[Forum FAQ] Reduce the size of System Volume Information folder

Question

Symptom
There is a folder called System Volume Information in the root of each drive. (Figure 1)
Sometimes, you may find the size of System Volume Information folder is too large. However,
it is not recommended to delete the files in it casually since
the System Volume information folder is
created by the Operating System and used by Windows for storing critical information related to the system configuration.
Figure 1.
Note:
The System Volume Information folder
is a hidden system folder on each drive by default, you can show the hidden files and folders before accessing it.
Cause                                                  
In general, the System Volume Information folder contains
System Restore points, Distributed Link Tracking Service databases, Content Indexing Service databases, WinFS databases and information used by the Volume
Snapshot Service.
If you enable shadow copies on a volume, more and more VSS snapshots will be created in the "System Volume Information" folder. Then the size of this folder will become
too large.
Solution                                                                                           
You can follow the steps below to free up the space of System Volume Information folder safely:        
1. Delete the GUIDs files in System Volume Information folder using DiskShadow.exe.
1) Open a command prompt with administrator privilege, then type “DiskShadow.exe” at the command prompt.
2) Type “Delete shadows OLDEST <BackupStorageLocation>”
at the command prompt.
3) Type “Exit” to exit DiskShadow.exe.
Note: Theoldestshadow
copy in the folder will be deleted each time
you run the commands. Before you run those commands, please
make sure the oldest shadow copy is not useful to you. 
2. Changing the amount of disk space available to VSS
1) Right-click on the drive you want to configure, and click “Properties”.
2) Click “Shadow Copies” and then click “Settings”. (Figure 2)
Figure 2.
3) Choose “Use limit" and type the maximum size you want to set for the shadow copies, then click “Ok”.
(Figure 3)
Figure 3.
Note: The extra shadow copies would be deleted in System Volume Information folder once you
configure the Maximum size to a lower value than before.It
will delete the older shadow copies firstly. Before you configure this setting, please make sure that you have enough space
to create shadow copies.
More Information
What's the deal with the System Volume Information folder?
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2003/11/20/55764.aspx
Backup Version and Space Management in Windows Server Backup
http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2009/06/22/backup-version-and-space-management-in-windows-server-backup.aspx
Please click to vote if the post helps you. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Answer 1

Hi,
You could choose the shadow copies tap then choose Settings and then “use Limit" put in 1024MB, OK and OK, the drive would have plenty of free space.
For more detailed information, please refer to the thread below:
Windows 2008 R2 System Volume Information too large
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/647d350f-f3a0-487d-b885-f2eaa3f029f0/windows-2008-r2-system-volume-information-too-large
Best Regards,
Mandy 
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.