Hi. I had a few viruses lurking around in C:\System Volume Information\_restore.

Normally, you can't access that folder but now it's all going to change! If you ever have a virus in SVI, do the following:

WinXP Pro under FAT32
1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders.
4. Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change.
5. Click OK.
6. Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it.

WinXP Pro Under NTFS
1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders.
4. Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change.
5. Click OK.
6. Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then click Properties.
7. Click the Security tab.
8. Click Add, and then type the name of the user to whom you want to give access to the folder. Choose the account location if appropriate (either local or from the domain). Typically, this is the account with which you are logged on. Click OK, and then click OK.
9. Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it.

WinXP Home
Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Make sure that you are in the root folder of the partition for which you want to gain access to the System Volume Information folder. For example, to gain access the C:\System Volume Information folder, make sure that you are in the root folder of drive C (at a "C:\" prompt).
3. Type the following line, and then press ENTER:
cacls "driveletter:\System Volume Information" /E /G username:F
Make sure to type the quotation marks as indicated. This command adds the specified user to the folder with Full Control permissions.
4. Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it.
5. If you need to remove the permissions after troubleshooting, type the following line at a command prompt:
cacls "driveletter:\System Volume Information" /E /R username
This command removes all permissions for the specified user.

Nice! Thankyou!

thanx
Coincidentially i just removed one hiding in my external harddrive's System Volume Information

but um
wont most Antivirus check & detect if there is a virus in there?

(mine did)

bytheway what is are all those folders in there for?

I have the hidden folders stuff turned off in XP Home, and I can get to that folder just fine...

Is it safe to delete everything in that folder? I found a file that I thought I deleted.

Dont delete everything. Just do the steps above IF YOU SUSPECT YOU HAVE A VIRUS.

Oh. I might delete some stuff because as I said, things I deleted before are there.
It takes up around 2-3 gigs.

Just to make a note, if you don't see the Security tab, go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and turn off simple file sharing

i use winxp pro under ntfs, but there wasn't a security tab under the properties dialog for svi....does anyone know why or how i can fix this?

edit: nvm

I still dont have it

You may want to check whether you have FAT32 or NTFS.

Cool tut.

u can delete anything in the SVI folder if u have system restore off and also if u delete the SVI folder itself, it will just be recreated by windows, u cant get rid of the folder.

of course I have NTFS

Good info to have.

Hello everyone,

I have XP home with NTFS... did everything but when I click on the SVI folder, I still get an "Access Denied". Anybody knows why or how to get through?

Thanks

Erick

You might want to read the 1st post...

I did read the first post, at least ten times. Also read the Microsoft support page. I don't get that part:

"make sure that you are in the root folder of drive C (at a "C:\" prompt)."

What does that mean? When I type cmd and press Enter, I get C:\Documents and setting\Admin>

Well that means YOU are in the root. n00b.

tpye "cd .." (no quotes) press enter
repeat
you are now on the root of your c drive

and if you cant understand the post above me.. when you open cmd, type this: cd /

very nice

what if you delete all the stuff in there?
Will it just be impossible to use system restore? I dont mind

It's OK to delete the stuff, just leave like 1-2 behind for Retore Points (that's what they are used for, see RP## = Restore Point (number goes here)

Erik,
The references to cd.. go back to the days of DOS (disk operating system) that you may have never seen if you are younger than about 40 years old. Anyway cd (change directory) and cacls are DOS commands. If you want to see the possible options (or switches) type cd /? or cacls /? and they will list out. The cd command is used to move around in the directory structure that windows has changed to "folders". If you are in c:\Documents and setting\Admin> typing cd.. takes you up one level in the directory structure to c:\Documents and setting> and typing cd.. again takes you to c:\> which is the "root folder" or "root directory" for us old guys. Typing cd / from any directory takes you to the root. Another item to watch our for is the (switch) forward slash (/) vs. the (directory) back slash (\). It makes a difference. Blame Bill Gates. I always do. By the way, I used the first post to get rid of some spyware and it worked great.
Bob

Thanks For The Info

thanks this just became very useful

The WinXP Pro with NTFS one does NOT work. There is no security tab only sharing. The best one (and i think for all versions) is this one the so called WinXP home version. Worked like a charm. Thanks.

works perfectly fine for me.

all i have in there is a 20kb log file.

good to know how to access it though.

You want to disable simple file sharing in order to get the security tab. Just open any folder and go to tools, then folder options. After that, choose the view tab and uncheck "Use simple file sharing". You'll have a security tab after that.