Obsolete Folders and Files - Can They Be Removed?

Preface: We are running a PDMWorks Vault on a local machine(C: drive).

Our company has had a PDMWorks Vault running for a couple of yearsnow; and we find that it is getting rather large with regard to thefile size on the disk.

I have noticed, by manually clicking through the Vault Data, thatthere are a number of folders which contain the word "obsolete."Based on my investigation, I see that each of the folders for anyparticular PART, ASSEMBLY, or DRAWING contain a folder for eachSecondary and Released revision. In addition, some PARTS,ASSEMBLIES, and DRAWING have "obsolete" folders with a date andtime stamp incorporated into the folder name.

Is it acceptable to delete these "obsolete" folders, since they areno longer needed, in order to save space on the disk? Also, isthere a non-manual way to delete these "obsolete" folders? Perhapsa SW automated tool?

Ultimately, based on our internal procedures, we are required tocreate a daily backup copy of this data. Because we are a smallcompany with limited resources; we must do this chore manually byselecting the "VaultData" folder and copying it over to a networkdrive. The volume of data is such that it takes a considerableamount of time to complete this task. I was hoping to eliminatesome of the chaff from the vault by removing some of the "obsolete"folders and thus scaling back the time required to make a backupcopy of the data.

I understand that it would much simpler to host the Vault on thenetwork, where we have an abundant amount of disk space; but I donot posses the skill set to make that a reality. (I set up thisvault only after having limited exposure to the workings of a Vaultat a rather large corporation.)

I do not believe that we have Windows Server available at ourfacility. My understanding is that this a requirement for runningthe PDMWorks Vault over a network.

Once again, is it acceptable to delete these "obsolete" folders,since they are no longer needed, in order to save space on thedisk? Also, is there a non-manual way to delete these "obsolete"folders? Perhaps a SW automated tool?

Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated.SolidworksWorkgroup Pdm