Size of System Volume Information


S

StevenD

Member
Local time
6:27 AM
Posts
13
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Hello,

On my new laptop I found out that the System Volume Information folder on my drive is taking up 93GB of space.

Using the command "vssadmin list shadows", I can see these are all shadow copy sets.
The first one was created on 03/06/2022. Then everyday I used the laptop an extra set was created, until 19/06/2022.

They are all of type "ApplicationRollback", and have the Attributes "Persistent, No auto release, Differential, Auto recovered".

I understand that type "ApplicationRollback" means that it's not the OS which has created the shadow set, but some client program.

So I have the following questions:
- How can I find out which program created these sets
- How can I remove them (I understand vssadmin can't remove sets of type "ApplicationRollback"


Thanks in advance.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz32.0 GB
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
DELL XPS15 9520
CPU
12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
Memory
32.0 GB
If your laptop is Intel based and using Intel WIFI, iGPU, LAN ect then I would bet those are the driver rollbacks for updated Intel components.
From 03 - 19 is 16 days so you should be able to see from Windows Update, history, drivers, if any of those components have been updated and when, possibly make some sense of it.
You could also check the device manager and see which major components have the rollback button enabled.
If you use Treesize free or a similar app run with elevated privileges you could poke around the actual files in the shadow copy sets and open some property pages or load a few in notepad looking for identifiers.
There may well be a simpler method but I am not aware of one at this time.
As for removing them, I wouldn't bother, chances are they will be recreated the next time you run Windows update.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)64GB DDR 3600MhzAsus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
OS
Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Scan 3XS Custom 1700
CPU
Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)
Motherboard
Asus ProArt Creator B660 D4
Memory
64GB DDR 3600Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Asus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek
Monitor(s) Displays
Gigabyte G32QC 32inch 16:9 curved @2560 x 1440p 165Hz Freesync Premium Pro/ Dell SE2422H 24inch 16:9 1920 x 1080p 75Hz Freesync
Screen Resolution
2560 x 1440p & 1920 x 1080p
Hard Drives
WD SN570 1TB NVME (Boot), Samsung 870QVO 1TB (SSD), SanDisk 3D Ultra 500Gb (SSD) x2, Seagate 3Tb Expansion Desk (Ext HDD), 2x Toshiba 1Tb P300 (Ext HDD)
PSU
Corsair RM1000X Modular
Case
Corsair 4000D Airflow Desktop
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H150i RGB Pro XT 360mm Liquid Cooler, 3 x 120mm fans, 1x Exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft Ergonomic
Mouse
Logitech G402
Internet Speed
800Mbs
Browser
Edge Chromium
Antivirus
Defender, Malwarebytes
StevenD said:
Hello,

On my new laptop I found out that the System Volume Information folder on my drive is taking up 93GB of space.

Using the command "vssadmin list shadows", I can see these are all shadow copy sets.
The first one was created on 03/06/2022. Then everyday I used the laptop an extra set was created, until 19/06/2022.

They are all of type "ApplicationRollback", and have the Attributes "Persistent, No auto release, Differential, Auto recovered".

I understand that type "ApplicationRollback" means that it's not the OS which has created the shadow set, but some client program.

So I have the following questions:
- How can I find out which program created these sets
- How can I remove them (I understand vssadmin can't remove sets of type "ApplicationRollback"


Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
DigitalGoat said:
If your laptop is Intel based and using Intel WIFI, iGPU, LAN ect then I would bet those are the driver rollbacks for updated Intel components.
From 03 - 19 is 16 days so you should be able to see from Windows Update, history, drivers, if any of those components have been updated and when, possibly make some sense of it.
You could also check the device manager and see which major components have the rollback button enabled.
If you use Treesize free or a similar app run with elevated privileges you could poke around the actual files in the shadow copy sets and open some property pages or load a few in notepad looking for identifiers.
There may well be a simpler method but I am not aware of one at this time.
As for removing them, I wouldn't bother, chances are they will be recreated the next time you run Windows update.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for the hints.

Checked windows update history, but there is no correlation between update times and the shadow set timestamps.
Checked device manager, and some devices have indeed the rollback button enabled, but 93GB (!!!) of driver rollback information seems excessive :)
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz32.0 GB
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
DELL XPS15 9520
CPU
12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
Memory
32.0 GB

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz32.0 GB
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
DELL XPS15 9520
CPU
12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
Memory
32.0 GB
93GB isn't that excessive really, considering the Intel iGPU driver package for 12th Gen at least is 1.4GB +, this is comparable to Nvidia's driver package, both support a range of devices, it all depends on which parts of the driver need to be held for rollback.
Try RAPR (DriverStoreExplorer) to see whether you can identify duplicate driver entries (but different versions) and maybe removing one from the Driver Store will remove the corresponding rollback entry.
I suggest making a full system image and a boot disk (and test it) before performing any changes.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)64GB DDR 3600MhzAsus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
OS
Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Scan 3XS Custom 1700
CPU
Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)
Motherboard
Asus ProArt Creator B660 D4
Memory
64GB DDR 3600Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Asus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek
Monitor(s) Displays
Gigabyte G32QC 32inch 16:9 curved @2560 x 1440p 165Hz Freesync Premium Pro/ Dell SE2422H 24inch 16:9 1920 x 1080p 75Hz Freesync
Screen Resolution
2560 x 1440p & 1920 x 1080p
Hard Drives
WD SN570 1TB NVME (Boot), Samsung 870QVO 1TB (SSD), SanDisk 3D Ultra 500Gb (SSD) x2, Seagate 3Tb Expansion Desk (Ext HDD), 2x Toshiba 1Tb P300 (Ext HDD)
PSU
Corsair RM1000X Modular
Case
Corsair 4000D Airflow Desktop
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H150i RGB Pro XT 360mm Liquid Cooler, 3 x 120mm fans, 1x Exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft Ergonomic
Mouse
Logitech G402
Internet Speed
800Mbs
Browser
Edge Chromium
Antivirus
Defender, Malwarebytes
DigitalGoat said:
93GB isn't that excessive really, considering the Intel iGPU driver package for 12th Gen at least is 1.4GB +, this is comparable to Nvidia's driver package, both support a range of devices, it all depends on which parts of the driver need to be held for rollback.
Try RAPR (DriverStoreExplorer) to see whether you can identify duplicate driver entries (but different versions) and maybe removing one from the Driver Store will remove the corresponding rollback entry.
I suggest making a full system image and a boot disk (and test it) before performing any changes.
Click to expand...
I have intel 12th Gen and NVideo graphics... and yes they are both 1.5 GB.
But 93GB >>>> 3GB.

All other driver packages are small.

When I select "Old drivers" in Driver Store Explorer, it only select tiny driver packages.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz32.0 GB
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
DELL XPS15 9520
CPU
12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
Memory
32.0 GB
Hmm.. this morning another shadow set has been created, increasing the total size to 104GB

Nothing has been installed or updated today. Really would like to know what is eating up my SSD storage space.

Decide to try the "vssadmin delete shadows /for=C: /oldest" command and to my suprise it did delete the shadow set even though it's op type ApplicationRollback.
So I delete all but the most recent shadow set.

Still have no clue at all what is creating this sets.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz32.0 GB
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
DELL XPS15 9520
CPU
12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H 2.30 GHz
Memory
32.0 GB
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