System Volume Information - don't save on second drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi,

I have a WinXP Pro PC with two hard drives. One of these hard drives has
the OS, the applications, and all of the data this PC needs access to.

The second hard drive I just want to share on the network so that other PC's
can use it for backup purposes. I thought I deleted all of the files from
this hard drive, but now that I look at it, it has a folder called "System
Volume Information" that seems like it might contain system restore points.
I would like to delete it, but I don't want to screw up the Windows
installation. Is there a way I can tell Windows XP not to use this drive for
anything so that I can delete everything from it?

Thanks,
Paul
 
Right click My Computer, select Properties, System Restore. Temporarily turn off System Restore on that drive. Now, you can try to delete the System Volume Information folder. If you still get errors, you'll need to adjust the permissions on the folder.

XP PRO: In Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options, View and uncheck Use Simple File Sharing. Now, when you right click on a drive, folder or file (on an NTFS partition) and select Properties, you'll see a Security tab. Here you can assign or deny permissions based on user name or user group membership.

XP Home: By default, you can only make files and folders under My Documents "private". This is done by right clicking a folder or file and selecting Properties, Sharing. To change the permissions on other folders, you need to boot the computer to Safe Mode and log in on the built in Administrator account. In this mode, you'll see the Security tab in Properties, and you can assign permissions based on user name or group membership.

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove Special Permissions for Files and Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308419

HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307874

And last, but not least, once System Restore is turned off on the second drive, you may be able to simply do a quick format.
 
Hi Paul,

Yes, the SVI folder is where System Restore holds it's restore points.
Here you will find instructions on how to disable System Restore on the
second drive. It's best to let SR only monitor the partition Windows is
installed on.

How to Disable and Enable System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/disablesr.html

Doug pointed out how to access the SVI folder. Once SR is disabled on
the second drive, delete the SVI folder. It will recreated but should be
empty. If the Indexing Service is turned on it will also store files in
the SVI folder. Re-hide it and forget about it.
 
Back
Top