Skip to main content

Access System Volume Information Folders

Posted October 2004 by Steve Sinchak

The System Volume Information Folders contain your System Restore points. You can delete all or just the oldest ones manually if you like (but they must be sequential). These folders are hidden system folders on each drive. In order to gain access, follow the directions below depending on your version of XP and File System:

Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition Using the FAT32 File System

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box

Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Click OK

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Professional Using the NTFS File System on a Domain

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box

Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Click OK

Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then click Sharing and Security

Click the Security tab

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

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Professional using the NTFS File System on a Workgroup

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box

Click OK

Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then click Sharing and Security

Click the Security tab

Click Add , and then type the name of the user to whom you want to give access to the folder. Typically, this is the account with which you are logged on. Click OK , and then click OK

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Home Edition Using the NTFS File System

In Windows XP Home Edition with the NTFS file system, you must use the Cacls tool, which is a command-line tool to display or modify file or folder access control lists (ACLs)

Click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK

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 the C:\System Volume Information folder, make sure that you are in the root folder of drive C (at a "C:" prompt). To get to the root of any partition, make sure you are in that partition and then type "cd" (without the quotation marks).

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. Also, if your user name contains a space you'll need to put your username in quotes. This command adds the specified user to the folder with Full Control permissions

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

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.

Related Posts


If you own a Google Chromecast streaming device, you can easily share a browser tab in Chrome browser or even your entire desktop.  This can be very useful when presenting from your laptop or if you just want to watch something on a big screen that is only on your PC.  The only requirement is you must be on the same network as your Chromecast...

Read More

If you are a fan of minimalist desktop experiences, hiding the desktop icons are an easy way to clean up the Windows interface.  Instead of saving everything to your desktop, use the default profile folders such as downloads and documents.  Actually hiding all the icons on your desktop is a very simple customization hidden in the right-click context menu.  Just right-click on the desktop, select View...

Read More

Google security researchers have published details about a major security flaw found in the SSL protocol that is used to encrypt data transferred between your browser and a web server. SSL is typically used in situations where logon credentials are validated...

Read More

Enabling two-factor authentication is a great way to add an additional level of protection to your Microsoft account.  Even if your password is stolen, your account is still protected because two-factor authetication requires an additional level of verification to log in. Microsoft calls their version of two-factor authentication "two-step verification" and it works by providing you with a random code...

Read More