Why is there stuff inside SysVolInfo folder without previous SRP creat

Much to my surprise I found some folders (e.g.

D:\System Volume Information\{d8216247-eb56-11e9-87e1-005056c00008}{3809876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-05046e6cc752}

....and 7 more similar folders inside the "System Volume Information" folder on my partition D:

This partition does not contain a running Win7/Win10 system.
Even more I never created a System Restore Point for this partition for my Win7 system..

So where do these folders come from?

Can I delete them?

Peter

Do not delete these folders. "System Volume Information" is not just used by System Restore.

These folders contain important system information, not all of which is documented.

The "System Volume Information" folder was introduced in Windows 2000 which did not have System Restore. At that time it was documented as containing system information. The details were not documented. We should assume that this has not changed. Starting in XP System Restore Points were also stored here. There may be other additions as well.

Be sure to understand that the "System Volume Information" folder is not normally accessible to even an elevated Admin level account. In Windows 2000 it was the only folder so protected. This should give a hint that the contents should not be deleted unless you really understand what you are doing.

Like other operating systems in Windows there is much that is not fully documented. Once something is documented application developers will fell free to use this information. If any details were changed in a later update or OS upgrade these applications may break. For that reason, among others, some things are best left undocumented.

pstein said:

Much to my surprise I found some folders (e.g.

D:\System Volume Information\{d8216247-eb56-11e9-87e1-005056c00008}{3809876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-05046e6cc752}

....and 7 more similar folders inside the "System Volume Information" folder on my partition D:

This partition does not contain a running Win7/Win10 system.

But has it ever? Is it a second hard drive that once had a system on itand you've reused it? If so, it may be a left over from that.



That name is exactly the correct format for a restore point but it should be a file, not a folder for a restore point. Maybe folders are for previous versions of files?



Have you tried configuring System Protection for your D: drive? If it shows a value for Current Usage you should be able to click the delete button and clear it. If not, try turning system protection on, then back off again. That should also clear restore points.