Windows 10: Windows malfunction after deleting Windows.old file

So today sep 12 I installed a windows 10 2004 update. Installation went well but then I noticed my SSD was running out of storage after the installation. So I ran a quick check and found out that a Windows.old file had appeared there. It took up 22GB of storage. I got curious because why would an old file take up that much space. Besides, I only have like 30GB of free space left so I needed to delete it anyway. I followed the method shown in this video link: https://youtu.be/5-nMz2pt1HI to delete the file because windows said "YOU NEED SYSTEM PERMISSION." The method kinda worked for me except that there WERE STILL some files in windows.old that could not be deleted. Satisfactory outcome. Me shut down laptop. Me turned on it back after a while. Me regret... All apps and systems started malfunctioning like crazy! Discord would not load. Valorant would not launch. All opened windows including Settings were pitch black so I couldn't see a dem thing except the white search box...


Note: I've deleted the remaining Windows.old file using Disk Cleanup


Settings window:




Any solution on how to resolve this without having to factory reset my lappy? :


OS:Windows 10 Home Single Language

Laptop:Asus a556u

:)

 

C windows installer folder - Delete?

He can do symbolic link redirection and move the files in it to a different location. *Wink
Better try it out in a virtual of first. Just a suggestion.

Like:
First move everything in c:\windows\installer to d:\installercache
Then delete c:\windows\installer folder
Then type this in command mode as admin
mklink /d c:\windows\installer d:\installercache

Removing those installer files is a bad idea. it might prevent you from updating or uninstalling apps.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

Windows old files deleting

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query at Microsoft community. I will be glad to assist you.

I suggest you follow this steps and check if it helps.

• 
  Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Cleanup.
  
• 
  If you're prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK.
  
• 
  In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, click Clean up system files.
  
• 
  If you're again prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK.
  
• 
  Select the Previous Windows installation(s) check box, and any other check boxes for the files you want to delete, and then click OK.
  
• 
  In the message that appears, click Delete Files.
  

Hope this helps.

For further assistance, you can post your query in Microsoft Community.

Thank you.