Windows 10: Delete unused files after creating Windows boot media?

Alright, I'm convinced this is one of those things that has a super easy solution that I'm totally overlooking, but I'm not too proud to ask for help.A Lenovo laptop of mine was recently having some problems, so I went to my desktop still running Windows 10 to create a Windows 11 boot USB for the laptop. Everything went smooth, but I don't think I ever got the needed free space 8GB or whatever it was back on my hard drive from creating the boot USB? Is there a way to clean those Windows 11 files off of my C drive, even after having disconnected the flash drive I used for the boot media?Tha

:)

 

Installation media boots to command prompt

I've just booted from known working install media to see exactly what it does when booting. The sequence of events is...

1. Windows logo on a black screen
2. circling dots appear beneath the logo
3. light blue 'Please wait' screen with circling dots
4. a command prompt window (very briefly)
5. the initial Setup page appears

Do you see steps 1-3? If so, it appears you have stopped at step 4, suggesting that something on the disc cannot be read.

Does the disc boot properly in another machine? If so, try cleaning the laptop's drive lens then try booting from the disc again.

If not, make new install media with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, either as a bootable USB, on an ISO that you can burn to another disc. At Step 8 in Option One of this tutorial you can choose between making a USB or an ISO.

Download Windows 10 ISO File

 

Delete Unused Prfetch Files

Hi,

To view the prefetch folder, kindly follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + R
• Type in "C:/WINDOWS/Prefetch" without the quotation.

By then, you can now view the list of prefetch on your Windows. You can determine which prefetch to delete by its filename and the date that it has been modified. You can also check its properties for the details of the said prefetch files. To delete it, right-click
the said prefetch and then, click Delete.

Let us know how it goes.

 

deleting hard drive files

Hi,

May we know what type of file are you trying to delete? Would it be Office documents, media files, or picture files? If you're trying to delete files for free some space on your device. We suggest to perform a Disc Cleanup. Kindly follow the steps below to
perform the task:

• Type in Cortana Disc Cleanup
  
• Choose the files to delete
  
• Click on "Clean up system files"
  
• Click on Ok
  

For any concerns, don't hesitate to get back to us.

Regards.