WindowsImageBackup folder management

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WindowsImageBackup folder management

Ryan Johnson 0

I have a WindowsImageBackup folder that contains a 635 GB vhdx image. I was told it is managed by the Backup and Restore Windows 7 feature in the control panel. I remember setting this up, however, deleting old backups in Backup and Restore's Manage space interface only deleted folders from my corresponding MACHINE_NAME folder (the one that stores information for my machine).

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The WindowsImageBackup folder is supposed to store machine-agnostic information, right? According to the responder in this other question: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3970386/windowsimagebackup-files-management

The WindowsImageBackup folder is the default location where Windows system images are saved and contains files about backup information

Except, why is it so large? It should not be 600 GB to store some non-specific device information. Windows 11's base image is not a 600 GB image.

If all of the device-specific data is stored in my MACHINE_NAME folder, what is occupying WindowsImageBackup? How can I get rid of it? I need my space back. Deleting old backups did nothing to reduce the size of that folder.

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Answer 1

Hello. That .vhdx file in your WindowsImageBackup\LAM_DEVELOPER\Backup 2025-08-03 190001\ folder is not storing generic metadata. It’s a full block-level image of your machine at the time of backup, every sector of every included volume, not just system files or the OS. The size makes sense if the backup included multiple drives or uncompressed sectors.

You just raised a very interesting question, so I just wanted to clarify this. The WindowsImageBackup folder isn’t machine-agnostic or shared. It’s just a container. Everything inside it is tied to a specific PC and a specific point in time. When you run a system image backup using Backup and Restore (Windows 7), it captures a full copy of your disk at the block level, this includes your system drive, recovery partitions, and possibly any other attached drives, depending on how it was set up.

The structure just makes it look modular:

WindowsImageBackup\
└── LAM_DEVELOPER\
    └── Backup 2025-08-03 190001\
        └── [your 635 GB .vhdx file]

Why is it so big?

You likely backed up more than one volume (C:, D:, maybe EFI or Recovery too).
System image backup uses Volume Shadow Copy. That can capture hidden data like System Restore points.
Deleted files may still be present in the block map, inflating the image size.
It saves data at the disk block level, not file level, so even a half-used 1 TB drive can generate a huge .vhdx.

You can remove it manually:

Go to Y:\WindowsImageBackup\LAM_DEVELOPER\Backup 2025-08-03 190001\
Delete that folder manually.
Empty the Recycle Bin.

Note: Deleting that folder (WindowsImageBackup\LAM_DEVELOPER\Backup 2025-08-03 190001) is permanent, and you will lose the ability to restore your system to the state it was in on August 3, 2025.

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WindowsImageBackup folder management

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