IVssDifferentialSoftwareSnapshotMgmt3::DeleteUnusedDiffAreas method (vsmgmt.h)

Deletes all shadow copy storage areas (also called diff areas) on the specified volume that are not in use.

Syntax

HRESULT DeleteUnusedDiffAreas(
  [in] VSS_PWSZ pwszDiffAreaVolumeName
);

Parameters

[in] pwszDiffAreaVolumeName

The name of the volume. This parameter is required and cannot be NULL.

The name must be in one of the following formats and must include a trailing backslash (\):

  • The path of a mounted folder, for example, Y:\MountX\
  • A drive letter, for example, D:\
  • A volume GUID path in the form \\?\Volume{GUID}\ (where GUID identifies the volume)

Return value

The following are the valid return codes for this method.

Value Meaning
S_OK
The shadow copy storage areas were successfully deleted.
E_ACCESSDENIED
0x80070005L
The caller is not an administrator.
E_INVALIDARG
0x80070057L
One of the parameter values is not valid.
E_NOTIMPL
0x80000001L
The provider for the volume does not support shadow copy protection.
VSS_E_PROVIDER_VETO
0x80042306L
An expected provider error has occurred. The error code is logged in the event log. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS.
VSS_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND
0x80042308L
The specified volume was not found.

Remarks

Unused shadow copy storage area files are found on storage area volumes when the associated original volume is offline due to a protection fault. In certain cases, the original volume may be permanently lost, and calling the DeleteUnusedDiffAreas method is the only way to recover the abandoned storage area space.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client None supported
Minimum supported server Windows Server 2008 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform Windows
Header vsmgmt.h

See also

IVssDifferentialSoftwareSnapshotMgmt3