Reduce Shadow Copy on Windows Vista

Shadow Copy, or Volume Snapshot Device is an application interdependent with System Restore that is unique to Windows Vista and Windows 7. The Shadow Copy is the disk space used by System Restore (up to 15% of of disk volume) which makes up the registry for backed up files on a computer. This article will give a guideline on how to reduce this space to afford some much-needed disk space.

Steps

Reviewing Shadow Copy

  1. Click Start>Computer and on Local Disk (C:) you'll see the available disk space you have left on the hard drive of your Windows Vista desktop/notebook computer.
  2. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories.

  3. Select Command Prompt (make sure you right click on Command Prompt first, and select Run as administrator).
  4. Type in vssadmin list shadowstorage.
  5. Press Enter/Return. Command Prompt will show the allocated space towards Shadow Copy. This can be reduced to allow more free hard drive space.

Reducing Hard Disk Space Allocated for Shadow Copy

  1. Exit Command Prompt and backtrack to Step 3 in Reviewing Shadow Copy. Open Command Prompt, again selecting the Run as administrator option when right-clicking.
  2. Type in vssadmin resize shadowstorage /On=C: /For=C: /Maxsize=[here add the maximum space you will allow for Shadow Sorage, e.g. 3GB].
  3. Press Enter/Return. The results will be displayed in Command Prompt.

  4. Click Start>Computer and once again review the available disk space for Local Disk (C:).

Tips

  • If, after several weeks or months of using your Windows Vista computer, the disk space on your computer is dropping or being 'eaten away at' for no known reason, then this article is for you.
  • It is best to not reduce all of the disk space allocated for Shadow Copy; reduce as much as you prefer and feel comfortable about.
  • If you are not the administrator of the computer, permission from them to reduce the Shadow Copy is recommended.

Things You'll Need

  • A computer
  • An operating system (OS) of Windows Vista
  • Permission from computer administrator (unless you are one)

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