Windows 10: Can Windows (old) folder be deleted

Can the "Windows (old)" folder be deleted safely?

I only have a 128g ssd for my operating system, and 25gig is being taken up by a folder called Windows (old)

I would like to free up some space.

:)

 

Error 0x80070091. Whenever I tried to remove Windows.old folder

Hello,

You can try this method to delete Windows.old folder:

[How To] Delete "Windows.old'' Folder In Windows 8.1

Hope this helps, Good luck

 

what should i do with windows old folder?

hi i have updated my wondows 10 and there is window.old folder i checked its size it is of 17GB. what should i do with that folder? can i deleted that folder? is there damage to windows 10 by deleting that windows old folder?

 

The Windows old folder can be safely deleted but Microsoft gives you 30 days to change you mind and go back to Wn 7 or Win 8. If you delete it before the 30 days you can not go back. If you are sure you want to stay with Win 10 it is safe to delete. If you are not sure use Win 10 for a week or two and then make up your mind.

 

Do not do it directly, but use Disk Cleanup run as administrator.

 

You can still go back to your old os without windows.old. You can also go back to your old os after 30 days. In both scenarios, you just do a clean install of your old os.

 

Hello WolfCreek, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

In addition: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

 

You can go back but all your settings and programs will be lost.

 

Brink, I ran the process described in the tutorial. I still have two folders (with subfolders and files) remaining, and when I use the elevated command prompt process I get access denied. I took ownership of both folders and full control permissions, but when I try to delete some of them I get denied because the file is in use. For example, in the Windows.old>Program Files>en-US folder the wmpnetwk.exe.mui file (the only one in it) will not delete saying that the file is open by the Windows Media sharing process. The other folder under Program Files is Windows Defender with seven files in it. (I'm hesitant to mess with these because I'm nervous because of the Windows Defender folder and not wanting to mess anything up). There second of the two folders just under Windows.old is Windows with 1,470 files in it. Any advice?

 

Anything in Windows.old is safe to delete if you don't want it.

You might see if you could delete it at boot using a command prompt at boot opened from installation media while it's not in use.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...a.html#option3

 

I belong to another forum and got this procedure from there. It was posted by Zardoc
I followed this and it worked great. Hope it helps.

Delete Windows.OLD Folder


Boot in system recovery options and run this command (command line: C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe -r -o -f -t 02 -c "Restart 2 seconds!!")
Go to Click/tap on Advanced options.
Command Prompt


diskpart
list volume
Check and make sure the drive letter of your windows 10 drive.
exit
RD /S /Q "C:\Windows.old"


(C= Win root)

 

Yep, that's what I posted above for OPTION THREE below. *Smile

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...a.html#option3

 

Option three does not tell you to run that first command I posted. To be honest I don't know if it makes a difference but that is what worked for me. Just trying to help.

 

The first command is to just restart the computer into advanced startup, and then open a command prompt at boot.

It's basically the same as the link in step 1 in Option Three, but the link provides different options for opening a command prompt at boot.

 

Brink, the command prompt at boot allowed me to delete the file that was previously in use while in Windows proper. But other file deletions gave me "access denied" as I had not changed the file ownership and permissions on those files. And trying to change file permissions at the folder level for all sub-tier children isn't working. Ugh...I guess I'll just ignore the folder!