Hey everyone, I encountered a strange issue on my file server running Windows Server 2019. I noticed that an external drive, which is mapped as S: for software, is taking up 120 GB of space, and half of that is consumed by the 'System Volume Information' folder. I did some digging and found ways to clean it up via the System Properties under System Protection, but it looks like that option isn't available in Windows Server. I also tried accessing the folder and using cmd commands like 'rmdir "System Volume Information" /s /q' and 'vssadmin Delete Shadows /ALL', but I kept getting 'Access Denied'. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to resolve this?
1 Answer
I checked out the WizTree tool you mentioned, and it looks like what's happening is related to Data Deduplication blocks. If you delete those files, you could end up losing all your data, so there really isn't anything to fix here. Ignoring it might be your best bet unless you have specific data management needs.
That makes sense! It’s always scary when you start trying to force removal on something that’s designed to protect your data.