System Volume Information? Server 2003?

So, I manage several VMs which I inherited from other QA department staff. They've been handed down from employee to employee for years, and as such, a lot of them have C:\ partitions which are too small. 6GB is just enough space to get a day or two of testing in before...

"your C drive is running out of space!"

And who do you suppose is the culprit?

The System Volume Information folder. Word around the internet is if you turn off system restore, that will fix it. But Windows Server 2003 does not use system restore.

So what is in that folder?

Raymond Chen over at Old New Thing

This guy covers it pretty well. Thanks man!

Now, if you're just trying to clear up some space, and aren't afraid to wreck things, well, you can go into the indexing service and delete the 'System' catalog.

Right-click on 'my computer', 'manage'. Under 'services and applications' is 'indexing service'.

Click on the name 'indexing service', and stop the entire service. Then, in the right-hand pane, click on the name 'System' (if it is indeed hogging a bunch of drive space, you'll see a rather large number after it), and delete it. I'm not an admin, so I will assure you: I have NO idea what this will do to your server. So if you need to know before you let that rip, well, perhaps you can research that out yourself.

I was told 'nothing should happen', but, just keep in mind that I am a QA guy and not an MCSE.

Affect and Effect

I always screw these up, so I am making a cheat sheet.

The two you want are in bold - the verb "affect", to create change, and the noun "effect", the result of an action.

a-FFECT: verb, "have influence on"
Number One breaking down did not affect Number Two's performance.

a-FFECT: verb, "to make a display of or deliberately cultivate"
she affected a silly french accent.

AFF-ect: noun, special use- psychology, "mood or emotion"
The child displayed a happy affect.

effect: noun, "result of an action"
When I left the stove on, the effect was that the house filled with smoke.

effect: verb, "create change"
He wants to effect a change in the system.

effect: noun, "personal belongings"
His effects were sold at acution.

effect: noun, special effects
what's in a movie

(I stole much of this from other pages, but I thought they were too verbose, so, I make-a my own.)

Dear Mr. Obama

on the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the head of the EPA:

Hello.

Religious people hold enough power in this country already. We've entrusted you with our country not just because you "weren't McCain", but because you have inspired us that change is coming. Real change.

People with a proven track record of promoting pseudoscience do not belong anywhere near the EPA.

Please keep such people away from any control of our environment, education and sciences- and don't politicize these realms. They suffer for it, and it's no way to demonstrate that this administration is working for change.

Thank you,

-Will