tell me how to delete System Volume Information on D:

It is a system file and it will stay there. Removal and reboot Windows will simply put it back .... disable for D: then set all system files back to hidden. It will disappear when you mark it hidden. as per default.

I have a similar problem. I'm trying delete the system volume information folder from a previous version of Windows 7.

I was running Windows 7 RC for the past 6+ months. I purchased a new HDD and installed Windows 7 Pro on it. When I first tried booting with both HDD SATA cables connected, Win 7 RC started up. I then powered down, disconnected this drive, and booted with only the new Win 7 Pro drive connected. I then connected the HDD with Win 7 RC on it. I know I should connect it while the system is on, but whatever. I was able to scan for the drive and then delete most of the Win 7 RC files from the drive, but System Volume Information refuses to be deleted. And now when I boot with both drives connected the system hangs.

I know I should just format the drive, but I have about 550GB of data on the drive and no where to store it during the formatting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Found a solution to the undeletable System Volume Infor

Had the identical problem with an external drive with a BETA Win 7 install I hosed a few months ago, but managed to fix it doing the following.
1. I read elsewhere to right-click and enable sharing on that folder with full permissions. (Tried to delete the folder right after doing this, but it didn't work.) I also installed the UNLOCKER program just prior to this attempt.
2. Created a new directory in the root of the drive aptly titled DELETE ME, then moved the stubborn System Volume Information into DELETE ME.
3. Delete the DELETE ME directory.

Worked without trouble using Windows 7 Home Premium. You might even try skipping step 1 and seeing if steps 2 and 3 solve it.

Best of luck

TGSoldier said:

Disable system restore.

Click to expand...

NEVER do this

if your goal is to simply erase a System Volume Information that is too big and have no use for,
get Parted Magic:
News

burn and boot with it and use the file/folder tool located in the bottom left icon.
delete the whole SVI folder and reboot to Win 7.

if you do that on your OS drive make sure you create a Restore point when you get back to your Win 7 desktop.

Julio Andretti said:

hUnTEr said:

I use a old program called "ERD Commander 2003 Explorer"..
you can enter "System Volume information" folder with that program..

It shows all hidden and system files.. I do not use system restore..
I usually delete everything in the folder.. I use it at your own risk

Click to expand...

Thank you, I can see inside the folder by taking ownership of the folder, but thanks for your help. I'm sure that everybody in this forum and myself prefers this kind of reply.

Click to expand...

Is indexing enabled on the drive? That might be why it isn't empty. My J:\drive has System Restore turned off on it and the System Volume Information shows empty but Indexing is also
disabled.

infrasignal said:

Had the identical problem with an external drive with a BETA Win 7 install I hosed a few months ago, but managed to fix it doing the following.
1. I read elsewhere to right-click and enable sharing on that folder with full permissions. (Tried to delete the folder right after doing this, but it didn't work.) I also installed the UNLOCKER program just prior to this attempt.
2. Created a new directory in the root of the drive aptly titled DELETE ME, then moved the stubborn System Volume Information into DELETE ME.
3. Delete the DELETE ME directory.

Worked without trouble using Windows 7 Home Premium. You might even try skipping step 1 and seeing if steps 2 and 3 solve it.

Best of luck

Click to expand...

Works well. Pity no one seems to have listened to you and I cannot rep you!

After emptying the recycle bin the System Volume Information folder is back with it's original contents. Crap...

This time for sure! Disable System Protection for the drive: Start, right click Computer, properties, System Protection, select the drive that contains the System Volume Information folder you want to delete, click Configure, turn off system protection, ok, ok, reboot, tap f8 repeatedly during boot, select repair computer, open command prompt, navigate to the offending folder and delete.

How to remove the System Volume Information folder

Old post I know but I've had this problem on several of my removeable HDs and finally I managed to remove the 'System Volume Information' folder:

DO NOT DO THIS ON YOUR C: OR YOUR WINDOWS HARDDRIVE!!!!!

Right click desktop and click [New->Shortcut]
Write: cmd.exe

Click [Next] then [Finish]

Right click the cmd.exe icon and click 'Run As Adminstrator"
Now select the external hard drive (F: in my case)

C:\>f:

Now do the following (you can copy paste):
F:\>attrib -s -h /S /D
F:\>attrib -r /S /D
F:\>rd "System Volume Information" /S
System Volume Information, Are you sure (Y/N)? y

And you're DONE

Remove System Volume Information

Thanks for your post, Mattie,
I fought with this for many days, without being able to accomplish the removal of this annoying folder from my external or not monitored drives. I previously tried the removal through the command utility, but always received a reply of: "Directory not found". I don't know, if it is necessary to remove the attributes, but the most important aspect of your post is that the folder name has to be enclosed in quotation marks. After doing this, it worked like a charm. Thanks for posting

Thank you mattie I did that and could finally eliminate the "System Volume Information" folder on my external HD!!

I managed to get it down to containing 0 files and folders but it was still there and pissing me off, but with your information I could finally completely eliminate it.

Hi, I could use a hand with this. I have tried the solution matti suggested but I'm told "access denied", and I can't open the folder either. It's 6gb that's used on nothing :/

None of this seems to work on Windows 7 Home Premium. I cannot delete 'System Volume Information' on any drive, whether that be an internal or external drive. This folder is completely meaningless on the non-Windows drives. All the data on these non-Windows drives is mine, and I take 100% control of it all. Windows has nothing to do with these drives, other than allowing my TOTAL access to all of them completely. I want to delete ANYTHING that I do not want or need on any of my drives, especially on non-Windows drives.

So, after trying everything I could find here, and elsewhere online, I still cannot delete this folder (and it sub-folders and files as well). I had this problem with a USB flash drive also, and the only way I could get rid of 'System Volume Information' was to format it in a certain way. Someone suggested using UNIX to do this - how ridiculous! There has to be a way to delete this on non-Windows drives, without Unix. I even tried the Take Ownership utility, and then setting permissions. Nothing works! And all that rhetoric about what this folder is for and that you should not touch is utter rubbish! These are PCs - PERSONAL computers!

Is there anyone that really KNOWS how to delete this folder under Windows?

Vincent 05-07-13

I am still trying to delete all of System Volume Information on my non-Windows drives. I just tried the 'attrib' DOS commands describes above, and it still does not get rid of everything (all of System Volume Information). Of course I ran CMD in Administrator mode. Here it the scoop:

The 'attrib' commands simply change the attributes of the folder, and all sub folders & files. I ran HELP on Attrib to see what these options do. I was able to delete files in the root of System Volume Information, but not the sub folder - EfaData, and I never could delete the file named SYMEFA.db in the sub folder EfaData. On some drives, the total size of the System Volume Information folder is zero, and on others it is 2 GB! I have lots of drives.

When I try to delete the file SYMEFA.DB, I get " The Process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.". Nothing else is using this file or even this drive. But just to make sure, I powered the drive off, saw it removed from my system, and then powered it on again. I still cannot delete it. I then tried going up one level and 'rd EfaData' and got the message "The Directory is not empty."

So, the bottom line here is that this whole process (with the Attrib and RD DOS commands) does not delete System Volume Information either!

Vincent 05-08-13

vlavalle, do you have Norton installed?

As for deleting System Volume Information, it will just be recreated. You CANNOT get rid of it. The folder itself is part of NTFS, part of the file system.

Deleting 'SstemVolume Infrmation"

Logicearth,

Yes, I have NIS 2012. Also, I was able to get rid of System Volume Information off of my 64 GB flash drive, and it did not return. Thus, I should be able to do this with other USB external HDDs, and hopefully, with all internal non-Windows drives as well. IF I am ever able to delete this folder, I will get back to you to let you know if Windows keeps populating the non-Windows drives with this folder. I don't see why it should, but then again, MS does lot of strange nonuser-oriented things! It is as if MS does not use the computer as the rest of the world does.

Vincent 05-08-13

The "SYMEFA.DB" stuff is Norton.