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Prevent the creation of the system volume information folder. Origin and purpose of System Volume Information

If you make all folders and files open to view (I remind you that system folders and files in Windows are hidden by default), you can find a lot of interesting things. Today we will talk about one of these folders, namely System Volume Information.

The System Volume Information folder is hidden, so the average user is unlikely to even know about its existence. It was created by the system for a reason. The fact is that the folder contains program files that have undergone changes, as well as information about compressing file arrays, backups of some Windows components, etc. Essentially, the System Volume Information folder is responsible for restoring the system under various circumstances. For example, some option has stopped working and the user can go to an earlier point in time when the function was still working. Or, say, when a virus has entered the system and it is impossible to get rid of it using conventional methods.

Typically, the size of the System Volume Information folder is small, so it does not bother the user in any way. But in some cases, its size can increase, so users who are experiencing problems with hard drive space often ask whether the specified folder can be deleted. Theoretically, this can be done, but in this case, as you understand, it will be impossible to restore the system to an earlier time stamp. Therefore, I strongly do not recommend deleting the folder. If you really want to clear space, just disable system protection.

Here's how you can do it (for Windows 7 and higher). Right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Properties” from the menu. Then in the window click “System Protection”:

In the system properties window, select the disk and click “Configure”:

Select “Disable system protection” and click OK.

Protection is disabled. I repeat, this is not worth doing.

To get acquainted with the contents of a folder, if it is, of course, interesting to you (although you won’t see anything interesting there anyway), you must first make the folders and files visible. To do this, open Computer, click Organize, then Folder and Search Options.

In the Folder Options window, select the “View” tab and uncheck the “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives” and “Hide protected system files” checkboxes. Click OK.

We go to the disk with the installed operating system (usually drive C) and observe our System Volume Information folder. If you have an NTFS file system, you will see an access error when opening a folder:

Go to the folder properties, select the “Security” tab and click “Continue”.

The Security window will open. Click the "Add" button.

Add the name of the current user, then click the “Check Names” button. If everything is correct, the system itself will add the full name (along with the computer name). Click OK.

Now the system will allow you to enter the System Volume Information folder. Then I strongly recommend that you delete your username in the same way as we just added it, so that there is no access to this folder on your behalf. This is necessary for the security of your PC. And be extremely careful when working with the folder.


Many folders on your computer, particularly system folders, contain not only useful files, but sometimes outdated data. To get rid of garbage, outdated restore points and simply useless files, you can use a special system tool or perform more complex actions manually. So, what is the System Volume Information folder? How to empty a folder?

An information store like the System Volume Information folder has a purpose.

The folder is designed to allow you to roll back to them after a certain period of time.

Also, when you disable a service, it is backed up in this folder in case it resumes. The main files in this folder contain records of changes in programs.

What is System Volume Information used for?

You can find the System Volume Information folder on each virtual disk, which allows you to manage the system more flexibly. So, this approach opens a new door for us, you can use this backup storage only for important files, and in other sections you can simply disable this feature. The location of this array of information is the root of each of your disks.

We all know that after installing a new Windows, the system just flies, and as it ages, it slows down. This “aging” of the system is associated with cluttering of disks, RAM and other storage devices. To prevent this problem, you can reduce the maximum amount of memory occupied by this folder. Thanks to this approach, you will be able not to remember these nuances for a long time, because the information, as the folder fills up, will simply be overwritten, maintaining its relevance.

An extreme case, but the most effective for freeing up space, is to completely disable the system protection feature.

The consequences of such a decision may be: the absence of earlier system restore points, the inability to roll back drivers or programs, and the unpredictable operation of some services.

If you have a small hard drive and need to free up space for a certain application, you should disable the function, but it is recommended to leave it, at least for the system partition. When using this function, you will be maximally protected and, at the same time, the disk will not be significantly filled with this partition.

In addition, you should know that manually deleting folder elements is not the best idea, because there is a special tool for this that does not require a lot of knowledge and actions from you to achieve the desired result.

How to enable visibility of system folders?

If you want to see this folder, you must have the appropriate display settings. You need to change them by doing everything according to the instructions:

1. Go to any folder, preferably immediately to the root of the partition of any of your logical drives;

2. Click the “Arrange” menu item;

3. Click on the “Folder and Search Options” option;

4. Go to the “View” tab;

5. Check the box “Show hidden files, folders and drives”;

6. Also uncheck the box “Hide protected system files”;

7. Click the "Apply" button.

You should then see the System Volume Information folder and other files, but you still don’t have access to them, since only the system is allowed to view and edit it. Thus, you will not be able to find out even how much information it contains; 0 bytes will be written all the time.

How to access the System Volume Information folder?

In order to give a user access to this folder, you should:

1. Go to the root of the disk and right-click on the System Volume Information folder;

2. Select “Properties”;

3. Go to the “Security” tab;

4. You will have only “system” listed in the list of users who have access to the section, click the “Change” button;

6. In the field that you have selected for focus, enter the name of the user to whom you want to allow access and click the “Check name” button;

7. If everything is correct, click “Ok” and agree with all warnings;

8. After that, in the “Security” tab, add a user who has access to the folder, select him;

9. In the lower privileges window, specify “Full Control” for the user by checking the appropriate box.

Be careful when manually editing system folders; they were blocked from user access for a reason. In this folder you will not delete anything critical for the operation of the system, but if you restore it, you will not be able to do it without the necessary files and elements that are located here.

Among other things, by giving a user access to system folders, you also open a hole for virus activity, because viruses can also use, change and delete files with your rights.

Cleaning the System Volume Information folder

1. Click the "Start" button;

3. From the list of options you should select the last one, called “Properties”;

5. Select the disk space partition you need and click the “Configure” button;

6. A window will open in front of you in which you can delete previous files using the corresponding button.

You can set the required size of space occupied by the System Volume Information folder and delete previous files in the same window; disabling system protection is also available. In order to delete this array of information in other places, simply specify another item from the list on the “System Protection” tab.

If you still have questions on the topic “System Volume Information – what is it? How to clear a folder?”, then you can ask them in the comments


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On every Windows drive (even external USB drives) you can find the folder System Volume Information. If you have the display of hidden files and folders enabled, then you have probably already seen (more than once) this mysterious directory, access to which is tightly closed. A natural question arises: why is it needed?

Disabling the creation of Windows restore points will not remove the System Volume Information folder from the disk. Windows stores additional files in this directory that are necessary for stable operation. System Volume Information also contains information that is used by the Windows indexing service. It is responsible for instantly searching inside your drives. In addition, System Volume Information contains Volume Shadow Copy information and the Distributed Link Tracking database.

If you have a USB drive whose file system is formatted in exFAT/FAT32, then you can look inside the System Volume Information folder and see its contents. Users often find IndexerVolumeGuid and WPsettings.dat files there.

IndexerVolumeGuid assigns a unique ID to the current drive. The Windows indexing service checks files on the disk and carries out this same indexing (a kind of audit). When you connect the drive to your computer, Windows checks the ID and thus knows which database to associate with the drive. You can then use Windows search functions, like the one in the Start menu or in the top right corner of File Explorer.

WPsettings. dat– a mystery file. There is virtually no information about it on the Internet, and the official Microsoft documentation does not indicate anything about what it is needed for.

How to open the System Volume Information folder

If the drive is formatted with NTFS, you will not be able to open the System Volume Information folder. Don't even try. Windows blocks any user from accessing this partition because it stores system-level information. Even a user with Administrator rights will not be able to open it. Of course, the blocking can be bypassed if you change the access settings on the tab Safety in properties. But we will not describe in detail the procedure for opening or deleting this folder, since nothing good will come of it - you will only harm your computer.

You shall not pass.

On a disk in exFAT/FAT32 format, you can freely open System Volume Information. The system will not interfere with you. This is due to the peculiarities of the NTFS / FAT32 file systems and the contents of the System Volume Information folder for each of them.

How to remove System Volume Information

This folder does not need to be deleted. Moreover, her it is forbidden delete. On NTFS disks, the system will not allow you to even open it, let alone delete it. On exFAT/FAT32 you can open it and delete it, but Windows will restore it as soon as necessary. This often happens immediately after removal. Windows stores important information inside this folder, so you should leave it alone. If System Volume Information is an eyesore, simply turn off the display of hidden files and folders in Explorer. Do not try to change any permissions on this folder in order to delete it, just as you do not try to modify the Windows or System32 folder on the system partition.

How to hide the System Volume Information folder

Open File Explorer and go to the tab View, then uncheck Show hidden files and folders. After this, the System Volume Information folder will disappear.

FYI: You can hide this folder even if you have the display of hidden files and folders enabled. To do this, do the following:


After this, the System Volume Information folder will disappear from all disks, but hidden files and folders will continue to be displayed.

How to clear the System Volume Information folder

We have already made it clear that you cannot delete the System Volume Information folder. But there are still times when it needs to be put in order. It happens that System Volume Information takes up a lot of space (up to ten gigabytes or more). In this case, you can clean it, but only using the correct methods provided by the system. In this case, only those files that do not affect the operation of the system will be deleted.

To clear the System Volume Information folder you need to:

  • Turn off the creation of Windows restore points or .
  • Turn off Windows File History. This process is described in the article Windows 10 File History.

That's all you need to know about the System Volume Information folder on your computer.

They are surprised to find an incomprehensible object in the form of an unfamiliar directory in the root of their drive (flash drive). As you know, ignorance gives rise to mistrust and prejudice. Let us reassure our readers and tell you what to do if a System Volume Information folder is created on a flash drive?

Is it dangerous to have SVI on a flash drive?

Folder purpose

Google translator for System Volume Information (SVI) gives a Russian translation from English as “Information about the volume of the system.” Although the translation is conditional, it is not far from the truth.

This directory is created by the system itself to store data in it:

  • About recovery points (if the creation of such points is activated for this disk);
  • Databases used by the indexing service, unique drive ID;
  • File history (shadow copying).

Simply put, it stores information for interacting with the service drive and data for recovery.

Removal

On disks with an NTFS recording system, the user does not have access to the SVI folder on the flash drive. It is assigned the “read” attribute, and only the administrator has access to change. You will immediately receive a notification about this before you delete it.

Obtaining access rights to it is located in the “Security” tab in its properties. It is not recommended to do this (as well as for all system folders).

If the recording on the device is made in FAT encoding, then deletion from the flash drive will be available without any restrictions.

IMPORTANT. Please note that the directory will be created again each time after the next (new) actions in the operating system. Removing it is irrational - the information from it is needed for system services.

Cleaning

If removal is not worth doing, then what if it grows to a serious size and takes up a lot of space?

By the way, this can happen as a result of storing a large number of saved recovery points.

To reduce size by cleaning you need to:

  • Disable auto-creation of points by disabling protection;
  • Delete points that are not needed;
  • Disable file history;

Attentive users of the Windows operating system at some point while using the computer may notice one strange folder called System Volume Information. In particular, this can happen if you enable the display of hidden directories in a standard file manager. Some may think that the presence of the corresponding directory is the result of malicious software, however, this is not the case. Below we will talk about what this System Volume Information folder is, how to open it and whether it is worth deleting.

What is it and what is the System Volume Information folder responsible for?

In operating systems of the Windows family, there is a function that allows you to restore the OS by rolling it back to an earlier state. It's called System Restore. Many users are familiar with this standard feature.

OS recovery, in turn, is done from files prepared in advance. They, in turn, need to be stored somewhere and, as you might have guessed from the context, Windows stores backup copies of important system components in a directory called System Volume Information.

How to open the System Volume Information folder

If you look at it, there is no need to go to the System Volume Information folder at all. However, if you are curious about what is there, and denying access to it only fuels it, then follow these simple steps:

  1. Make sure your account has administrator rights;
  2. Go to the file manager, select the folder you are interested in and right-click on it;
  3. In the drop-down menu, click on the “Properties” item;
  4. In the window that opens, select the “Security” tab, select the desired username, and then click on the “Change” button;
  5. Check all the checkboxes in the “Allow” column;
  6. Apply changes.

After this, the selected user will have all rights to any manipulations with the folder, including viewing, changing and deleting it. After we have figured out what System Volume Information is, we will decide whether to delete it.

How to delete the System Volume Information folder and is it worth it?

Once all rights have been given to the corresponding folder, deleting it will not be difficult. To do this, you just need to right-click on it, select “Delete” and confirm the action (or press Enter).

However, there is no point in doing this. If you do not want to prevent files that take up a lot of space from being written to it, then disable the “System Restore” function. For this:

  1. Press Win and Pause at the same time;
  2. In the window that opens, select “System protection”;
  3. In the window that appears, select the drive (usually “C”) and click on “Configure”;
  4. Select "Turn off system protection" and apply the settings.

How to delete the System Volume Information folder from a flash drive [video]

Yes, deleting the System Volume Information folder from the system disk is almost pointless. However, it can and, if possible, should be deleted from the flash drive. To do this, either format the media completely, or give the user rights to change the contents of the System Volume Information directory, and then erase the folder as a regular file. See above for how to assign the necessary privileges.

If the next time you connect the flash drive, the folder appears on it again, then disable the “File History” function (there are plenty of instructions on how to do this on the Internet). I hope you understand what this System Volume Information folder is and decided what to do with it.

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