Deleting a legacy System Volume Information from a previous C: drive

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  1. Posts : 8
    Win10
       #1

    Deleting a legacy System Volume Information from a previous C: drive


    Hello All,
    One of the partitions / Drives on my replacement laptop is an image of the previous laptop that used a flat structure with C: only. The SVI folder is thus not relevant to my new laptop / OS Win10 Pro / new C: drive. The new laptop has 1Tb NVMe SSD and the partition is F:. I've changed ownership and permissions and have full access allowed, but shift-delete does not work. It seems I'm subservient to a higher account on my laptop. How do I delete this folder?
    Thanks,
    <MG>
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 23,329
    Win 10 Home ♦♦♦19045.4355 (x64) [22H2]
       #2

    Mikey63 said:
    Hello All,
    One of the partitions / Drives on my replacement laptop is an image of the previous laptop that used a flat structure with C: only. The SVI folder is thus not relevant to my new laptop / OS Win10 Pro / new C: drive. The new laptop has 1Tb NVMe SSD and the partition is F:. I've changed ownership and permissions and have full access allowed, but shift-delete does not work. It seems I'm subservient to a higher account on my laptop. How do I delete this folder?
    Thanks,
    <MG>



    Even if you do delete it... Windows will put it back.
    Even IF you have System Restore disabled.


    I have three drives, with a total of eleven partitions. Every partition has a SVI folder.
    And... I do have System Restore disabled.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 16,954
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #3

    Mikey,

    Your OP confuses me.
    You start off talking about a system image that you saved on a disk and then leap into talking about the SVI folder.
    If both are relevant then please post screenshots and re-explain what you have and what you want help with.
    How to Upload and Post Screenshots and Files - TenForumsTutorials


    Denis
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 8
    Win10
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Apologies @denis

    I used an image backup because the previous laptop was flat structure all on C:, so I knew that everything I wanted to keep was on C: I used that image but re-loaded it onto a new partition F: on the new laptop. Now I want to strip out everything that I don't need to keep, which is AppData, Programs, Sys Vol Info etc.

    I have ownership and full permissions on the SVI folder, but Shift-Delete doesn't work.

    Mike
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 16,954
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #5

    1 I suggest you reformat F:\
    Then restore your image's C:\ drive into the C:\ drive of your existing installation i.e. replace the Windows partition.
    Assuming of course that that had been your intention originally.

    2 There's a System volume information folder on every drive. What is it that you are trying to achieve in that regard?


    Denis
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,598
    several
       #6

    Is it the contents you want to remove to save space ?

    the system files with {longnumber} can each be a gb or two . You can acces and delete them with dism++ Toolkit>file explorer

    https://github.com/Chuyu-Team/Dism-M....1.1002.1B.zip

    Deleting a legacy System Volume Information from a previous C: drive-dism-fileexplorer.jpg


    Deleting a legacy System Volume Information from a previous C: drive-restorepts.jpg


    Most imaging programs dont include the restore points in the image, so it is probabaly taking up very little space.
    Last edited by SIW2; 4 Weeks Ago at 13:50.
      My Computer

  7.   My Computer


  8. Posts : 8
    Win10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    @Try3 Denis, thanks for your time.
    1) what I'm trying to do with F: is keep everything I want, my files, from the old laptop and delete everything that Win7 pro required, plus all the SW, that I don't need as it's re-installed on the new Win10 Pro load on the new laptop. It's about 20Gb of space, so yes, there's a spare OS that I will never use and SW that I re-installed on Win10 so don't need either. I don't think SVI on a data partition has a function I need to preserve.
    2) My understanding of SVI is that it's an OS function storing backups of important OS files and registry snapshots. As it's Win7 I don't think it's any value, just a space hog, along with the OS and redundant applications.

    @SIW2 yes, trying to clear out a win7 load. Thanks for the DISM link; I will investigate.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 31,711
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #9

    Mikey63 said:
    My understanding of SVI is that it's an OS function storing backups of important OS files and registry snapshots. As it's Win7 I don't think it's any value, just a space hog, along with the OS and redundant applications...
    Every drive, even a humble fat32 usb stick, has a System Volume Information folder. On the OS partition it does indeed store the restore points, but it has other purposes that are used for all drives.

    For example, the System Volume Information folder also contains information used by the content indexing service databases that speed up your file searches, the Volume Shadow Copy service for backups, and the Distributed Link Tracking Service databases used to repair shortcuts and links.
    What Is the "System Volume Information" Folder, and Can I Delete It?

    So no, you shouldn't delete it. But on your drive that was once, but is no longer a Win7 OS drive, then there may be some junk in it, such as leftover Windows 7 restore points. These are files with a name like {f2125666-edd6-11ee-a0f8-74782742c7f5}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}. Those you can delete. To do so run TreeSize Free as an administrator and delete them from there. Do NOT delete anything else, it's only really the now worthless restore points (if any) that are a waste of space. The rest of the SVI contents amounts to very little, a few MB at most.

    Deleting a legacy System Volume Information from a previous C: drive-image.png

    You can get the Portable Apps version here: TreeSize Free Portable (directory size and usage analyzer) | PortableApps.com
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 1,223
    W10-Pro 22H2
       #10

    Mikey63 said:
    @Try3 1) what I'm trying to do with F: is keep everything I want, my files, from the old laptop and delete everything that Win7 pro required, plus all the SW, that I don't need as it's re-installed on the new Win10 Pro load on the new laptop.
    In your shoes I'd simply copy your user files on F: to a temporary destination (or their final one), and then format F:.
      My Computer


 

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