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I found this in a few different places around the 'net - hopefully it's helpful:

Turn Off System Restore to Save Space

By default, Windows XP keeps a backup of system files in the System Volume Information folder. This can eat up valuable space on your hard drive. If you don't want Windows to back up your system files:

  • Open the Control Panel.
  • Double-click on System.
  • Click the System Restore tab.
  • Check "Turn off System Restore on all drives".
  • Hit Apply.
  • You may now delete the System Volume Information folder.

Warning! If you turn this off you will not be able to use Windows System Restore to restore your system in case of failure.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

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Short summary and safer options (no copy of the original "turn off" steps)

’s post shows the blunt way to reclaim space, but disabling System Restore is a last resort. For most people the fastest, least risky wins are: remove older restore points while keeping one recent snapshot, and reduce how much disk space System Restore is allowed to use. Those approaches free a lot of space without losing the ability to roll back bad installs or driver updates. Microsoft: System Restore overview. (support.microsoft.com)

Quick, safe reclaim (keeps one working restore point)

Create a fresh manual restore point, then run Disk Cleanup and use the More Options → System Restore cleanup to “delete all but the most recent” restore point. That sequence frees the shadow-copy storage but leaves a usable restore point. Typical steps: Start → All Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Cleanup → Clean up system files → More Options → Clean up (System Restore). After cleaning, make a new manual restore point if you want a known-good snapshot. Disk Cleanup: remove older restore points. (learn.microsoft.com)

Tuning how much space System Restore uses

Rather than turning the feature off, use the per‑drive configuration to lower the allocation so SR keeps fewer points. In XP the GUI enforces a maximum and will prune older points automatically when you lower the limit. Changing the slider is a simple way to keep a handful of recent points while reclaiming space. See Microsoft’s restore‑points guidance and a practical explanation of the slider behavior. Restore points (MSDN) · practical notes on reducing SR usage. (learn.microsoft.com)

Important cautions and alternatives

Do not try to manually delete files inside C:\System Volume Information — it’s protected by the system and holds more than just restore data; changing permissions or deleting files can break restore functionality. If you need a full recoverable copy of the machine, use a proper image backup or copy critical data to external media (burning CDs works for small data, but image backups are better for a full system restore). Also note disabling System Restore wipes existing restore points; re‑enabling starts fresh. How System Volume Information / SR work and cleanup options. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes tied to the thread: ’s suggestion to keep a minimal safety net is sensible — create one fresh point before cleaning. ’s idea of using removable media is fine for files but not a substitute for a system image. ’s point that SR can use a large slice of a big drive is why tuning the slider is usually the best middle ground.

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Member Avatar for The Dude

Its always good to have 1 backup in your system restore folder JUST IN CASE YOU NEED IT!! Just blindly disabling this option may prove to be VERY BAD.......Rather set it to only save 1 restore point (And every day it backs up the prev day and deletes the last one)

Member Avatar for colkraig

how about putting it on cds?huh??

Member Avatar for The Dude

YA i suppose you could do that :)

Member Avatar for jbennet

Its because system restore by default is set to earmark like 10% of your disk and with 200gbish disks becoming common, that means a lot of space is wasted. I usually lower mine to like 3%

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