Solved Deleting Image Restore Points

[leelord]

I'm using Windows 7 Backup and Restore and have created Images (only), (System, C:, Recovery D on two different external drives, 0ne the first week on drive 1 and one on drive 2 the second week. I do this because both drive are old and want to ensure if one goes I'll have a second backup.

I've done the setup for the first drive and delete the image restore point from "Manage Space" before backing up the new image on that drive, but the other drive I don't see a way to delete that system restore Image/shadow copy that's created prior to the actual backup.

I could, from Setup, "Change Setting" for the second drive but I can't delete the previous Image from either of the two selections in "Manage Space" unless I configure the setup to "Save & Backup" that second drive first. When I overwrite the image on the second drive then I have two image restore points for that drive, the previous and the current I just did.

Is there a place on the computer itself where these image restore points can be manually deleted. Where are they saved to on the hard drive? I hope I made sense in explaining my problem. Thanks for any help.

 

[whs]

When you took the image, you had to select the drive to where the image was written - or the system chose it for you which you can reconstruct by starting another imaging session.

The image itself is a folder called windowsimagebackup which you can delete like any other folder.

 

[leelord]

Thanks for the reply. I understand you can delete windowsimagebackup manually through windows explorer but my question is how do I get rid of the image restore points created in system restore that have been eliminated?

Its not a problem deleting those system restore image entries if I choose "manage space" from the 'setup" location but if I choose another drive (my second backup, not the setup loacation) I can not eliminate the image backup entry in system restore. My question is how do I do this? Where is that entry(s) stored on my hard drive, if it is? By the way, are those the "shadow copies" that appear in system restore?

I've attached a .png of my system restore image points (4). Only two are current backup and restore images. The other two have been deleted manually through windows explorer or overwritten. How do I eliminate those deleted images out of system restore?

Thanks again!

 

[maxseven]

Solution Found

I found the answer to the mysterious rogue System Image Restore Backup points today; it involves what is (for me) an obscure command called wbadmin. Below you will see my use of this in an elevated command prompt. I had originally made a backup, as a test honestly, back in July of last year, and somewhere along the way I deleted that backup from my external (FreeAgent) drive. This "Restore Point Backup" continued to appear despite all attempts to clear-out Restore Points, not only w/Disk Cleanup but also turning-off and back on again. The solution is to execute:

wbadmin delete catalog

as described here!

Hope this helps--I am happy to have this confusing System Restore entry gone myself!

[I]Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin /?
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

---- Commands Supported ----

START BACKUP              -- Runs a one-time backup.
STOP JOB                  -- Stops the currently running backup or recovery
                              operation.
GET VERSIONS              -- List details of backups recoverable from a
                              specified location.
GET ITEMS                 -- Lists items contained in a backup.
GET STATUS                -- Reports the status of the currently running
                              operation.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get versions
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

Backup time: 7/18/2010 1:50 PM
Backup target: 1394/USB Disk labeled FreeAgent(J:)
Version identifier: 07/18/2010-18:50
Can recover: Volume(s), File(s), Application(s), Bare Metal Recovery, System State
Snapshot ID: {ee710e2e-2994-4c00-b646-399e0ecf0b53}


C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin delete catalog
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

Are you sure that you want to delete the backup catalog? If you delete the
catalog, you will need to create a new set of backups.
[Y] Yes [N] No y

The backup catalog has been successfully deleted.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get versions
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

ERROR - No backup was found.
[/I]

Of course, you only want to do this if you want to get rid of all instances of your backup files!!!!

 

[whs]

Wbadmin is a command mostly used in the Windows server editions. It creates images as VHDs. I sometimes play around with it because you can attach the VHDs and pick data off.

 

[leelord]

Thanks you so much for the answer. I didn't think there was one. I still have 3 rogue restore points which are old which now I'll eliminate. Not that do any harm but it's annoying to me that they're still there. Obviously I'm somewhat of a techie. Thanks again! Lee

 

[CBA]

Deleting (very) old system image restore points

The solution is to execute: wbadmin delete catalog

Maxseven!

Old thread (last post in this thread was 1698 days ago), but, never mind, your suggestion fixed my problem with deleting (very) old system image restore points. Thanks, CBA

 

[maxseven]

The solution is to execute: wbadmin delete catalog

Maxseven!

Old thread (last post in this thread was 1698 days ago), but, never mind, your suggestion fixed my problem with deleting (very) old system image restore points. Thanks, CBA

Ha, I had to re-read my five-year-old post and still can't recall this particular problem. Which is why we have to write stuff down!

Glad it helped you!