Deleting a folder containing System Volume Information after a drive merger.

[Anode]

In WinXP I have a folder containing System Volume Information which I am
trying unsuccessfully to delete.

It came about when I merged two partitions F and G, using Partition Magic,
into one partition, F. Both partitions before the merger were empty, apart
from Recycler and System Volume Information.

During the merger, Partition Magic creates a folder which is placed in the
resulting new partition which is F. Into this folder goes any data that was
on the merged partition G before the merger. In this case, all that is in
this folder is Recycler and System Volume Information.

So after the merger I have one partition F, which contains its own System
Volume Information, and a folder that has in it Recycler and System Volume
information from the extinct partition G.

I think that this folder and its contents are not required, so I have tried
to delete it. But it won't delete because it contains system volume
information and access to that is denied.

Would it be all right to delete this folder, and if so, how?

 

[Xandros]

Leave it alone. It is part of System Restore and by default it should be
protected and hidden. You have chosen the Folder option->Views to no longer
hide protected system files and thus you are seeing it.

Why do you want to delete it? It serves no purpose for you to do so.

 

[Ace]

In OP's case, Partition Magic *moved* the Recycler and System Volume
Information folders into a separate folder that sits in the root of the
'new' drive that was created during the partition merge.

So now, OP sees:

F:\System Volume Information
F:\Recycler
F:\<folder name>\System Volume Information
F:\<folder name>\Recycler

OP wishes to get rid of <folder name>.

AFAIK, turning System Restore off will release handles to the System
Volume Information folders after a few minutes or after a reboot
depending on what the system is doing at that moment.
They can then be deleted when released.
System Restore settings can be found if you right-click My Computer on
your desktop, choose Properties, and view the System Restore tab.
Same for Recycler, one can right-click the Recycle Bin on the desktop for
it's Properties and choose to have separate settings per drive, and then
turn off the Recycle Bin per drive on their respective tab.

After the useless folders from <folder name> have been deleted, settings
can be reverted again and Windows will rebuild the relevant folders.

 

[Anode]

Thank you, Ace. You have stated the problem exactly.

My work demands that I must be away from my computer for the next few hours,
but I shall certainly follow your advice as soon as I am able.

Many thanks for your information,

Anode.

 

[Anode]

Xandros,
I see your point, thank you.
But as this folder now contains information which no longer applies to the
way my computer is now, I wondered if it could well be removed.

Anode.

 

[Anode]

I am afraid I could not get anywhere by turning off System Restore. Whatever
I tried, I was left with a file MountPointManagerRemoteDataBase that I could
not delete. In the end to save further time on searches for solutions I
reformatted the drive.

Anode.

 

[Ace]

I'm sorry it did not work out as expected/intended.
The filename you mentioned got me curious so I did the searching instead:

http://www.msfn.org/board/lofiversion/index.php/t24232.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_delete_MountPointManagerRemoteDataba
se

The above is for future reference.
If in your case the drive was mostly empty, the format was pretty much
your quickest way out, either way glad you fixed it

 

[Anode]

Ace,
Many thanks for your interest. I read the information in your reference, and
decided I was well off doing a format, in the circumstances.
(I posted a reply to you some twelve hours ago, but it has not appeared on
my computer; apologies if you get a duplicate.)
Regards,
Anode.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Don't bother deleting the SVI folder, it will just be recreated by Windows.

What is the System Volume Information folder used for?
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/tips.html#15

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Anode]

Bert,
Thank you for the reply.
In this case the System Volume Information file contained data about a
volume that no longer existed, so I thought the file may best be deleted.
Regards,
Anode.

 

[Bert Kinney]

You're welcome Anode.

If System Restore is set to not monitor a volume, Encrypting File System is
not in use, and if the Indexing Service is not running, the SVI should be
just about empty.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Anode]

Understood, Bert. Thanks.
Anode.

You're welcome Anode.

If System Restore is set to not monitor a volume, Encrypting File System
is not in use, and if the Indexing Service is not running, the SVI should
be just about empty.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org