Windows 10: Does Windows.old get overwritten if I reinstall Windows 10?

Hi! My computer's got a few problems (can't even get to w10), and right now I'm trying to reinstall Windows 10 with an USB key. The installation seemed successfull the first time, but when I tried to turn on my pc, I got a message telling me that there was and error. Now, I have a question. All my personal data got stored in the Windows.old folder. If I try to install W10 again, will this folder get replaced with a new one, erasing all my previous data, or it will stay the same?

Thanks a lot!

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:)

 

windows.old folder question

It does auto delete - eventually. Next time Windows updates and creates a new Windows.old file, that old Windows.old file will be overwritten. Then in 30 days, it will auto delete.

If you have lots of free disk space, I say just leave it. It is not hurting anything. But if running low on disk space, or you just want to get rid of it, you can delete it manually, use Windows own Disk Cleanup to clean out "Previous Windows installation(s)" files or use CCleaner. But for sure, I would wait at least a week or two to make sure you will not need to roll back to that previous version.

 

Removing Windows.old folder

I recently had to reinstall my OS (don't ask). Once I did there were files that I couldn't delete. Basically SecuROM files. Anyway long story short I found this workaround that I wanted to share with my fellow newbs. This will work for any file and works like a charm. Just follow the directions. *Toast :toast:
Note: there is no space between "Administrators: (F)" I just had to but one in because it kept giving me an "unhappy face"

When installing Windows Vista, Windows stores any existing installation of Windows on the install partition inside a hidden folder called windows.old. This folder could take up a large amount of disk space.

Note: Please check the contents of the windows.old folder before deleting it to make sure there are no files stored there that you may wish to keep.

Deleting the window.old folder using the disk cleanup wizard
Click start
Type: disk cleanup
Press enter
Select "Files from all users on this computer"
Follow the rest of the instructions listed on the wizard and select the option to delete the windows.old folder
Deleting the windows.old folder manually
1) Open an elevated command prompt

Click start
Type: cmd
right-click it under programs
click Run As Administrator
2) Take ownership


Change the directory to the windows.old folder (e.g. cd c:\windows.old)
Type: takeown /F . /A /R /D Y > NUL
3) grant yourself permission

Type: icacls . /grant:r Administrators: (F) /T /L /Q
4) Delete everything

Make sure you close any explorer or command windows that are looking at or inside the windows.old folder (except for the command window you are using). If you don't, you will receive an error while performing this step.

Type: cd ..
Type: rmdir /S /Q windows.old

 

Windows.old directory

My laptop crashed on me and when I restored it with the Windows 10 repair disk, I was happy to find that my files were all intact under my windows.old file. However, after I reinstalled Windows 10 I got a notification to upgrade my Windows 10. So I did
the upgrade but guess what my windows.old file from the crash was overwritten with the upgrade and now all my files are gone. Since I did this all the same day I rolled the update back on the windows 10.

However, the windows.old file did not roll back the original file. I still have a windows.old directory with no files. I also cannot restore to an earlier version etc. Do you have any suggestion how I can get this directory back with all of my files.
Thank you for your assistance.

Also since this file was overwritten as part of the update to Windows 10 I would have thought this directory would have rolled back to or is this because it has now become a separate file.