How do I delete old Restore Points created by System Restore?

Q Windows XP used to offer an option to clean up the hard disk that would also delete old Restore Points created by System Restore to free up disk space.

I upgraded to a Windows 7 PC but cannot find a way to achieve the same result. How do I do it?

Also, is it possible to delete all the Restore Points apart from the most recent?
David Johnson, Northumberland

A To delete all Windows 7 Restore Points - including the most recent - first click Start, right-click Computer and choose Properties. Now click the System protection link on the left-hand side of the window to launch the System Properties dialogue box and, if necessary, click the System Protection tab.

In the Protection Settings section, click to select the relevant hard disk and then click the Configure button. At the bottom of the secondary dialogue box, click Delete followed by Continue to confirm that you wish to proceed.

Perhaps a wiser idea, though, is to delete all but the most recent Restore Point, which you also asked how to do. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, followed by Accessories and then System Tools, then click Disk Cleanup. If necessary, click to select the relevant hard disk (you will not need to do this if the PC has only one hard disk).

The Disk Cleanup tool will spend a short while scanning the selected hard disk for redundant and space-hogging files, returning a list with items recommended for deletion already ticked.

If you don't want to delete these files at the same time as removing the unwanted Restore Points, click to remove the ticks. Now click the More Options tab and, below the System Restore and Shadow Copies heading, click the Clean up button. Disk Cleanup will pop up a message asking you to confirm that you wish to proceed: to do so, click Delete.