Remove Backup Files folder in Visual Studio 2008

Question

Visual Studio 2008 automatically creates a folder located (in Vista) at:

C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Visual Studio 2008

And I'm fine with that location. What I don't like is the "Backup Files" folder that keeps appearing inside the "Visual Studio 2008".

I don't know when this folder gets created nor why because it's always empty. Well, the folder itself has more folders for some of my projects but those folders are always empty, they never seem to backup anything. I don't care about that either, I've probably disabled the backups feature or if I didn't, then this isn't working properly. Either way, I don't really care about VS taking care of my backups automatically.

All I want is to delete the "Backup Files" folder forever but every time I do, it keeps appearing... I also tried to hide it, but it doesn't work, the folder becomes unhidden all of the sudden.

How can I get rid of this folder once and for all?

Answer 1

I had never heard of the "Backup Files" folder either - until just now when I went and looked. There it is!

Turn off the AutoRecover setting to prevent if from being created: Tools | Options | Environment | AutoRecover

Answer 2

When I upgraded some projects from 2005 to 2008 I got a Backup folder with a complete copy of the project as it was when I upgraded.

As far as I can tell it hasn't updated the files since.

As to why VS2008 would create an empty folder if you're not upgrading I don't know - sorry.

Answer 3

ChrisF: you can disable this feature with a checkbox (when asking about convert) labeled somthing like "create backup copy"

Chris Lively: this is a feature from VS2008 as describe by Sean - not a custom thing.

Answer 4

I've never heard of a "back up files" folder. This is either an add-in or a custom build script.