How to Delete Shadow Copies With Vista
Sometimes, Windows seems like a ship that knows it's going down. Between all of the security features, antivirus warnings, and constant reminders that it is backing up everything, you might not know whether to feel safe or smothered. While most of that can be easily ignored, Windows' backup procedures can leave you with unnecessary data that you may want to get rid of, as long as you are backing up your important files through some other means.
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Instructions
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Delete All But the Latest Shadow Copies
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1
Log in as a Windows Administrator and click Start.
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2
Type "cleanmgr" into the search box.
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Right click "Cleanmgr.exe" and select "Run as Administrator."
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4
Select the system drive you would like to clean the shadow copies and other files off of from the drop-down menu. Click "OK."
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5
Click on the "More options" tab and click "Clean up..." under the "System restore and shadow copies" section.
Delete All Shadow Copies
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6
Log in as a Windows Administrator and click the Start button.
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Right click "Computer" and click "Properties."
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Click "System Protection."
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Click on the drive that you would like to delete the shadow copies from on the "Protection settings" list.
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Click "Configure..."
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Click "Delete."
Delete All Shadow Copies Through an Elevated Command Prompt
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12
Log in as an administrator and click the Start button.
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Type "cmd" into the search box.
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hold "ctrl" + "shift" on your keyboard and hit enter. Click "Yes" when asked if you would like to allow the "Windows Command Processor" to make changes to the computer.
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Type "wmic" into the command prompt and press enter.
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Type "shadowcopy get" and press enter.
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Type "shadowcopy delete" and press enter.
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Type "y" and press enter; repeat the past two steps as needed for additional shadow copies.
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Tips & Warnings
If you decide to delete all of the shadow copies and would like to disable system restore, click the "Turn off system protection" radio button when you go to delete all shadow copies. Note that the shadow copies and system restore points are both tied into system protection and cannot be turned off independently.
Keep in mind that if you turn off system protection, Windows will no longer back up your important files in the event of a virus or other system failure. You should only turn off system backup completely if you have another program backing up your files, or if you are very careful about doing it manually.
