I too think this in an important topic. It is not possible to ensure problems 
are found before files have been expired, and once they have expired life 
becomes difficult as has been mentioned already.
If it is possible to implement the functionality implied by the -ACTIVEDATE 
-ACTIVETIME options described by Michael I would prefer to see it implemented 
in a different way. Rather than use them as options see it implemented in a 
different way. Rather than use them as options of the restore command, use them 
to reset the status of the files on the server to active. Then a standard 
restore can be done, but it also means that if files were expired as a result 
of user error etc. then the restoring of data is not necessary. 

Peter Hough
DataSave Services