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Questions tagged [windows.old]

For questions involving the folder C:\Windows.old or its contents. Do not use this tag for questions about old versions of Windows; use the version-specific tag instead (for example, [windows-7], [windows-xp], [windows-server-2003]).

28 questions
36
votes
2 answers

What does Windows.old folder contain?

Windows.old isn't only created when reinstalling or upgrading to a new version Windows, but also during major Windows updates. What is stored in the folder? Only system files or user data as well? I have lost Nvidia Control Panel settings in…
user198350
  • 4,269
14
votes
4 answers

Windows.old folder appeared after Windows 10 Anniversary Update

I found Windows.old folder (23 GB) on my system drive after the recent major Windows 10 update. I haven't recently installed a new operating system, I moved to Win 10 a year ago and I did a fresh install. Can the folder be created after Windows…
user198350
  • 4,269
5
votes
1 answer

How to copy windows.old folder to another drive?

I have upgraded my Windows 7 to Windows 10 (final) just 2 days ago. As I can see, all the files for Win7 are now located under C:\windows.old folder. That's great of course, but now I want to backup this folder on another HDD I have in this PC. When…
TheCuBeMan
  • 1,119
2
votes
2 answers

Remove the windows.old folder after it has already been deleted

When I upgraded from Windows Vista to Windows 7, I copied all of my files back over from the Windows.old folder. When I was done I deleted the Windows.old folder with the deleted key and then deleted it from my recycle bin. This was about 2 months…
muckdog12
  • 21
1
vote
1 answer

Windows.old folder loaded with Vista - Is it needed?

I have a laptop which is loaded with Windows Vista. There is a folder called Windows.Old in the C: drive which occupies about 2.5 GB of disk space and I badly need the space. Do I really need the Windows.old folder? If I want to remove it, what is…
Kanini
  • 1,092
1
vote
1 answer

Does renaming Windows.old folder prevent its deletion or no?

I was asked to help a person with that person's computer. The installation of Windows 10 failed for some reason, but the important files were safely put in the Windows.old folder. The system does not boot properly, but I still have access to the…
Kowu
  • 13
1
vote
1 answer

Recover entire Windows 10 install from windows.old

My PC recently ran into some issues and I had to end up reinstalling Windows to fix the boot (which is done). But I must've accidentally installed Windows again on the drive that I wanted to fix since there is a windows.old folder with all my…
Sceptual
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1
vote
2 answers

Is the Windows.old folder compressed to save space? What files does it contain?

I want to upgrade my system from Windows 7 to Windows 8. However, I am currently using more than half of my disk space. I read that Windows will create a "Windows.old" folder with a full copy of your previous Windows installation. However, I am now…
Lapraniteon
  • 98
1
vote
0 answers

Deleting windows.old from linux live

I have laptop with windows 10 and im trying to delete windows.old folder from linux mint booted in live mode. I have mounted HDD in -rw mode. i have rwxrwxrwx permissions for all sub-directories and files. but when i run command : sudo rm -rf…
Nick Wynther
  • 11
1
vote
0 answers

How to Reset Windows 10 to a clean state from Troubleshooting Mode

I have made a stupid thing deleting the windows.old folder with CCleaner. I have read already the question Windows 10 spinning dots on black screen , which describes my problem but the answer doesn't solve my problem. I have downloaded the windows…
Jose
  • 111
1
vote
1 answer

windows.old folder restored from external backup is not recognized for rollback in Windows 10 insider preview

Would like to do a proper rollback with the windows.old folder of Windows 10 which was restored from external backup to it's original location; yet the system and startup dialog negates the option. Any registry flags I need to reset?
mxfh
  • 309
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1
vote
0 answers

Windows.old results empty after windows 10 update

I've been stuck in this situation from a couple of hours and can't really find any solution to that issue. Background: My friend's pc (an HP computer) (with windows 10 upgraded from windows 8.1) had an issue with the motherboard, so it was sent…
briosheje
  • 117
0
votes
0 answers

Windows.old not gone after disk cleanup?

I have tried using disk cleanup to remove 'previous versions of windows' but this only removes a few MB. The first time it went from around 5GB to around 900MB, then each time I run the disk cleanup it removes around 10MB. I've tried taking…
Ashfaaq
  • 51
0
votes
1 answer

How do I remove the 'Windows.Old' directory in Windows 10?

Besides simply right clicking on the file and selecting delete, is there another way to delete the windows.old folder? Manually deleting the folder has proven to be rather tedious as I have to take ownership of the all folders and files and then…
James Mertz
  • 26,529
0
votes
0 answers

Error: Windows.old folder linked to the system

I am developing a tool with c# and robocopy to help me to backup and restore my data after re-install windows 10. For example selenium profiles from browsers, code repositories, etc. But i have problems maybe caused by the operating system like the…
dev-net-21
  • 1
1
2