The Windows.old folder is created by Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 after installing a new version of the operating system or even after using the reset function of Windows 10. In other words, it is created by the Windows installation procedure if a previous installation is detected on the PC.
When you switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 or even if you proceed with a reinstallation of Windows 10 or Windows 7 and 8.1, you will always find a folder called Windows.old inside the disk C: which contains all previous files inside.
As already explained in an article some time ago, the Windows.old folder is used to recover files after installing Windows . The Windows installation procedure takes place, in fact, without deleting anything from the hard disk because it saves and organizes all the files of documents and programs that were previously in this folder by calling it Windows.old .
The Windows.old folder is also useful for Windows 10 to allow the user to return to the previous version of Windows in the event that, after an update, something no longer works as before.
But if the previous files don't interest us anymore, if you need to recover disk space, or if a new installation has been made and the important files have already been saved and if we have no intention of going back to the previous version of Windows, then it is better definitely delete old Windows, since it takes up a lot of space. Eliminating Windows old frees 20 Giga or even more on your computer's main disk.
The problem is that you cannot delete the Windows.old folder (trying it you will find that you do not have the permissions to do it) as if it were a normal file folder, but you need to follow a procedure that is not at all difficult, but still particular
READ ALSO: Clean Windows Update to free up 4 GB of disk space
The quickest procedure to delete all files inside Windows.old and possibly also the folders Windows.old000, Windows.old001 etc. is the following.
In Windows 10, open the Settings from the Start menu (also by pressing the Windows + I keys together). From Settings, go to the System> Storage section. In Storage, press on Configure Memory sensor . Scroll down, select the option Delete previous versions of Windows and then press the Clean Now button. Eventually, the Windows.old folder will have been completely removed.
Another way to delete the Windows.old folder, which works in Windows 10 and Windows 7 and 8.1, is through a command.
Open a dos command prompt by looking for the word prompt in the Start menu. When you find the Command Prompt in the search results, right click on it and run it as administrator. At the command prompt, type the following command, press Enter on your keyboard and keep the prompt window open).
cleanmgr / sageset: 1
A selection window will appear where you can choose which type of file to delete to clean up Windows. For our purpose to delete Windows.old it is enough to select only temporary Windows installation files, but I recommend, while we are there, to select all the items to give a good cleaning. Once everything is selected, press OK.
Then return to the command prompt window and press Enter on your keyboard.
cleanmgr / sagerun: 1
The cleaning procedure will begin its deletion work by completely removing all Windows.old folders as well.
In case, even after this procedure, the Windows.old folder remains in its place and seems impossible to delete, then force your hand by typing the following commands on the command prompt, pressing Enter after each of them:
takeown / F c: \ Windows.old \ * / R / A / DY
cacls c: \ Windows.old \ *. * / T / grant administrators: F
rmdir / S / Q c: \ Windows.old
READ ALSO: Free up space in Windows 10 by deleting 20 GB of the installation files
When you switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 or even if you proceed with a reinstallation of Windows 10 or Windows 7 and 8.1, you will always find a folder called Windows.old inside the disk C: which contains all previous files inside.
As already explained in an article some time ago, the Windows.old folder is used to recover files after installing Windows . The Windows installation procedure takes place, in fact, without deleting anything from the hard disk because it saves and organizes all the files of documents and programs that were previously in this folder by calling it Windows.old .
The Windows.old folder is also useful for Windows 10 to allow the user to return to the previous version of Windows in the event that, after an update, something no longer works as before.
But if the previous files don't interest us anymore, if you need to recover disk space, or if a new installation has been made and the important files have already been saved and if we have no intention of going back to the previous version of Windows, then it is better definitely delete old Windows, since it takes up a lot of space. Eliminating Windows old frees 20 Giga or even more on your computer's main disk.
The problem is that you cannot delete the Windows.old folder (trying it you will find that you do not have the permissions to do it) as if it were a normal file folder, but you need to follow a procedure that is not at all difficult, but still particular
READ ALSO: Clean Windows Update to free up 4 GB of disk space
The quickest procedure to delete all files inside Windows.old and possibly also the folders Windows.old000, Windows.old001 etc. is the following.
In Windows 10, open the Settings from the Start menu (also by pressing the Windows + I keys together). From Settings, go to the System> Storage section. In Storage, press on Configure Memory sensor . Scroll down, select the option Delete previous versions of Windows and then press the Clean Now button. Eventually, the Windows.old folder will have been completely removed.
Another way to delete the Windows.old folder, which works in Windows 10 and Windows 7 and 8.1, is through a command.
Open a dos command prompt by looking for the word prompt in the Start menu. When you find the Command Prompt in the search results, right click on it and run it as administrator. At the command prompt, type the following command, press Enter on your keyboard and keep the prompt window open).
cleanmgr / sageset: 1
A selection window will appear where you can choose which type of file to delete to clean up Windows. For our purpose to delete Windows.old it is enough to select only temporary Windows installation files, but I recommend, while we are there, to select all the items to give a good cleaning. Once everything is selected, press OK.
Then return to the command prompt window and press Enter on your keyboard.
cleanmgr / sagerun: 1
The cleaning procedure will begin its deletion work by completely removing all Windows.old folders as well.
In case, even after this procedure, the Windows.old folder remains in its place and seems impossible to delete, then force your hand by typing the following commands on the command prompt, pressing Enter after each of them:
takeown / F c: \ Windows.old \ * / R / A / DY
cacls c: \ Windows.old \ *. * / T / grant administrators: F
rmdir / S / Q c: \ Windows.old
READ ALSO: Free up space in Windows 10 by deleting 20 GB of the installation files
