How do I delete completely a Complete PC Backup?

[WaltN]

I have two internal hard drives (C and D). I currently use Complete PC
Backup to back up C on D. I also keep stuff on D that I don't need to back
up.

I will be adding a third hard drive (call it E). I would like to re-direct
backups to E, which I assume will be no problem. My question is: How do I go
about deleting the old backups on D?

1) Do I just delete the folder on D created by Complete PC Backup?
2) I, of course, would like to recover the shadow copy space on D. Do I use
vssadmin to do that? (I will not be backing up D, so I assume that recovery
will be permanent.)

 

[WaltN]

Thanks. Do you have any response to my second question?

 

[GFD]

I deleted the folder "WindowsImageBackup" (I think that was the name) but now
I cant recover the 30GB of disk space from the disk, it's kind of weird
because I deleted the files, but now I have about 30GB less from the disk.

I ran Acronis Disk Director Check and it said that much space was being used
by the system (it's a secondary HD).

What can I do!!??

Thanks!

 

[WaltN]

GFD,

The 30GB you're missing is undoubtedly shadow copy storage, which is not
allocated as a normal file or folder. You're going to have to read a bit
about shadow copies, as I did.

Since no one replied to my second question (start of thread), I went ahead
with my heart in my throat. After doing a Complete PC Backup to my new hard
drive, I deleted the WindowsImageBackup as you did. Now the challenge was to
recover the 30% of drive space reserved for use for shadow copies.

From my reading, I knew that the relevant tool was the VSSADMIN command.
Most of what I found on the web about this command was for Windows Server
2003, and I discovered that the delete subcommands were removed in Vista. In
fact, all of the Vista-available subcommands are list subcommands -- except
one, which allows you to resize shadow copy storage.

Here's what I did: I resized shadow copy storage on the relevant drive down
to 5GB. That deleted all the shadow copies that wouldn't fit in that space.
That left me with a single shadow copy. Then I resized shadow copy storage
up to the same proportion as on my C: drive. I have no idea what besides
Complete PC Backup uses shadow copy facilities, but I figured I'd better
leave ample. (I listed all the shadow copy writers, but, as one might
expect, they were unknowable.)

That was three days ago. I've been using the system heavily since then, and
I have seen no negative repercussions.

I found two helpful articles, both in the technet library. One was on
VSSADMIN, dated 1/21/2005. The other was "A Guide to Windows Vista Backup
Technologies," which apparently was in the 9/2007 issue of the technet
magazine.

Be wary! I didn't know an awful lot about what I was doing. Do your own
research before proceeding. I had a recovery plan in mind before I started.
Good luck.