Windows 10: Is the "Windows Old" folder needed?

I know this has probably been asked many times, but I can't find the thread? In the C:/ drive there is a folder named "Windows Old", is this folder needed, or can it be safely deleted?
The reason I ask is because when I run a virus chexk, it takes almost twice as long as normal because of having to scan this folder?
Any advice would be welcome?*Smile

:)

 

Lumia " The Future is Here "

This is a support forum, not a complaints department.

I suggest you directly submit your complaints about hardware to Nokia and software to Microsoft.



Also it often helps to read reviews when switching platforms to make sure it suits your needs. From what you've said the Lumia 820 clearly doesn't suit you.

 

Lumia " The Future is Here "

psychomania: This is a support forum, not a complaints department.



psychomania: Also it often helps to read reviews when switching platforms to make sure it suits your needs. From what you've said the Lumia 820 clearly doesn't suit you.



What RSXforever wrote was a kind of review, that can help other people to judge, if Lumia is the right phone for them.

 

When you upgrade Windows, like from Windows 7 or 8 to 10, it creates a folder on the C: drive called Windows.old. This folder has all of your previous documents, music, and Programs installed. You can copy any personal files out of this folder to your current C:\Users\YourUserName folder, and you can see what programs need to be reinstalled. Once you have recovered everything you want, you can safely delete this folder using Disk Cleanup

 

Even after running Disk Cleanup there may be a few files left mostly they seem to be in the File Repository my Windows.old folder still had a folder

C:\Windows.old\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\iaiogpioe.inf_x86_c535e9e128a87b49

Inside there was a file iaiogpioe.sys which I found was installed in Windows 10 but I guess was not registering or was corrupted or whatever
I decided the safest way might be to simply update that driver and see if that 'unlocked' the version in Windows.old
I searched around the web and found it was for GPIO Controller
After creating a Macrium Reflect Image and a System Restore Point I went to
Device Manager > System devices > GPIO Controller
There were 3 listed but I selected the first and updated the driver, this updated all 3. I had to Restart for the changes to take effect.
After the Restart the Windows.old folder was still there but iaiogpioe.sys was gone
Happy days *Smile

So, some people suggest using 3rd party unlockers or taking ownership but forcing the delete seems a bit risky to me, I suggest you just search the web and find out what the file belongs to then try an update like I did

Good luck *Smile

 

Disk Cleanup does not display the Windows Old folder, so I cannot delete it? Trying to delete Windows Old via the standard ! Delete" function also doesn't work? Removing the folders from inside the Windows Old folder will allow some folders to be deleted, but not the Program files folders or the Windows (the one inside the Windows Old folder) folder?

 

Option 2 here will give you more options, including remove old windows installations:

Disk Cleanup - Open and Use in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Tutorials

 

Windows.Old can only be deleted by system cleanup if system cleanup is run in administrator mode otherwise it will not show up, other tools such as ccleaner will also remove it but only if run as administrator.

 

I think the windows.old folder will be automatically deleted after 31 days anyway.

 

Thanks to everyone, all sorted!