System Volume Information Tracking Log ???

[BuckSkin]

On the machine in question, just a couple weeks ago, I installed two brand-new internal HDDs, both WD, one is a 160-GB that only has the O/S; the other is a 2-TB WD Blue that contains two partitions, approximately 1650-GB partition is Pictures, and the remaining space is All Other Data.

Since installing these HDDs, I have used Synchredible several times to copy the contents of both storage drives to another 2-TB WD HDD; this one is in an external enclosure; I have Synchredible set to duplicate the two drives/partitions onto the external back-up HDD.

I just finished running Synchredible, two separate operations, and got a warning flag on both; "System Volume Information \ Tracking .log could not be copied etc. etc."

I have never seen this before and no such file or whatever it is shows up in Explorer.

I Google-searched, got a gazillion references, and am more confused now than before.

What is this mystery file; why has it all of a sudden showed up in both of my storage drives; and can I hunt it down and delete it ?

Thanks for reading.


On EDIT: I just selected to show hidden files and folders and could not see this mystery file.

I also looked in Disk Management and there was no evidence of anything there either.

Regardless, Synchredible can see whatever it is and refuses to copy it.

 

[torchwood]

Hi Buckskin,

Nice tool that and free to boot, just been reading the softpedia review
Dont know enough about it but as the message is generated from it, you could shoot over to thier forum

However
The folder and log is the W7 System restore option, have you made any changes to it
(created new partition added a drive??)


Roy

 

[BuckSkin]

The folder and log is the W7 System restore option, have you made any changes to it
(created new partition added a drive??)


Roy

I just did check on System Restore, restore points and such, to see if something weird was going on.

I have no idea why, but System Restore was turned off for all drives.

When I got the new HDD for the O/S, I cloned the old HDD to the new and usually all attributes and settings ride along with the cloning, but somehow System Restore managed to get turned off.


I also find it puzzling that I cannot see this folder/file, even with "show hidden folders/files" turned on.

Each time I run Synchredible, I compare Properties of source and target, comparing the total Bytes, and file and folder count, to make certain that everything is present and accounted for; this mystery folder throws my count off.


As for the Synchredible forum, I had visited it quite some time back with a question; I visited again recently, using the same link that I had used before, and I now end up on a page where everything is in German; it is the Synchredible forum, just in German; I could not find an option to see the English version.

 

[torchwood]

I popped over to it

Has an English forum - under the German one scroll down,

Roy

 

[Layback Bear]

I use Macrium to Clone.
When a Clone is made it does not clone the Restore Points.
When you boot into the Clone you should restart the protection so the clone can start making Restore points when used.

My understanding for this is; when you make a Clone you are cloning a clean, proper working system. Restore Points might have been compromised so they are not cloned over to the new drive/ssd.

Jack

 

[pbcopter]

If you use a program such as Tree Size Free and run it as administrator, you will find Tracking.log in the System Volume Information folder.
I would not worry that it is not copied.

 

[BuckSkin]

I popped over to it

Has an English forum - under the German one scroll down,

Roy

Thanks for checking it.

Well, that sure is weird; I just then used the same link that last night took me to a page where everything was in German and, right now, it is back in English; they must have been doing some site maintenance or something and are now finished.


I have been studying this thread and a lot of it is way over my head:

How to delete folder on Win 7 Solved - Page 6 - Windows 7 Help Forums

I do have a Linux O/S on the machine in dual-boot; I can see this System Volume Information folder via Linux.
The tracking.log file in the folder says it is an executable text file, size 20.5KB

From what I gather, if I delete this folder, it will just come back; I can see no benefit of it being in each of my two storage partitions.

 

[BuckSkin]

I use Macrium to Clone.
When a Clone is made it does not clone the Restore Points.
When you boot into the Clone you should restart the protection so the clone can start making Restore points when used.

My understanding for this is; when you make a Clone you are cloning a clean, proper working system. Restore Points might have been compromised so they are not cloned over to the new drive/ssd.

Jack

Thanks ! That makes perfect sense to me and is probably why System Protection was turned off on my fresh clone.

 

[BuckSkin]

If you use a program such as Tree Size Free and run it as administrator, you will find Tracking.log in the System Volume Information folder.
I would not worry that it is not copied.

Thanks for the info and link to the new tool.

I don't guess the folder's presence is of any harm, but I would like to know why it has all of a sudden showed up in the two partitions of my storage HDD.

I guess to bring my math calculations back in order, instead of using the entire Drive letters as source and target, I could instead create a single main folder in each drive and move the existing folders under it as sub-folders; thus, this SVI folder would remain outside the realm of my Synchredible back-up plan.

I should have implemented a single top-of-the-tree folder when I created these drives, but I was trying to keep my paths under the 256 character limit that seems to plague me quite often.

 

[BuckSkin]

If you use a program such as Tree Size Free and run it as administrator, you will find Tracking.log in the System Volume Information folder.

I decided to revisit this.

I ran TreeSize Free on the C Drive and there is a 13.7GB System Volume Information folder located there, probably where it is supposed to be.

I then scanned the B Drive, where there is no logical reason for there to be a System Volume Information folder; yet, there it is and containing a single text file consisting of 20KB.

I right-clicked on the folder in the TreeSize Free window and it gave me the option to Delete; I did and had to also click the okay in two following dialogues.

I closed out of TreeSize and ran Synchredible on the B Drive and there was that hateful folder still hanging in there like a tick on a dog's ear.

I tried again and this time deleted the file that was within the folder, clicked Refresh in the TreeSize toolbar and, although the first window was showing it gone, it was right back after the refresh.

After numerous failed attempts at getting rid of the folder, I began to think that either there was some sort of "Apply" button in TreeView that I am not seeing, or that possibly the free version just goes through the motions without actually doing anything.

Even though it's presence may not cause any harm, it is keeping me from being able to compare the byte size of the B Drive with it's backup mate and annoying me to no end.

As this was a brand-new clean as a whistle HDD and has never had any system on it, I cannot fathom how or why it acquired the folder in the first place.

I do have one yet untried option --- well actually two, one = fire up Linux and delete it from there, or two = erase and format the partition and reload it from the backup disk; if it is still there after that, i don't know what I will try next.