WinXP System Restore - deleting restore points?

[dodecahedron]

is there any way to delete particular restore points (not all of them at once)?

[NoSmartz]

May be able to go into the system or registry manually to do so but I never have been ble to.I just zap em all at once.

E

[dodecahedron]

i don't thinik the System Restore info is in the Registry.
i've always thought it's somewhere inside the folder C:\System Volume Information (which i can't get to no matter how i try. dang i can't even find out the size of this folder).

[robertb]

I gather from various help files that restore points are saved in under your drive:\system volume information\_restore then F plus some numbers
Each restore point's files are saved in a folder named RPXX where XX is a two digit number corresponding to the restore point.
If you cant see whats in your volume information folder try double clicking on my computer then select "Tools" then "Folder Options" then "View"
Now make sure you have "show hidden files " selected and also hide extensions of known files NOT selected and "Hide protected operating system files" also NOT selected.
I guess this will enable you at least to see the contents of the System volume information folder?
If you just want to get rid of the older restore points and keep the most recent one.. Right Click the Drive in question/Properties/Disk Cleanup/More Options/System Restore/Cleanup.

[dodecahedron]

thanks robertb.
once again you are a valuable source of information!

If you cant see whats in your volume information folder try double clicking on my computer then select "Tools" then "Folder Options" then "View"
Now make sure you have "show hidden files " selected and also hide extensions of known files NOT selected and "Hide protected operating system files" also NOT selected.
I guess this will enable you at least to see the contents of the System volume information folder?

no.
those are my default settings, and still trying to double click on E:\System Volume Information gives an error window: ... is not accessible. Access is denied.
even in the Command Prompt i get Access is denied error.

If you just want to get rid of the older restore points and keep the most recent one.. Right Click the Drive in question/Properties/Disk Cleanup/More Options/System Restore/Cleanup.

WOW.
i never till now noticed that there was a More Options tab!
(i hardly ever the Disk Cleanup utility).
unfortunately the Clean up button under System Restore cleans up all restore points except for the last. doesn't give you any choice as to which ones to remove. still better than nothing i guess.

if you can figure out a way to get into the System Volume Information i'd like to learn of it!

[NoSmartz]

dodecahedron,
Zap those Restore points.As long as your PC is running pretty good now the most Restore Point that will be saved will be the new Starting point to go back to if you get into XP trouble.You'll save a ton of Space!!!!I did mine a few weeks ago and saved 2.2 gb's.No probs at all.

E

[Spazmogen]

Thanks guys.

I've just learned something.

I can really use the space.

[CowboySlim]

Great tip! Thanks!

Slim

[BurninMan921]

One VERY handy program is XPLite - I won't use Windoze without it. It'll disable the Windows File Protection, so you can access/delete anything you want - even the stuff MS says you can't. Like Internet Explorer. Outlook. Media Player. And every other POS piece of junk software Windows installs without asking you if you want it or not.

Once disabled, you should be able to have a look at (and delete) each restore point. Not 100% sure on that, though - turning off system restore & recycle bin are the first two things I do after installing WinXP - that and disabling it's stupid new theme...

[robertb]

I forgot to mention but I think you have it already done ...Under the My Computer/Tools/folder options/view / there is also a box "Display the contents of system folders " which of course probably also needs to be ticked along with the others which you already have as default in order to see the contents of your System Volume Information/Restore_ folder.
Presumably you are using Start/Programs/accessories/Windows Explorer in order to try and see this folder ?
Is it this damned business with having to be logged on as an administrator which I understand is necessary to access/view this folder?
By the way you could look at your registry settings and maybe check that the value below is set to 1 (at least just to try and see contents?)

Registry Settings
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
Value Name: Hidden
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (1 = show hidden, 2 = do not show)

[dodecahedron]

no, as a matter of fact Display the contents of system folders was not checked. weird, i've never been prevented from seeing the contents of system folders!
anyway it's checked now and no difference. System Volume Information is still inaccessible.

key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer] value name Hidden has value data 1.

are you running XP?
can you (or anyone else) access System Volume Information ?

[NoSmartz]

dodecahedron
Check out this link,could help.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/system_volume_information_folder1.htm

E[/b]

[dodecahedron]

thanks, Smartz, that did it!

[NoSmartz]

your welcome.

E

[robertb]

I presume if one enables "Show hidden files and folders" that one has to be a little less trigger happy with the delete button.
I seem to remember discovering a "Desktop.ini" file which became visible in My Documents folder after enabling the "Show hidden files option" (You will probably see it there too now) After deleting this "Desktop.ini" file I couldn't open My Documents anymore.
I followed a lengthy thread on this subject where it was claimed that getting rid of this file and fiddling with the registry speeded up the computer considerably but I lost interest and didn't follow it.
Just an afterthought on the subject.

[dodecahedron]

interesting.

what's weird is that before your suggestion on this topic, Display the contents of system folders was not checked. all the other settings were as you suggested. but still Windows did show me the contents of system folders. i saw no difference in behaviour before and after checking Display the contents of system folders.

also:
i deleted the desktop.ini in My Documents.
no change whatsoever. i can open My Documents no problem.

i wonder what was in your desktop.ini file.
mine is:

Code: Select all

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=J
Personalized=5
PersonalizedName=My Documents

[robertb]

he he!!
I see this board is not short of adventurers.
Well I am glad you had no ill effects from the deletion.
I currently use Win98 as I got fed up with all this administrator stuff on XP and began to wonder if it really was my computer or somebody elses!
Anyway I have a feeling that in most cases if you delete the desktop.ini it pops right back again when you re-boot maybe due to the registry.
I found the link on this subject
http://the-it-mercenary.com/forums/Help/posts/8929.html
As I said I lost interest in it and by the way it came from a win98 forum although maybe it still applies to XP
glad you solved your problem

[dodecahedron]

he he!!
I see this board is not short of adventurers.
Well I am glad you had no ill effects from the deletion.

to be truthful, i just moved it to another folder, confident (overly so?) that i could move it back if things didn't work out well. maybe i didn't give it enough thought - if My Documents wouldn't be accessible how would i move it back ??? turned out there were no problems.
yeah, many of these system files if you delete them Windows recreates them on it's own. i ususally don't bother with them.