The Windows.old folder may not be visible to all users. It appears only for those who recently reinstalled the operating system, but did not format the system disk during the installation process, as a result, one operating system to another. The same folder may also appear when the user has expressed a desire to upgrade their Windows 7 to Windows versions 10.
Maybe there would be no problems with this folder if it did not take up an excessive amount of space. Even if your hard drive is large enough, you are unlikely to agree to just give up a few tens of gigabytes of free space.
And for those users whose HDD cannot “boast” of large sizes, the desire to get rid of everything superfluous will be incredibly high, since it will be difficult to work on a computer with an almost full system disk.
It is for this reason that many people have a question whether it is possible to delete the Windows.old folder, and also how to do it directly, especially if there are no practical skills.
Before deleting the Windows.old folder in Windows 10, it is important to understand what role it plays in the operating system, what benefits it could bring to the user.
Due to the fact that Windows.old appears on the system disk only after reinstalling the operating system or upgrading to Windows 10, it is easy to guess that this folder contains “greetings from the past”, or rather, files and settings corresponding to the previous operating system .
If for some reason you are no longer satisfied with the version of Windows 10, you can roll back your system, returning all the previous settings, as well as successfully restoring all previously saved documents, music, videos, photos.
Since it is in this folder that documents that were previously saved on the desktop or in My Documents can be saved. This is what explains why the Windows.old folder comes with such a large size.
So, if you are completely convinced that with Windows versions 10 you are not going to leave, you did not save any important documentation on the system disk, you can safely delete the annoying folder.
Disk Cleanup
The Disk Cleanup tool is already familiar to most users, as it allows you to get rid of unnecessary garbage. This tool will solve your problem as well.
To launch this interesting tool in Windows 10, just hold down two keys at the same time: "Win" and "R". You can also write the "cleanmgr" command.
Now the "Disk Cleanup" window will open, at the bottom of it there will be a "Clean up system files" button, click on it. A second window will open, in which it is important for you to find the line "Previous Windows installation”, in the checkbox next to this parameter, be sure to check the box.
It remains to traditionally press the "Ok" button, the system will again ask you to confirm again that you really want to perform such actions. If you haven't changed your mind, click on "Delete Files".
The system will warn you that the deleted folder contains important files that allow you to roll back the system back to the previous version. Again, if you haven’t changed your mind, click the “Yes” button, after which the system will meekly begin the removal process. In a few minutes, the system disk will please you with a large amount of free space.
Command line
If you have repeatedly resolved issues with uninstallation software products, then you know for sure that there are several alternative options conducting uninstallation processes. Similarly, there are several ways to delete the Windows.old folder.
Another uninstall option is the command line. To launch it, right-click on the "Start" icon. After that, an additional menu will open in which you need to find the option " Command line", click on it.
In it, write the command: "RD / S / Q C: \ windows. old". If the folder is not located on drive C, then in the command, instead of this letter, write the one that indicates the drive where the unnecessary folder is saved.
It remains only to press "Enter", the process will automatically start, and in a few minutes you will enjoy the result achieved.
Removing with CCleaner
Now download the download file, install CCleaner on PC and then run. In the window that opens, on the "Windows" tab, find the line " Old installation Windows", in the checkbox next to it, check the box, then press the "Clean" button.
The program will ask if it is possible to delete the "Event Logs", agree with this too and continue the cleaning process.
After a few minutes, CCleaner will present you with a detailed report indicating what it was able to remove. In addition, she will indicate how much space she managed to free up. Believe me, this figure will impress everyone.
So, the process of deleting unnecessary documents, including folders with saved files from previous systems, will be easy if you follow the recommendations of experienced users.
When a user upgrades their operating system to Windows 10, the Windows.old folder appears on their hard drive. However, this directory often occupies valuable memory - its volume is not limited to several tens of gigabytes. This begs the question, is it possible to remove Windows.old from system disk and avoid unwanted consequences.
Windows.old: what is this folder
The Windows.old directory appears exactly after the OS upgrade. You can consider this a manifestation of Microsoft's concern for the user: the folder stores all the data on the previous version of the system so that you can return to it at any moment. It often happens that the new OS for some reason does not suit the user. In other words, the Windows.old directory is needed to restore the previous system. It is stored in memory for 30 days, after which Win 10 deletes the folder itself, although not always entirely.
The Windows.old folder appears on the system drive after windows updates and kept there for a month.
In this directory, you can find various files from the version of the OS that was on the computer before - they can be of value to the user. Windows.old includes the following sections:
- Windows, which contains system files;
- Documents and Settings, where all documents and settings of the previous OS are stored;
- Program Files with program files previously installed on this PC.
Is it possible to delete Windows.old in Win 10
If you have worked with the "ten" and realized that the OS suits you completely and no rollbacks to the previous version are required, and there are no files or documents of interest left in the directory, then you can safely delete it. In the end, a dozen or two released gigabytes have not hurt anyone yet.
How to remove Windows.old in Win 10
If you have already tried to simply demolish the Windows.old directory from the PC in the traditional way, then you have had time to be disappointed: when you press the traditional Delete key in such cases, nothing happens. Sometimes a combination works Shift keys+ Del, but this is rather an exception to the rule. To get rid of this folder, there are several quite simple ways, including standard Windows tools.
Video: The two easiest methods to remove Windows.old
Through Disk Cleanup
The Windows.old directory is usually deleted without problems using the standard Win 10 Disk Cleanup tool. To do this, you need to take the following steps:
- Simultaneously press the Win + R buttons and in the line that appears, enter the command "cleanmgr".
- The Disk Cleanup window will appear on the screen. At the bottom left, select "Clean up system files".
- In the new window, find the "Previous Windows installations" section, check it and click "OK" to confirm your actions.
- The system will show a warning that you can delete important system data - in our case, we do not pay attention to this. After a short period of time, the Windows.old directory will be permanently erased from the PC.
Photo gallery: step by step instructions for deleting the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup
Press the Win + R keys and type the command "cleanmgr" In the utility window, select "Clean up system files" and click "OK" Check the box "Previous Windows installations" and click "OK" Wait until the system deletes the Windows.old folder
Through the command line
You can also delete the Windows.old directory using the command line. To do this, you need to perform several actions:
To delete the Windows.old folder, you need to enter “RD /S /Q C:\windows.old” in the command line and press Enter Through the "Task Scheduler"
This method sometimes works if the previous two did not lead to the desired result. The sequence of actions is as follows:
- Launch "Task Scheduler": In Windows 10, the easiest way to do this is through the search in the Start menu. It can also be opened through the "Control Panel" (section "System and Security", then at the bottom in the "Administration" item, select "Task Schedule"). Similar to calling the "Control Panel" by clicking right click mouse, you can select the line "Computer Management" in the drop-down menu. Task Scheduler will appear in the Utilities section.
- In the "Scheduler" library, you need to open the Windows directory in the Microsoft branch and select the Setup subsection.
- Click SetupCleanupTask. In the default settings, the Windows.old folder will be deleted one month from the date of the system upgrade. Change the due date for the task, and the Scheduler will delete Windows.old at the time you need.
Photo gallery: step-by-step instructions for removing Windows.old using the Windows Task Scheduler
"Task Scheduler" in Windows 10 can be found in the "Control Panel" in the "System and Security" section ("Administrative Tools") In the "Scheduler" library, open the folders in sequence: Microsoft - Windows - Setup In the SetupCleanupTask section, change the date the task was performed to delete the folder Windows.old to required
Using third party software
Many people prefer to use CCleaner and its analogues to erase "unremovable" directories like Windows.old. it the right approach, since the utility is able to quickly cope with such a task. If you do not have CCleaner installed, then you should download its installation file to your PC from the developer's website and install the program.
To remove Windows.old through the CCleaner application, in the "Cleanup" section, select the "Advanced" category and check the box next to "Old Windows Installation" After launching CCleaner, you need to find the “Other” tab, go to the “Old Windows Installation” line, tick it and start cleaning. The question of whether to delete the "Event Logs" can be answered in the affirmative. The program will quickly perform the necessary actions and issue a report with a complete list of files that have been deleted. The amount of freed memory will also be indicated.
What to do if the Windows.old directory is not removed
As a rule, the Windows.old directory is completely erased from the system drive using one of the methods listed above. When using the command line method, make sure all characters are typed correctly and there are no extra spaces in the commands.
When the contents of the Windows.old directory are of no interest to you, you can safely delete it. This folder is erased from the PC in several ways if you need free disk space, - the directory does take up a fair amount of space. Please note: if you need any files from a previous version of Windows, take appropriate measures to save them, because the system itself will delete Windows.old after a month.
When updating or reinstalling the OS without formatting on the same partition, you will see in the explorer windows.old - what is this folder? This directory is created automatically, files of the previous OS are placed there. Of course, you will want to free up disk space, to do this, you need to delete windows folder.old on windows 7, 8.
If you already have such a directory, then the windows.old.000 folder will be created in addition to it (there may be several). Windows.old takes up several GB and has these subdirectories:
- Windows - files of the previous OS.
- Documents and Settings - a directory of documents and settings.
- Program Files - directory with installed programs and software.
Note: before deleting, copy the personal files that are important to you from the folders listed above. You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to complete the steps below.
After updating the Windows OS, by default a task is created that will delete the Windows.old folder after four weeks. If you don't want to wait, then delete it manually before the set time.
Delete the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup
First you need to open "disk cleanup", do it as follows:
1. Open File Explorer and right click on the system drive. Select "properties" from the menu.
2. On the "general" tab, click on "disk cleanup". This button is located under the graph of the ratio of free and used space of the local disk.
3. Wait for the end of the analysis of the amount of freed space. At the bottom of the window, click the "clean up system files" button.
At the top of the open window you will see the approximate amount of data to be deleted. In the list, find and check the box "Previous installations of Windows", click OK.
4. Press the confirmation button "delete files" and wait until the process ends.
Removing using the command line
Alternatively, you can also use Command Prompt to delete the Windows.old folder and all attached files. To do this, enter the commands:
1. First of all, you will need to take ownership of this folder, to do this, at the command prompt, type:
takeown /F C:\Windows.old\* /R /A
Press Enter.
2. Copy the following structure to cmd and press enter:
cacls C:\Windows.old\*.* /T /grant administrators:F
Note: If you see a message that the match was not completed, go to step 3.
3. The final step is , for this type:
rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\
Press Enter to delete the directory. Close Command Prompt.
Now you know, how to delete windows.old folder on windows 7, 8. I recommend using the first option, as it is more familiar to ordinary users. The longer the previous OS was installed, the larger it will be, removing it will save you a lot of GB.
After reinstalling windows(or after) some novice users find an impressive windows.old folder on the C drive.
This folder is created new system automatically and stored previous version your operating system, to which you can roll back if you wish. By the way, in it, you can find some user files from the desktop and from the folders "My Documents" and similar ones, if you suddenly did not find them after reinstallation.
If you are completely satisfied with your Current version operating system and you are not going to go back to the previous one, it is best to this folder(or folders if you have more than one) delete.
However, if you try to delete the Windows.old folder manually, you will see that the system will not let you delete it completely. Hence the question arises of how to delete the windows.old folder and free up space on your hard drive
How to delete a folderWindows. oldinWindows 10
Let's look at the process of deleting this folder using the Windows 10 operating system as an example. All the same steps are also suitable for operating Windows systems 7, 8, 8.1.
- Go to "My computer" or Windows Explorer
, right click on the disk "C" and select the item "Properties".
- Then press the button Disk Cleanup.
- After a short analysis of the system, the Disk Cleanup dialog box will open. Here you will need to press the button. And wait a bit again.
- A new window will open in which you will see that new items have appeared in the list of files to be deleted. We are interested in the item, which is just stored in the folder Windows.old. Check this box and click "OK". Wait for the operation to complete.
Now go to C drive and check if the folder is deleted. If you have not tried to delete the folder manually before, then most likely you should succeed and delete the package from the system disk.
If, as a result of the actions described above, the Windows.old folder has not disappeared or empty folders remain in it, causing a message when trying to delete "Not found", then in this case:
- Run command prompt as administrator. To do this, right-click on the menu "Start" and select the item "Command Prompt (Admin)".
- Enter command rd /s /q c:windows.old Windows.old folder will be completely removed from the computer.
VIDEO: How to delete the Windows.old folder
Well, that's all for today! Please write in the comments if you managed to delete the Windows.old folder and which method helped you. And don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel if you have not subscribed to it yet, as well as notifications by clicking on the bell next to the subscription button.
After upgrading to Windows 10, users find a huge directory on the system drive. It is called Windows.old and can take about 8-16 or even more gigabytes, and when you try to delete it, it displays a notification about the impossibility of the operation.
This raises the question of how the Windows old folder is deleted in Windows 10, what is stored in it and this information is needed. In this manual, familiarize yourself with the contents of the mentioned directory and learn how to get rid of Windows.old.
If you still understand, then Windows.old stores the previous edition of the operating system, the one that was used on the computer before installing the update. It also contains all files. working Windows, if Windows 10 is installed on the drive where the running OS is located, but without formatting the current system volume.
Apart from system files and applications, the directory also contains user ones located in a folder with its name (including the My Documents and Desktop directories). If after upgrading the PC could not find any documents, look for them through the search.
Delete Windows.old using the operating system
When a dozen is quite satisfied and you are sure that you will not roll back to the previous edition of the OS from Microsoft, then it makes sense to get rid of the Windows.old directory, or at least its contents.
Separately, it is worth noting the cases of the appearance of a catalog with old version"dozens" after installing updates to it. In such situations, you should not rush to delete the folder, because it does not store all dozens of files, but only those that are changed during the update. The best option would be to wait a few weeks to make sure the operating system is working.
To remove a directory from backup the previous ten, we follow the steps shown in the following instructions.
1. Run the system disk cleanup tool.
This is done through the appropriate request (Disk Cleanup) in the search line or by running the “cleanmgr” command through the search, or text string command interpreter (called by Win+R).
2. We are waiting for the completion of the process of analyzing the contents of the partition in order to search for files that can be deleted.
3. Click on the "Clean up system files" icon.
To do this, you must have administrator privileges or work from under account with the appropriate privileges.
4. Check the box "Previous Windows installations".
5. Click "OK" to delete the Windows.old directory.
6. We are waiting for the completion of the tasks assigned to the program.
As a result of such simple operations, Window.old will be erased from the system disk, and if the directory remains, it will be empty.
Getting rid of Windows.old using the command line
If a previous version did not work or the directory was not completely cleared, you will have to resort to using system tool called command line.
1. We call the program with administrator rights.
In order to do this, right-click on the C: drive in the My Computer directory and select "Open command window as Administrator". The second way is to use context menu Start.
2. Enter the command "RD /S /Q C:\windows.old" and press "Enter" to execute it.
RD- system command to delete the specified folder with all directories and files nested in it;
S is a key indicating that all subdirectories should be removed;
Q - attribute allows you to deactivate the request to confirm the execution of the command.
How to clear Windows.old through the Task Scheduler
1. Call the Task Scheduler.
The easiest way to launch it is through the search bar.
2. Expand the "Microsoft" branch in the scheduler library.
3. Open the "Windows" folder.
4. In the "Setup" directory, find the "SetupCleanupTask" task and double-click on it.
It is responsible for deleting the folder after 30 days from the date of the update, but in the Options tab, you can change the due date of the task to a closer one to speed up the process.
The method does not always work, but it is worth familiarizing yourself with it for greater variety.
The most reliable way
1. While holding "Shift", press "Restart".
2. In the window for selecting actions, click "Diagnostics".
After restarting the PC, a command prompt will appear.
4. In it, we execute “diskpart”, then “list volume” to determine the label of the system partition.
5. Exit the program by executing "exit".
6. Enter RD /S /Q "C:\windows.old" and press "Enter", where C: is the disk label.
7. Close the window and click "Continue".
These instructions are quite enough for any user.