[SOLVED] How do i delete SHADOW COPIES

I am using Vista Business(Upgraded from XP using the Clean Install method).



I have noticed that Local Disc ( C ) is showing 234GB free of 279GB.



(2*150GB HDD in Raid O =279GB )



That is i have used 45GB.



The significant amounts used are Programme files 1.85GB,Users 2.54GB,Wndows Vista 7.81GB......11.2GB in total.



Windows Old which i deleted with exception of some required files shows 96KB



When i goto Windows old.. Properties and open PREVIOUS VERSIONS there are 5 versions each of about 6.4GB that is 32GB in total..



Total usage is therefore 11.2 + 32=43.2GB Roughly what HDD( C )is showing..



My question is how can i get rid of these SHADOW COPIES..SYSTEM RESTORE is turned off...



Thanks and cheers flylow

 

You can try the following:

1) Press WINKEY+R and type cleanmgr.exe and press OK.

2) Select Files from all users on this computer, Leave all of the default check boxes selected.

3) Click the More Options Tab.

4) In the System Restore and Shadow Copy section, select the Clean Up button.

5) In the confirmation box, select the Delete button.

6) Click OK.



If that works, go into the services management panel and disable Volume Shadow Copy.



I presume that you've already disabled System Protection on all your volumes?

 

G,day WAW8 and thanks for the reply

First attempt did not work so i created a new Restore Point

Second attempt More OPtions/System Restore and Shadow Copies/CleanUp

Now i get message "Are you sure you want to delete all <U>but the most recent</U> restore point

Clicked on delete.Cleaned out the 5 previous restore points(32GB).This leaves me with 259GB free of 279GB that is 20GB used which is 10GB +(10GB for the last restore point.)

Have now turned System Restore OFF (Use Acronis backups on external disc )

Now attemptprocedure again but for some reason am unable to open Services Management Panel ?

Thanks for your help so far Cheers flylow

 

You should be able to do Computer --> Manage --> Services even without System Restore being turned on.

 

Thanks WAW 8...Have Stopped Service...Volume Shadow copies

Even though the service is stopped it does not let me delete the last shadow copy.

Now have 18GB used of which 10.9GB(Vista included)is accounted for.

Leaving 7.1Gb which is roughly the size of the Vista operating system.

Going to the Windows Folder/Properties/Previous Versions... Message is "There are no previous versions available".Likewise if i go to the Windows Old folder.

It appears that even though i have cleared Restore Points i cannot delete the shadow copy..

Cheers flylow

 

From what I can tell, there does not appear to be a way to delete the last restore point. Even though turning off the service prevents the creation of new restore points, it looks like you're stuck with the last one. The MS explanation claims that turning off system restore removes the current restore point -- but I think you've discovered that it doesn't really do that.

 

Thanks WAW 8...Maybe something to do with useing an upgrade licence to do a clean install.

Next time i format my disc and reinstall vista i shall create a restore point immediately, thereby minimizeing the size of any shadow copy which may remain after following the procedure which you initially suggested.

Once again thanks for your time and help...Regards flylow...................

 

Received the following information that claims to remove shadow copies using the command line.



1) Open an elevated command prompt ("cmd" + ctl-shift-enter)

2) At the command prompt, type "wmic", after some time "wmic:root\cli>" will appear

3) Type "shadowcopy", 4) it will display a list of existing shadow copies

4) Type "shadowcopy delete"

5) one by one, it will give a "Y/N" style prompt, confirming the deletion of each individual shadow copy.

6) Type "exit" to get back to normal command prompt



Too see a list of "shadowcopy" command options, type "shadowcopy /?"



Could you try this and let me know if it works?



If it does, I'll "pin" this on the Forum.



thanks

 

G,day WAW 8..

Initially i had no luck with your last suggestion so i carried out the following...

Established 2 Restore points--Noted that in PROPERTIES FOR BOTH WINDOWS and WINDOWS OLD that there were now 2 "Previous Versions" (why Windows OLD ?? not that,that really matters )

Selected Command Prompt and entered "wmic" --"wmic:root\cli&gt;"

Entered shadowcopy/? to get Shadow copy management COMMANDS

Entered SHADOWCOPY GET.

Shows the Following...ClientAccessible Count Device Object

TRUE 1 GlobalRoot\Device\HD VOL\Shadowcopy 1

TRUE1 GlobalRoot\Device\HD VOL \Shadowcopy 2

Then entered SHADOWCOPY DELETE......Y ...(instance deletion successful)

Then repeated deletion procedure for SHADOWCOPY 2..

RESULT..WINDOWS/PROPERTIES--No previous Versions..(same result for windows Old )

Conclusion..above procedure will delete shadowcopies...................

This still leaves me with the Question as to what my HD usage is made up of.

Now shows 18GB used in total of which Significant amounts are Programme Files 1.9GB,Prog Data 0.4GB,Users 3.0GB,WindowsVista 8.0GB---13.3GB in total.

What does the balance of 4.7GB relate to?..May not have anything to do with Shadowcopies ?

Cheers flylow

 

On my "C" drive (Vista Ultimate 32-bit), I show the following big space eaters:

1) hiberfil.sys 1.99GB -- hibernation file

2) pagefile.sys 2.29 GB - pagefile



I'm running 2GB of memory, and that probably accounts for the sizes of these two files.



So, if you're running the same amount of memory, there's 4GB.

 

Hi WAW 8..Finally got the solution..Have 4GB RAM (only use3GB 32 bit system)Page file is 3.37GB..

You may be interested in this link http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65

Scroll down to "WARNING Windows Vista System Restore stops working when using ATI 11 "

I am continually using ATI 11 as a back for various "IMAGES" this being the reason why i dont want Shadow Copies in my setup

Thanks for your help on this..Cheers flylow

 

Gee, wish I had known you were using ATI 11 -- I could have saved you a lot of time and grief. That's (unfortunately) a well-known problem with ATI 11!



Please note the important point -- it only happens AFTER you do a restore with ATI 11, and even then, only if you have a multi-partition drive and you only restore the Vista partition. This is because, in this situation, ATI restore reloads the Vista partition at a slight different offset than it was originally stored.



After the restore, several things happen:

1) Vista won't boot. You have to run the Repair option using the Vista DVD. This changes the Vista boot loader to find the "new" location of the Vista partition.

2) System Restore won't work, nor will Shadow Copies, nor will Restore Points. This is because Vista now thinks you have TWO Vista partitions. You will see this in the System Restore panel, and you fix this by unchecking the "first" "C" drive and checking the "second" C drive.



After both of these are done, and you reboot, System Restorer, shadow copies, and Restore Points are supposed to work again. It's been reported that once Vista is "fixed", it now "remembers" the offset of the Vista partition and subsequent restores (using ATI 11) don't cause the problem anymore.



BTW, this problem was discovered back in the ATI 10 days (I've been following it since then) and Acronis has promised to fix it with every release and drop since then.

 

Hi WAW 8,Just to say thanks for your time and effort..Great to learn about the CMD Prompt method of deleteing shadow copies..Cheers flylow

 

WAW8,

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out why my C drive memory keeps shrinking!

I thought it was Malware since my C drive's memory of 683GB shrunk down to a terrifying 3.53 GB! I've run the Disk Cleaner and CC Cleaner constantly to get some disk space back (a measly 1.54 MB). I've run multiple malware and anti-virus programs but nothing sinister was picked up.

Then I read about Vista's pesky Shadow Copies! I went on a few websites and found out ways to remove using the command prompt but nothing worked. Alas, I found this forum 7 years after your post on how to delete manually. It actually worked for me and I now have 274 GB free!

I can't thank you enough b/c I was ready to throw the computer out the window!

Happy New Year, indeed!