Windows 10: Deleted Windows.old, not enough disk space freed

As the title suggests, only 9 gigabytes of disk space appear to have been freed after deleting roughly 18 gigabytes worth of old Windows files via Windows Disk Cleanup. Since the Windows.old folder still exists even after the cleanup, I decided to check the folder properties to see if the folder still took up some space, but it was completely empty, save for a few empty subfolders that I didn't have permission to delete myself. I tried Disk Cleanup a second time, but it did not give me the option to delete old Windows files. Anybody got an answer for me? Please hurry. My poor SSD is suffering. It needs more games.

:)

 

Windows Update Created A New Partition On My Hard Disk

Thank you for your reply. Yes I did a disk clean up and it freed a bundle of space but I can't delete the windows.old folder. It says that the folder is open in another program. I tried restarting my computer and then deleting it but it still won't let me.

Also, what about the recovery partition created on my hard disk? Is it safe to get rid of it?

Thx in advance.

 

Windows 10 Backup Error Code of 0x807800c5

Thanks all for the input. It appears that the space set aside for the backup folder did not have enough space to do the backup. Deleting a few file ranges freed up enough for me to successfully back everything up.

 

Those empty Windows.old folders do not take up any space and if I recall correctly, they will go away eventually. As to the space usage on your SSD you have to be more precise. Best is to post a picture.

 

You might look at this program, Download WinDirStat I've used it in the past, it works great for seeing what's taking up space and removing those items. Removal can be done within the program too.

 

Thanks for the replies. I did not take any screenshots on my laptop, but I tried this on my desktop with the same results- 18 gigabyte folder, 10 gigs freed. Here are the screenshots from my desktop:





CmmTch, thanks for the link. It didn't quite help me solve this particular issue, but I did find some things that I could move to my external (apple backups, old virtual machine files, etc).

 

• Did you empty the recycle bin ? If not, empty it.
• Delete the contents under: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
  Those are downloaded Windows Updates files and already installed.
• Open Admin command, copy and paste the line below then run:
  Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
  This should remove all the no longer used by component store. Will take a while to run.