Windows.old, how to get rid of?

Followed the steps here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?

Kenny Cargill

On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:28:24 +0100, Kenny <> wrote:

>Followed the steps here:
>http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
>to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
>It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?
>
>Kenny Cargill
I always just delete it. Don't recall having that large amount.


KenW

On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:28:24 +0100, Kenny <> wrote:

>Followed the steps here:
>http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
>to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
>It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?
>
>Kenny Cargill

You can just delete it. Make sure you recover all your documents and pictures, etc. from
your profile in the Windows.old folder before you delete it.

Unk

Kenny wrote:
> Followed the steps here:
> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
>
> to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
> It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?
>
> Kenny Cargill

First, make sure you have a backup of the system, before going further.
Windows 7 has an image backup option that should capture everything
for you. That's in case there are side effects from forcing the
deletion of windows.old . (There might just be a good reason
why it won't delete, you never know.)

http://www.intowindows.com/wp-conten...mage_thumb.jpg

There is some info here, if you're having problems still. It
uses a combination of "takeown" and "cacls" to whip that
thing into shape, so you can delete it. (There are probably
GUI equivalents, with the ability to set the whole tree.)
Disk Cleanup should be handling those details for you, but
if not, you still have other tools available from a command prompt.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/

Sooner or later, you'd going to have to learn more about TrustedInstaller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLL_Hell

"Windows Vista and later use a special TrustedInstaller service to
install operating system files. Other user accounts, including the SYSTEM,
have no access to overwrite core system binaries. Windows 7 expands this
functionality to some critical parts of the Registry."

So stuff you used to be able to do easily, has an extra step now. I
ran into this just yesterday, while trying to edit the Registry.

HTH,
Paul

On 21/09/2011 07:45, Paul wrote:
> Kenny wrote:
>> Followed the steps here:
>> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
>>
>> to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
>> It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?
>>
>> Kenny Cargill
>
> First, make sure you have a backup of the system, before going further.
> Windows 7 has an image backup option that should capture everything
> for you. That's in case there are side effects from forcing the
> deletion of windows.old . (There might just be a good reason
> why it won't delete, you never know.)
>
> http://www.intowindows.com/wp-conten...mage_thumb.jpg
>
>
> There is some info here, if you're having problems still. It
> uses a combination of "takeown" and "cacls" to whip that
> thing into shape, so you can delete it. (There are probably
> GUI equivalents, with the ability to set the whole tree.)
> Disk Cleanup should be handling those details for you, but
> if not, you still have other tools available from a command prompt.
>
> http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/
>
>
> Sooner or later, you'd going to have to learn more about TrustedInstaller.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLL_Hell
>
> "Windows Vista and later use a special TrustedInstaller service to
> install operating system files. Other user accounts, including the SYSTEM,
> have no access to overwrite core system binaries. Windows 7 expands this
> functionality to some critical parts of the Registry."
>
> So stuff you used to be able to do easily, has an extra step now. I
> ran into this just yesterday, while trying to edit the Registry.
>
> HTH,
> Paul
Thanks for the replies. When deleting win.old it hung at around 4.5GB,
restarted in Safe Mode and was able to delete it from there.
Incidentally I use Paragon Drive Backup and opening the last saved image
it had saved windows.old as part of the backup.
Will now create a new backup and delete the old so will have recovered
near 30GB HDD space

Kenny

On 9/20/2011 2:28 PM, Kenny wrote:
> Followed the steps here:
> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ows-old-folder
>
> to get rid of it, restarted PC and it's still there!
> It's using nearly 15Gb, what happens if I just delete it?
>
> Kenny Cargill
I'm glad that I still have my win.old directory. Occasionally I still
find things there that exist nowhere else.
Allen

On 21 Sep 2011, Allen <> wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

> I'm glad that I still have my win.old directory. Occasionally I
> still find things there that exist nowhere else.

Like what?

On 9/21/2011 11:17 AM, Nil wrote:
> On 21 Sep 2011, Allen<> wrote in
> alt.windows7.general:
>
>> I'm glad that I still have my win.old directory. Occasionally I
>> still find things there that exist nowhere else.
>
> Like what?
Look at a directory of win.old and see if you can figure that out for
yourself.

On Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:37:26 -0500, Allen <>
wrote:

>On 9/21/2011 11:17 AM, Nil wrote:
>> On 21 Sep 2011, Allen<> wrote in
>> alt.windows7.general:
>>
>>> I'm glad that I still have my win.old directory. Occasionally I
>>> still find things there that exist nowhere else.
>>
>> Like what?
>Look at a directory of win.old and see if you can figure that out for
>yourself.

I thought Nil asked a valid question. I was wondering the same thing
myself.

--

Char Jackson

On 22 Sep 2011, Allen <> wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

> Look at a directory of win.old and see if you can figure that out
> for yourself.

It's OK if you don't know the answer to a question. Trying to blow a
smokescreen doesn't make you look any smarter.