System Restore and Microsoft's Confusing Naming Practices
Fred, Thanks for all you do. I look forward to each issue. I have a question: Every one of my partitions contains a folder "System Volume Information". Curious about what's in it and how much of my resources it is using, I click on it and receive the reply "System Volume Information in not accessible. Access is denied". I can't read it, and I can't delete it. What's this all about? Thanks, Don Haff
You've been tripped up by a Microsoft weakness, Don. Let me explain:
Sometimes, Microsoft gets the naming of things exactly right. "Notepad," for example, or the "Program Files" folder, or "Control Panel." These names are obvious and self explanatory. But other times the names they choose are downright bizarre.
For example, ask 100 ordinary Windows users the difference between the "TaskBar" and the "Quick Launch Toolbar," and you'll mostly get blank stares. (BTW, if you're not sure, see http://tinyurl.com/s74cs and http://tinyurl.com/nc3jm )
Or, consider the little cluster of icons down by the clock. Microsoft uses three official names for this: the "Notification Area," the "Status Area" and the "System Tray." Three different names for the exact same thing! (see http://tinyurl.com/okjmq ) So, not only are some of Microsoft's names obscure, they're also inconsistent.
"System Volume Information" is another poorly chosen name, probably left over from the early deep-geek engineering design discussions of the current versions of Windows. If Microsoft had named it "System Restore Data" (because that's what it really is), there'd be no confusion.
When System Restore is monitoring a drive, it tracks changes in the "System Volume Information" folder. Because the folder is part of System Restore, it's protected from casual snooping or alteration.
But you can eliminate or reduce the size of System Volume Information folders by trimming the amount of space you want to reserve for System Restore on each drive, or by disabling System Restore on those drives.
System Restore How-To info: See Tip #10 in
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=12803122
and also see http://tinyurl.com/353qp
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