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Windows.old?

Beeeyeee
By Beeeyeee
in Troubleshooting
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Go to solution Solved by Altecice,

Re-installations of windows over old windows versions will cause this folder (Also upgrading from 8 to 8.1 will do the same). Run disk cleanup as administrator > allow it to scan C: > click the button 'clean up system files' and select C: again > select the Windows.old folder at the bottom and click ok. 

 

It should be gone after that :)

Posted

hey so I installed some new RAM into my laptop, then started it up, and it wouldnt boot to the desktop no matter what I tried. but I finally clicked an option ( I forget what its called). what it did was removed all externally installed programs but kept all of the pre-installed applications and my personal files.

 

Once I did that it booted fine and I reinstalled all of my applications. but in the process I was informed my HDD was almost full! its a 500GB and it was about 75% full before. now its about 90% I took a look in the files and under This PC > Windows (C:) there are two specific folders "Windows" and "Windows.old" Could I delete the Windows.old? I tried to move it to the recycle bin but it wouldnt let me.

 

any help would help! (obviously) :P

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Sounds like you reinstalled windows over top of itself. This moves all your previous installation into it's own isolated Windows.old folder.

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hey so I installed some new RAM into my laptop, then started it up, and it wouldnt boot to the desktop no matter what I tried. but I finally clicked an option ( I forget what its called). what it did was removed all externally installed programs but kept all of the pre-installed applications and my personal files.

 

Once I did that it booted fine and I reinstalled all of my applications. but in the process I was informed my HDD was almost full! its a 500GB and it was about 75% full before. now its about 90% I took a look in the files and under This PC > Windows (C:) there are two specific folders "Windows" and "Windows.old" Could I delete the Windows.old? I tried to move it to the recycle bin but it wouldnt let me.

 

any help would help! (obviously) :P

Windows.old are the files from a previous install of Windows. If you no longer need them, then go ahead and delete them.

My arsenal: i7-9700k Gaming Rig, an iPhone, and Stupidity.

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/353852-windowsold/#findComment-4808914
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  • Solution

Re-installations of windows over old windows versions will cause this folder (Also upgrading from 8 to 8.1 will do the same). Run disk cleanup as administrator > allow it to scan C: > click the button 'clean up system files' and select C: again > select the Windows.old folder at the bottom and click ok. 

 

It should be gone after that :)

Quack 🦆

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/353852-windowsold/#findComment-4808932
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