I'm about to retire and mothball my old external hard drive (new one will be
here within 24 hours). How do I delete the Recycler and System Volume
Information folders? I set the System Restore to not monitor the External HD
last week, but it still won't let me delete System Volume Information, saying
it is "write protected or in use" I have no idea what to do about Recycler.
I tried plugging the External HD into another comp, but it wouldn't see the
folders, even after I set it to "show hidden folders"

What are you trying to do? If you are retiring the drive then just format
it if you feel you need to wipe the drive. If you are not going to use the
drive anymore then why worry about what's on it?

"Moonbarker Osbourne" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in message news:17A6F493-6811-46AF-99E6-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm about to retire and mothball my old external hard drive (new one will
> be
> here within 24 hours). How do I delete the Recycler and System Volume
> Information folders? I set the System Restore to not monitor the External
> HD
> last week, but it still won't let me delete System Volume Information,
> saying
> it is "write protected or in use" I have no idea what to do about
> Recycler.
> I tried plugging the External HD into another comp, but it wouldn't see
> the
> folders, even after I set it to "show hidden folders"

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> What are you trying to do? If you are retiring the drive then just format
> it if you feel you need to wipe the drive.

Ah, OK, thanx :-)

> If you are not going to use the
> drive anymore then why worry about what's on it?

I don't wanna rule out giving it to someone else

>
> "Moonbarker Osbourne" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> in message news:17A6F493-6811-46AF-99E6-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I'm about to retire and mothball my old external hard drive (new one will
> > be
> > here within 24 hours). How do I delete the Recycler and System Volume
> > Information folders? I set the System Restore to not monitor the External
> > HD
> > last week, but it still won't let me delete System Volume Information,
> > saying
> > it is "write protected or in use" I have no idea what to do about
> > Recycler.
> > I tried plugging the External HD into another comp, but it wouldn't see
> > the
> > folders, even after I set it to "show hidden folders"
>

Moonbarker Osbourne wrote:
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>
>>What are you trying to do? If you are retiring the drive then just format
>>it if you feel you need to wipe the drive.
>
>
> Ah, OK, thanx :-)
>
>
>>If you are not going to use the
>>drive anymore then why worry about what's on it?
>
>
> I don't wanna rule out giving it to someone else

In that case you may as well wipe it. Any user with the simplest of
utilities and a modicum of knowledge about hard drive storage can easily
undo the drive format and recover all the files on the drive! Here are
links to wiping utilities:

http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
http://dban.sourceforge.net/

John