How do I delete huge files from System Volume Information?

Anonymous
2011-08-16T11:37:52+00:00

I have three large hard disks that I use to store backups of the system.  Some program -- I think it was the defragmenter -- caused Win 7 to place huge files (> 4 GB) in System Volume Information.  Nothing I do wil let me delete these files.  I cannot even take ownership of them.  When I try to take ownership of either the file or of System Volume Information I receive an "Access is denied" error on the file name.  Nothing should prevent an administrator from taking ownership of any file on his system.  How can I delete these huge files?  Please do not answer "Use Disk Cleanup to delete all but the last restore point."  That runs, but it deletes nothing.  On a previous installation of Win 7, I could take ownership of System Volume Information and delete its contents, but ot on this new installation.

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Anonymous
2011-08-17T10:05:51+00:00

Hello,

The System Volume information folder keeps the Restore point entries. Usually it is not recommended to delete the entries from the System volume information.

Step 1 : Stop the Volume shadow copy service.

a:  Go to Start - Run and type Services.msc then press enter.

b: Under the Status column look for any entries that read as "Started", make it as “Stopped”.

**c:**Click apply and then ok.

Step 2 : Then take ownership of the System volume Information folder and then try to delete its contents.

How do I open a file if I get an access denied message?

Hope that helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-11T18:53:42+00:00

    i did this on my Surface Pro 3 that only had 5 Gigs of storage left. it cleared out almost 25 gigs. the system had the usage set to 50%. put it to 1 to clear old restore points and then set to 10%, thanks for your advice

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-04T10:26:32+00:00

    Mijn ervaring met System Volume information:

    Wanneer je een laptop /computer met 2 partities bezit, is het eigenlijk heel simpel!

    Installeer een partitie manager (zelf gebruik ik Easus hiervoor (is freeware))

    (Verklein de D-Drive aan de voorkant zodat het vrijkomende deel tussen de C en de D drive verschijnt)

    Vergroot de C-Drive met het vrijgekomen deel. Easus update de system volume info, en je bent hem kwijt.

    Je kan evt de zaak terugdraaien, (blijf ervoor zorgen dat het allocated gedeelte tussen de c en d drive ontstaat. (dus de c drive aan de achterkant verkleinen, etc.

    Bij een externe schijf ging het bij mij anders.

    Had zelf een system volume info van 67 gb op een hd van 500 gb.

    Wat ik heb gedaan: Kopier de totale inhoud van je externe drive naar een vrije ruimte je computer, evt over meerdere drives.

    Na de copie zal je zien dat de system volume info verdwenen is. Dus je hoeft de externe schijf niet  opnieuw te formateren. daarna delete je de data op je computer.

    Ben ervan overtuigd dat dit je probleem oplost!

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-12-31T15:06:04+00:00

    Thank you very much again. I've already acted accordingly.

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