When you want to remove a file from VSS, you must first decide whether you want to simply remove a file from a project, or from the VSS database. You must also decide if you want to delete the file with the option of recovering it, or destroy the file permanently.
VSS provides three ways to remove files:
Removes a file from a project. When you use this command, the file is still in the VSS database and in other projects that share it, and it can be recovered. You can also use this command on projects.
The Delete dialog box contains the Destroy Permanently check box. When you select this check box, you remove the selected file or project from the VSS database. When you destroy a file or a project, you cannot recover it.
Use this command to permanently remove a file that you deleted, but did not destroy permanently. You can use this command to purge an entire project and all the files it contains. When you purge a file or project, you cannot recover it.
The exception to this behavior concerns shared files. If a file is shared by two or more projects, the Delete command and Destroy Permanently command remove the file only from the currently selected project. The file remains in the other projects sharing it and in the VSS database.
For information on how to delete and recover files and projects in VSS, refer to: