MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/D3279D12/SystemVolumeInformationFolder.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder

How to Gain Acce= ss to the System Volume Information Folder

Th= is article was previously published under Q309531

SUMMARY

Th= is article describes how to gain access to the System Volume Information folde= r. The System Volume Information folder is a hidden, system folder that the Sy= stem Restore tool uses to store its information and restore points. There is a System Volume Information folder on every partition on your computer. You m= ight need to gain access to this folder for troubleshooting purposes.

MORE INFORMATION

To= gain access to the System Volume Information folder, use the steps in the appropriate section.

Windows XP Professi= onal or Windows XP Home Edition Using the FAT32 File System

1.      =              Click Star= t, and then click My Computer.

2.      =              On the Too= ls menu, click Folder Options.

3.      =              On the Vie= w tab, click Show hidden files and folders.

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

5.      =              Click OK.

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

Windows XP Professi= onal Using the NTFS File System on a Domain

1.      =              Click Star= t, and then click My Computer.

2.      =              On the Too= ls menu, click Folder Options.

3.      =              On the Vie= w tab, click Show hidden files and folders.

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

5.      =              Click OK.

6.      =              Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then clic= k Sharing and Security.

7.      =              Click the = Security tab.

8.      =              Click Add<= /span>, 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.

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

Windows XP Professi= onal using the NTFS File System on a Workgroup or Standalone Computer=

1.      =              Click Star= t, and then click My Computer.

2.      =              On the Too= ls menu, click Folder Options.

3.      =              On the Vie= w tab, click Show hidden files and folders.

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

5.      =              Clear the = Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box.

6.      =              Click OK.

7.      =              Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then clic= k Properties.

8.      =              Click the = Security tab.

9.      =              Click Add<= /span>, 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.

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

NOTE: The System Volume Information folder is now accessible in normal mode to users of Wind= ows XP Home Edition.

Using CACLS with Wi= ndows XP Home Edition Using the NTFS File System

In= Windows XP Home Edition with the NTFS file system, you can also use the Cacls tool, which is a command-line tool, to display or modify file or folder access control lists (ACLs). For more information about the Cacls tool, including usage and switches, search the Help and Support Center for "cacls." =

1.      =              Click Star= t, click Run, type= cmd= , and then c= lick OK.

2.      =              Make sure that you are in the root folder of the parti= tion for which you want to gain access to the System Volume Information folder. = For example, to gain access the C:\System Volume Information folder, make sure = that you are in the root folder of drive C (at a "C:\" prompt). <= /o:p>

3.      =              Type the following line, and then press ENTER:

cacls "= drive= letter:\S= ystem Volume Information" /E /G username:F<= /span>

Make sure to type the quotation marks as indicate= d. This command adds the specified user to the folder with Full Control permissions.

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

5.      =              If you need to remove the permissions after troubleshooting, type the following line at a command prompt:

cacls "= drive= letter:\S= ystem Volume Information" /E /R username

This command removes all permissions for the specified user.

The following steps also work if you restart the computer to Safe mode beca= use simple file sharing is automatically turned off when you run the computer in Safe mode.

1.      =              Open My Computer, right-click the System Volume Information fol= der, and then click Properties.

2.      =              Click the = Security tab.

3.      =              Click Add<= /span>, 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. <= /o:p>

4.      =              Click OK, and then click OK.

5.      =              Double-click the System Volume Information folder to open it.