Deleting system image

Hi,
I want to delete a Windows 10 system image created by the windows builtin tool Windows backup and restore because it takes up so much space ( 250 Gb) and because it was saved to an internal drive ( not C: ) which is no so good I have been told. Kari, on this forum suggested simply to delete the file WindowsImageBackup, but when I tap properties for this folder it shows that the folder is empty. How can 250GB reside in an empty folder?

Further, I have installed Macrium Reflect free and want to image my system to an external 500GB drive which I believe is more secure. On second thought, what happens when Microsoft launches its next creator update, do I have to image
again from scratch or is Macrium incremental?

oeivinr

oeivinr said:

I want to delete a Windows 10 system image created by the windows builtin tool Windows backup and restore ... it was saved to an internal drive ( not C: ) ... when I tap properties for this folder it shows that the folder is empty. How can 250GB reside in an empty folder?

Josey Wales said:

...take ownership of it and then delete it...

With the Windows built in system imaging you don't even need to do that.

The image is in a folder with your PC's name inside the WindowsImageBackup folder on the drive you saved it to. You do not (yet) have permission to view this subfolder, so you can't see it's properties. However, if you try to open the subfolder you'll be asked 'do you want to gain permanent access to it?' - say 'Yes' and you'll be able to see it (the same applies to the subfolders it contains). Do that for the folder and all its subfolders and you'll be able to see the properties in full.

But just to delete it, you already have sufficient permission if your account is an administrator. It is perfectly safe to delete it. As a regular user of Windows' own system imaging I do it all the time.

it was saved to an internal drive ( not C: ) which is no so good I have been told.

Is that another partition on the same drive? It's not 'bad' as such, it's just no use to you if the drive fails. I keep a system image on my D: drive, it's a convenient way to do a quick restore should I want one - but I don't rely on it for disaster recovery. For that I also have a system image on an external HDD.

If you delete your 'WindowsImageBackup' folder you will delete the initial backup and any following differentials that were made whenever the program was subsequently run.

It is normal for the folder to show as empty.

If you delete the folder then please also run a disk clean on the drive or partition that held the backup and be sure to use the 'clean system files' option, finally clicking 'more options' and select delete shadow copies. This is because deleting the folder alone will not free up all the space used if the program has been run more than once, there are also hidden restore points (for want of a better word) created along with the backup that take up many Gb.

(Fwiw, the Windows imaging utility is extremely good once you get to grips with it and are comfortable managing/moving and renaming backups)