Is it safe to delete the" System Volume Information" folder.

Hi all.

So i upgraded from xp to 7.So i am now on windows 7.The first thing i did is download and install Avira,I updated it and did a full system scan.It found around 20-30 viruses,trojans,malware,irc bots in "C:\System Volume Information\_restore{5E03FC9B-BBC4-4FA8-96F7-D40CC10DBA4A}\RP7"

So i let avira delete all the detected files in RP7 folder.I went to the folder and found like icons,.dll files,etc from xp..So i deleted every file in the RP7 folder..


Is it safe to delete the folder "System Volume Information" located in my C:\ driver?

Thank You.

You are not addressing the root problem. The System Volume Information folder stores the restore points created by System Restore on enabled drives. These points let you take your system back to an earlier point of time, should it start misbehaving and you cannot rectify the problem directly. If the system is infected at the time a restore point is created there's a good chance it will exist within the restore point.

System Restore is an excellent tool and I would not suggest disabling it or deleting the SIV folder. What you can do is delete all existing restore points to avoid reinfection on running restore, then clean your system thoroughly, then create fresh restore points.

The best course of action is to prevent infection/malware in the first place. In combination with a good backup strategy System Restore is an excellent tool.

I very much doubt avira was finding virus's in there , most likely what they call false positives. and by deleting that folders contents you now wont be able to roll back to XP if you decide you want too.

Can i make a suggestion , backup all your files wipe and format your disk and do a full install of win 7 , if you dont you may (will most likely) encounter problems in the future.

these forums are full of guys having issues with upgrades

MacGyvr said:

Antivirus programs will find viruses in the system volume information folder if the viruses were present when the restore point(s) were created. Anytime a virus is found on your system, you should reset system restore by turning it off and back on.

Not until the system is known to be clean, then they can be deleted the usual way with Disk Cleanup. A "dirty" restore point is better than none just in case for whatever reason you need to go back.

As for deleting that folder, you can try but Windows won't let you. Its funny that way with system files and folders, and if you did manage to delete it if it is the right one you would render Windows inoperative. You want to delete old restore points use Disk Cleanup or the System restore cleaning option in ccleaner.