What are these folders?

[ShivP]

and can I delete them? No idea what they are :S They are in my E: drive, storage (2TB Seagate Barracuda SSHD)

And also the same folders in my F: Backup 500GB WD drive

 

[this_is_gav]

In short, if you don't need the space, hide system files again and ignore it.



$RECYCLE.BIN is your, erm, recycle bin for that drive, so anything which is in your recycle bin for this drive is stored in this folder until you empty your recycle bin or it becomes full and starts removing items itself.

msdownld.tmp is a folder used in installations and I've never had a problem removing it.

System Volume Information is, I believe, where system restore data is stored, so if space is tight or you've no intention of ever using system restore (never know when you might need it - unless you maintain your own regular backups) you can disable System Restore for that drive (System > Advanced > System Protection).

 

[Rroff]

You don't want to delete either the first or last ones as the above poster said, they don't take up much space (like a few KBs) unless there are items in the recycle bin.

You can purge the msdownld.tmp - if its locked then something weird is going on (assuming nothing is in the middle of using it).

 

[ShivP]

Okay cool, cheers guys
How do I hide the system files then so I don't see them?

 

[this_is_gav]

Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab > Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)

 

[ShivP]

Excellent, thanks both!

 

[bledd]

Seeing them is off by default, you turned them on..

If you're short on space, you could disable System Restore, this will essentially empty the Sys Vol folder.

Don't force remove that folder or RecycleBin