System Volume Information

[John Ditchfield]

Browsing through my recently installed Windows XP Pro I noticed a folder
- System Volume Information.

Being curious I tried to open it but access was refused. I followed the
instructions on MS Help site - Kb 309351 on how to open this folder.

However when I right click System Volume Information, then click Sharing
& Security, it instructs me to click the Security Tab, but a Security
Tab is not shown. General - Sharing - Customise are the only Tabs
displayed.

Am I missing something?

Help and guidance would be appreciated.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi John,

The System Volume Information (SVI) folder is a super hidden system folder.
There will be a SVI folder on each partition or volume Windows sees. The SVI
folder can not be permanently deleted on any partition of volume. If a
particular partition or volume is set to not be monitored by System Restore, the
Indexing Service is turned off, and EFS is not in use, the SVI should be empty
or nearly empty.

System Restore uses the SVI folder to store it's information and hold restore
points.

If the Indexing Service is turned on it will use the SVI folder to store files.
This will be evident by the existence of a folder called catalog.wci. Keep in
mind that having the Indexing Service turned on can cause the SVI folder to grow
very large.

If Encrypting File System (EFS) is in use, it will use the SVI folder to store
the log file that is generated during the encryption and decryption process.

Here are the steps to access the SVI folder.

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders.
4. Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change.
5. Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box. This option is
not available in Windows XP Home Edition. Warning This may have negative effects
on system connected to a network, and possibility the network itself.
6. Click OK.
7. Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and
then click Properties.
8. Click the Security tab.
9. Click Add, and then type the name of the user to whom you want to give
access to the folder. Typically, this is the account with which you are logged
on. Click OK, and then click OK again.
10. Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to
open it.