How to Delete XP Recovery Points

Windows Recovery is an application used to save a snapshot of the current computer settings. This is used to restore the operating system after an installation or upgrade causes issues for the machine. However, these snapshots can take hundreds of megabytes on the computer, so deleting old snapshots frees up hard disk space. You can delete old restore points using the Windows XP clean-up tool that is included with the operating system's accessories.

Instructions

1. Click the Windows "Start" button and select "All Programs." Select "Accessories" from the list of menu options. In this menu, select "System Tools" and then click on the "Disk Cleanup" icon.

2. Select the drive that contains the recovery points. For most installations, this is the "C" drive. Press the "OK" button. It takes several minutes for the Disk Cleanup tool to evaluate the hard drive. Once it's finished, a window is shown with a list of files you can delete to free up hard drive space.

3. Click the "More Options" tab. In this tab is a section labeled "System Restore and Shadow Copies." Click the "Cleanup" button in this section.

4. Click the "OK" button to confirm that you want to delete all system restore points except for the current one. The current one is used to restore the registry settings in case of failure. Once you configure, the Disk Cleanup tool deletes recovery points except for the most current.

Tips & Warnings

• You should only delete system recovery points when the computer is stable and has no boot issues.

References

• Bleeping Computer