Is it safe to delete system restore back-up files?

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Joshua - 25 May 2008 05:11 GMT

When I do a system restore I get back up files in the "documents and
settings" folder. The back-up files are numbered each time I do a restore and
are in a folder that look something like this: "Owner.YOUR-US67PI6LUV.010".
These folder's take up a lot of space, sometimes a few gigabytes. I want to
free up some space on my computer.

My question is:
Is it safe to delete these folders? at least the older ones from older
system restore's?

when I do a new restore I got all the back-up I need for that restore, so is
it safe for me to delete the old restore back-up files to free up some space
on my hard drive?

Thanks

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Joshua - 25 May 2008 05:46 GMT

This is Joshua again,
correcting myself: instead of "system restore" I actually ment "system
recovery". on an hp computer it is called "HP pc system recovery" in the "HP
pavilion pc tools".
I hope someone can help, thanks

> When I do a system restore I get back up files in the "documents and
> settings" folder. The back-up files are numbered each time I do a restore and
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Thanks

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Malke - 25 May 2008 14:37 GMT

> This is Joshua again,
> correcting myself: instead of "system restore" I actually ment "system
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>> is it safe for me to delete the old restore back-up files to free up some
>> space on my hard drive?

You are asking about two entirely different things.

1. Windows System Restore will restore a limited set of things like the
registry (no data). You can remove all but the last System Restore point
from Disk Cleanup>More Options. See MVP Bert Kinney's information about
Windows System Restore for all the details: http://bertk.mvps.org

2. The HP System Recovery partition is a special partition holding an image
of your operating system, drivers, and programs. It is used to return your
computer to factory condition. HP provides a method of creating physical
restore disks from this image and if you haven't already done this, you
should do so immediately.

If you have the physical restore disks, you probably don't need the System
Recovery partition, however the HP System Recovery partition is very small.
If you are that cramped for space, you should back up/remove data to get it
off your hard drive, uninstall programs you don't use, and/or purchase a
larger hard drive. You would use the System Recovery disks you created to
install Windows on your new hard drive.

Malke

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Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
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Joshua - 26 May 2008 01:04 GMT

im not talking about deleting the recovery partition. Im asking if it is safe
to delete the back up files created when I do a HP recovery. These files are
located in the "documents and settings" folder and are in folders that look
like this "Owner.YOUR-US67PI6LUV.010" There are about ten of them now
because I did about ten recoveries and they contain back up data. Is it safe
to delete the older backup data folders? if i delete them will it mess up any
future recoveries?

thanks

> > This is Joshua again,
> > correcting myself: instead of "system restore" I actually ment "system
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
>
> Malke

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Malke - 26 May 2008 14:22 GMT

> im not talking about deleting the recovery partition. Im asking if it is
> safe to delete the back up files created when I do a HP recovery. These
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> safe to delete the older backup data folders? if i delete them will it
> mess up any future recoveries?

Oh, you mean from the HP partial recoveries, not the full "return your
computer to factory condition" recoveries. I would suppose so but really I
have no idea. This is a perfect question for HP tech support since they
know what their recovery system depends upon.

Malke

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MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

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