the tombstone has exceeded its lifetime, then recognizing that the data does not exist; and determining whether the attempted operation was successful, and if not, returning the second group policy object to the second state.