Windows Vista Forums

Massive Shadow Copy File
  1. #1


    EyesDAonly Guest

    Massive Shadow Copy File


    Hello.
    I have a big problem with the windows Shadow Copy.

    \System Volume
    Information\{a20e83b4-d2e1-11de-970d-001e8c98772a}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}

    The file is 34 GB.
    With my HD size I simply can't afford it!

    My Vista Home Premium is working perfect, I don't even need system
    restore points right now, and I take full responsibility saying that in
    case anything crashes, I wouldn't even mind starting over fresh and
    having that 34GB back would be a better solution that to live with it
    right now.

    I tried Disk Cleanup, which said it could remove all but the newest
    shadow copies, and it didn't remove that file. Which means its a new
    file? I don't know.

    I'm quite sure it was caused by the defragmentation program that I used
    "Diskeeper" that maybe somehow made that file a whole lot bigger, I
    stopped using it and the file doesn't grow anymore. I believe it grew
    from 20GB to 34GB just after letting Diskeeper run on Auto
    Defragmentation, and I couldn't risk it making it any bigger.

    Any help will be appreciated!
    Thanks.


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    EyesDAonly
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  2. #2


    R. C. White Guest

    Re: Massive Shadow Copy File

    Hi, EyesDAonly.

    I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate; Vista Home Premium may be different, but they
    should be close enough for you to get some benefit from this...

    On System Properties, click System Protection. On the System Protection
    tab, check the settings under Available Drives. For each drive, click
    Configure and turn System Protection on or off for that drive. Under Disk
    Space Usage, you can move the slider, which will tell you - in both bytes
    and percent of that volume - how much space you will let System Restore use
    for that drive. You can choose whether to save system settings, or shadow
    copies, or both or neither.

    RC
    --
    R. C. White, CPA
    San Marcos, TX
    rc@newsgroup
    Microsoft Windows MVP
    Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

    "EyesDAonly" <EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup> wrote in message
    news:EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup

    >
    > Hello.
    > I have a big problem with the windows Shadow Copy.
    >
    > \System Volume
    > Information\{a20e83b4-d2e1-11de-970d-001e8c98772a}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}
    >
    > The file is 34 GB.
    > With my HD size I simply can't afford it!
    >
    > My Vista Home Premium is working perfect, I don't even need system
    > restore points right now, and I take full responsibility saying that in
    > case anything crashes, I wouldn't even mind starting over fresh and
    > having that 34GB back would be a better solution that to live with it
    > right now.
    >
    > I tried Disk Cleanup, which said it could remove all but the newest
    > shadow copies, and it didn't remove that file. Which means its a new
    > file? I don't know.
    >
    > I'm quite sure it was caused by the defragmentation program that I used
    > "Diskeeper" that maybe somehow made that file a whole lot bigger, I
    > stopped using it and the file doesn't grow anymore. I believe it grew
    > from 20GB to 34GB just after letting Diskeeper run on Auto
    > Defragmentation, and I couldn't risk it making it any bigger.
    >
    > Any help will be appreciated!
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    > --
    > EyesDAonly

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    Richard Urban Guest

    Re: Massive Shadow Copy File

    Moving a lot of files around on your computer will increase the size of your
    system volume information folder.

    What many people don't know that by defragging, either manually or
    continuously as DisKeeper now does, any incremental images created by a
    program like Acronis True Image will be as large, or larger, than the
    initial image. An incremental image should only show the changed disk
    status. But, when you change 74% of the file locations on a disk by
    defragging the image becomes huge.

    This is why I always turn off system restore and shadow copy when I load a
    new operating system. I rely upon True Image to get me out of hot water.

    --

    Richard Urban
    Microsoft MVP
    Windows Desktop Experience & Security


    "EyesDAonly" <EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup> wrote in message
    news:EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup

    >
    > Hello.
    > I have a big problem with the windows Shadow Copy.
    >
    > \System Volume
    > Information\{a20e83b4-d2e1-11de-970d-001e8c98772a}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}
    >
    > The file is 34 GB.
    > With my HD size I simply can't afford it!
    >
    > My Vista Home Premium is working perfect, I don't even need system
    > restore points right now, and I take full responsibility saying that in
    > case anything crashes, I wouldn't even mind starting over fresh and
    > having that 34GB back would be a better solution that to live with it
    > right now.
    >
    > I tried Disk Cleanup, which said it could remove all but the newest
    > shadow copies, and it didn't remove that file. Which means its a new
    > file? I don't know.
    >
    > I'm quite sure it was caused by the defragmentation program that I used
    > "Diskeeper" that maybe somehow made that file a whole lot bigger, I
    > stopped using it and the file doesn't grow anymore. I believe it grew
    > from 20GB to 34GB just after letting Diskeeper run on Auto
    > Defragmentation, and I couldn't risk it making it any bigger.
    >
    > Any help will be appreciated!
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    > --
    > EyesDAonly
    > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > EyesDAonly's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/155662.htm
    > View this thread:
    > http://forums.techarena.in/vista-fil...nt/1272162.htm
    >
    > http://forums.techarena.in
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4


    EyesDAonly Guest

    Re: Massive Shadow Copy File


    Thanks R.C.White! That did the trick :-) 34gb cleared in 2 seconds hehe
    All I had to do is tell it not to make Shadow Copy for the HD, then it
    deleted everything. And now I can even let it do it again if I want, and
    it will make the default small copy. Good to know its possible to clear
    out the shadow every once in a while if needed. Much appreciated! :-)
    And thanks Richard, good to know!


    --
    EyesDAonly
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  5. #5
    whs's Avatar

    Senior Member



    Join Date : May 2008
    Germany/Florida
    Posts : 1,982
    Vista home premium 32bit
    Local Time: 10:15 PM
    germany us florida

     

    Re: Massive Shadow Copy File

    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Urban View Post
    Moving a lot of files around on your computer will increase the size of your
    system volume information folder.

    What many people don't know that by defragging, either manually or
    continuously as DisKeeper now does, any incremental images created by a
    program like Acronis True Image will be as large, or larger, than the
    initial image. An incremental image should only show the changed disk
    status. But, when you change 74% of the file locations on a disk by
    defragging the image becomes huge.

    This is why I always turn off system restore and shadow copy when I load a
    new operating system. I rely upon True Image to get me out of hot water.

    --

    Richard Urban
    Microsoft MVP
    Windows Desktop Experience & Security


    "EyesDAonly" <EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup> wrote in message
    news:EyesDAonly.41t5bb@newsgroup
    >
    > Hello.
    > I have a big problem with the windows Shadow Copy.
    >
    > \System Volume
    > Information\{a20e83b4-d2e1-11de-970d-001e8c98772a}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}
    >
    > The file is 34 GB.
    > With my HD size I simply can't afford it!
    >
    > My Vista Home Premium is working perfect, I don't even need system
    > restore points right now, and I take full responsibility saying that in
    > case anything crashes, I wouldn't even mind starting over fresh and
    > having that 34GB back would be a better solution that to live with it
    > right now.
    >
    > I tried Disk Cleanup, which said it could remove all but the newest
    > shadow copies, and it didn't remove that file. Which means its a new
    > file? I don't know.
    >
    > I'm quite sure it was caused by the defragmentation program that I used
    > "Diskeeper" that maybe somehow made that file a whole lot bigger, I
    > stopped using it and the file doesn't grow anymore. I believe it grew
    > from 20GB to 34GB just after letting Diskeeper run on Auto
    > Defragmentation, and I couldn't risk it making it any bigger.
    >
    > Any help will be appreciated!
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    > --
    > EyesDAonly
    > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > EyesDAonly's Profile: EyesDAonly's profile on TechArena Computer Hardware Support Forums of India
    > View this thread:
    > Massive Shadow Copy File - Vista File Management
    >
    > TechArena Community - Technology and Computer Hardware Support Forums of India
    >

    This will tell you how to resize the shadowstorage. Note: The minimum size is 300MB.
    How to reduce disk space used by Windows Vista system restore

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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