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System Restore in Windows Vista has changed drastically, however it can still use a lot of disk space (I've personally seen it use up to 3 GB in 4 days) - if you are a power user who does rely on System Restore or you need to free up some hard disk space, then you may wish to clear out your System Restore points.
In order to delete all but the most recent restore point:
Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.
In the dialog that appears choose "Files from all users on this computer".
Figure 1: Vista Disk Cleanup Options
If User Account Control prompts you to confirm the action, click on "Continue".
Figure 2: UAC prompt in Vista
If asked which drive you want to scan, choose the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on, and then click OK.
Figure 3: Vista Disk Cleanup calculation
Disk Cleanup will scan your hard drive and then display a list of options.
In the Disk Cleanup window, click on the "More Options" tab.
Under "System Restore", click on the "Clean up..." button.
Figure 4: System restore and shadow copies in Vista
When asked "Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?", click on "Delete".
Close the Disk Cleanup window.
After you have performed these steps, check your disk usage in the Computer window. I think you'll be a bit surprised.
If you'd like to disable System Restore completely for whatever reason (don't use it or it takes up too much disk space constantly), then you can turn it off in Advanced System Settings.
Click here for the disable system restore guide
| Tested on: |  | Business | | |  | Ultimate |
System Restore in Windows Vista has changed drastically, however it can still use a lot of disk space (I've personally seen it use up to 3 GB in 4 days) - if you are a power user who does rely on System Restore or you need to free up some hard disk space, then you may wish to clear out your System Restore points.
In order to delete all but the most recent restore point:
Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.
In the dialog that appears choose "Files from all users on this computer".
Figure 1: Vista Disk Cleanup Options
If User Account Control prompts you to confirm the action, click on "Continue".
Figure 2: UAC prompt in Vista
If asked which drive you want to scan, choose the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on, and then click OK.
Figure 3: Vista Disk Cleanup calculation
Disk Cleanup will scan your hard drive and then display a list of options.
In the Disk Cleanup window, click on the "More Options" tab.
Under "System Restore", click on the "Clean up..." button.
Figure 4: System restore and shadow copies in Vista
When asked "Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?", click on "Delete".
Close the Disk Cleanup window.
After you have performed these steps, check your disk usage in the Computer window. I think you'll be a bit surprised.
If you'd like to disable System Restore completely for whatever reason (don't use it or it takes up too much disk space constantly), then you can turn it off in Advanced System Settings.
Click here for the disable system restore guide
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