I've got a ghost file and can't delete it.Not even 'rmdir /q /s' helps

Sure thing! That sounds good! I hope you find what's locking that file in place. =)

Couldn't work on this for a while, but I'm back now, and getting closer to a solution

As a short update:

It turns out SystemVolumeInformation isn't JUST used by ShadowCopy.

More specific the file tracking.log isnt even part of it(if you disable shadowcopy, it actually stops creating a mess on your drives).

The folder SystemVolumeInformation is a shared space for, well, Information about the Volume, created by System
(I always wondered why it wasn't just called "Shadowcopy" since Windows uses this name everywhere besides for this folder)

These Informations include Shadowcopies of important files, but aren't limited to it.

The file tracking.log is part of Windows's user tracking functionality...
[Edit]
I'm gonna formulate this less intense: This specific log keeps trank of created remote links.
In case you move the source, provided that the source was on a different computer than the created link because it only keeps track of remote links, the funtionality will try to keep the link intact by changing it accordingly.

Its therefor useless on most home PCs
[End Edit]

I heard of it long ago and windows even has an inbuild logviewer for this, but i completly forgot it existed.

I managed to get it disabled, but Windows keeps recreating two other files as well.

I didn't mention these before because they are deletable and i obviously thought this is ONE problem, not multiple Problems

The files are:

MountPointManagerRemoteDatabase (has no file extention)
and
IndexerVolumeGuid (also has no file extention)

I'll see if i can get safely rid of them too them too before i make any conclusions

I heard that those files might be important on boot time tho and need to be created but i didnt research that enough



I did however painfully find out that simply removing the driver from the registry that windows needs to run shadowcopy results in a bluescreen with the error "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

Which is a brutal lie from windows, because trying and successfully reading a boot device's registry to execute this service means that windows HAS access to the boot device... also the functionality to throw BSODs in the first place is on the Hard drive as well

It's your system and you may do as you wish, but in my opinion you are playing with fire. If you manage to delete it without a BSOD, it will just be re-created. Windows needs this for it's internal functions, beyond restore points.

A fairly non-technical explanation: What Is the Folder, and Can I Delete It?

FYI, the only way you can delete this folder is to boot up with any LINUX distro ie. UBUNTU, Linux Mint etc...
However, this folder will be re-created upon reboot windows with a size ~20K to keep it small. If you are not using System Restore, Search ...
Beside System Restore points, Windows also stores:
content indexing service databases that speed up your file searches
Distributed Link Tracking Service databases used to repair shortcuts and links
Backup catalog.
In addition:
If you run chkdsk then a log file (chkdsk.log) will be created in it.
If you install Macrium, Macrium will also create a file called $MRCBT

This folder can be prvented from creating with USB flash drive only using the link below:
How to prevent creation of folder in Windows 10 for USB flash drives? - Super User

Hey topgundcp, thanks for that link. I really like that idea.

I have a question about it that I hope you may know, or if someone else knows:
• Suppose I enable that option from that link you posted (to disable the System Volume Information folder to be not created on USB flash drives), will this turn off that folder creation in my two external disk drives (that are connected with a USB cord)?

I don't want it the Search Indexer service to exclude those drives from being indexed. That link shows the name of the key in the registry as the "DisableRemovableDriveIndexing". I don't want that happening, I want to keep the Search indexer keeping an eye out for those two drives.

I only want the System Volume Information folder to be disabled from the small USB memory flash drives.

Thanks

@pepanee

I have a question about it that I hope you may know, or if someone else knows:
• Suppose I enable that option from that link you posted (to disable the System Volume Information folder to be not created on USB flash drives), will this turn off that folder creation in my two external disk drives (that are connected with a USB cord)?

The answer is NO. Your external hard disk is seen by Windows 10 as basic fixed disk, not removable. See screen shot:

Personally I don't use Windows Search/System Restore but use third party software (Macrium for backup, Listary for instant search result) instead so I try to keep this folder small. The only time I want to delete this folder if it is infected by virus or Windows updates turn on the system restore which I don't use.

topgundcp: So I tried that. Then I tried to plug in a USB stick, I saw the SVI (System Volume Information) folder in there. I tried deleting it, but it wasn't getting deleted. So I formatted that USB stick and then it wasn't there anymore. Windows did not create it. So I restarted the computer with the stick still connected to the computer, yet after the restart, it got created again. That folder is now still undeletable. That defeated the whole purpose. Also my Search Indexer appears to have restarted, which is kinda lame. (small # items indexed, and it's running right now). Also that site has a typo if you want to do it the Registry method. The GPEDIT method is correct, yet the Registry's correct method is here: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/preven...ion-folder-usb

Uialeth: Yea I've tried that before, it's not there.


Oh well.. it would've been nice not to see those folders on the USB sticks.