Is there a barebones Windows version control system that's suitable for only one guy? [closed]

Subversion is great -- you can run the server yourself or use something like assembla.com to host your code (although that exposes it to the network).

There are numerous gui applications like tortoise svn that would allow you to interact w/ the source control repo

From what I understand, and at the risk of sounding like a fanboy, you might want to consider a DVCS (distributed version control system) like git or mercurial. They essentially take away the central repository part, so it should be ideal to use when you're a solo developer.

Another advantage is that when you decide to add people to your one-man team, you don't have to set up a central repository. All they have to do is clone your repository and they're good to go!

If you're windows based and are used to a shell plugin like TortoiseSVN I'd pick mercurial. Their windows integration is just a bit better than git's, using TortoiseHg. The git counterpart (cheetah) is on hold at the moment, due to the developer getting sick and tired of all the demands people were making ;-)

If DVCS is too exotic for this situation you could always rely on SVN. I've heard good stories about the already mentioned VisualSVN solution. Install, make some repositories and go. Install TortoiseSVN for shell integration, or perhaps Subclipse or ankhSVN for eclipse and visual studio, respectively.

Note: I have not actually tried git or mercurial in a real life project, just some test setups. I now have a simple project WITH version control (using mercurial in my case), without having to have access to a central repository.

Sourcegear Vault is free for a single user and you can run both the client and the server on your own machine.