Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 8

How to Delete "Windows.old" Folder in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

If you performed a refresh of Windows 8, upgrade to Windows 8, or a custom install of Windows 8 without formatting the drive for a clean install and selected to install Windows 8 on the same partition of the previous Windows installation, then you may have a C:\Windows.old folder left over in your new installation. The Windows.old folder contains a copy of the previous Windows installation, and can be quite large in size.

If you already had a C:\Windows.old folder in the installation that you performed a refresh, upgrade install, or a custom install on, then it may be renamed to say C:\Windows.old.000 (older previous installation) in addition to the C:\Windows.old folder. The most recent previous installation will always be in the C:\Windows.old folder.

This tutorial will show you how to delete the Windows.old folder(s) generated during the installation to free up the hard drive space that the Windows.old folder(s) takes.

   Warning

Be sure to copy any files that you may want out of the Windows.old folder before you delete it. Once deleted, they are gone.

You must be an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

EXAMPLE: Windows.old Folder

OPTION ONE

Delete "Windows.old" Folder using Disk Cleanup

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1. Open Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr).​

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2. If prompted, select the Windows drive, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: You will not see this window unless you have more than one drive or partition on your computer with a drive letter.​

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3. Click/tap on the Clean up system files button. (see screenshot below)​

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4. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​

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5. Repeat step 2 above.​

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6. Click/tap on the Previous Windows installation(s) box to check it, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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7. Click/tap on Delete Files. (see screenshot below)​

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8. When Disk Cleanup finishes, the C:\Windows.old folder will be deleted.​

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OPTION TWO

Delete "Windows.old" Folder in an Elevated Command Prompt

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1. Open an elevated command prompt.​

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2. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: If you had another say windows.old.000 folder that you also wanted to delete, then you could repeat this command substituting that name instead of windows.old to also delete it.​

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RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%\windows.old​

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3. Close the elevated command prompt.​

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OPTION THREE

Delete "Windows.old" Folder in a Command Prompt at Boot

NOTE: This would be a good option to do if OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO was unable to delete your C:\Windows.old folder.

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1. Press the Windows + R keys, then type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter. Make note of the name and total size of your Windows 8 drive.​

NOTE: You will need to know this in step 3C.​

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2. Using either a Windows 8 installation USB or DVD or system repair disc, boot to a command prompt at boot.​

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3. To Verify the Windows 8 Drive Letter at Boot​

NOTE: The Windows 8 drive letter may not always be C: at boot like it is while Windows is started, so be sure to verify it's drive letter before doing the command in step 4 for it to work.​

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A) In the command prompt, type diskpart and press enter. (see screenshot below)​

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B) In the command prompt, type list volume and press enter.​

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C) From the listed volumes, look for and verify the drive letter of your Windows 8 drive.​

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D) In the command prompt, type exit and press enter.​

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4. To Delete the "Windows.old" Folder​

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A) In the command prompt, type the command below and press enter. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: Be sure to substitute D in the command below with the actual drive letter of your Windows 7 drive as displayed from step 3 above instead. If you had another say windows.old.000 folder that you also want to delete, then you could repeat this command substituting that name instead of Windows.old to also delete it.​

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RD /S /Q "D:\Windows.old"​

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B) Close the command prompt window.​

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5. Click/tap on the Continue button to restart the computer and continue to Windows 8. (see screenshot below)​

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6. Verify that the Windows.old folder has been deleted.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Boot to the "System Recovery Options" in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Refresh Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Download and Run "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant" or "Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant"
• How to Create or Download an ISO for Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Brink]

I'm getting desperate.
I've upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit to Windows 8 Pro 64-bit. Following advice in this forum and other places, I've been trying as administrator to delete the Windows.old folder without success. I've managed to delete all files within Windows.old and its sub folders, so the folder(s) size is now 0 bytes, but it remains stubbornly 'read only', no matter what. I've also tried 'Unlocker' and 'Eraser' utilities, but they too fail.
Other remnants from the os upgrade like the Windows~BT folder I managed to get rid of, but this stubborn empty Windows.old folder (with empty sub folders) drives me nuts.
OK, since the folder is empty it doesn't waste space on the system drive, so it's rather a matter of cosmetics, but I want to be the boss of my hdd and get rid of that ugly clutter.
What do you suggest?

TIA
-Uffe

Hello Uffe, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Did you already try OPTION THREE to delete it in a command prompt at boot? This usually will work when nothing else will. Just be sure that you have the correct drive letter.

 

[ustahl]

Thanks for your advice, Brink.
A mom ago I tried Option Three, using the command prompt at boot. The drive info I got with Diskpart -> List Volume was very different from reality. My 2 TB hdd is partitioned approx. 50/50, both partitions NTFS. List Volume stated one drive as "raw", the other as "Fat 32", and the sizes were waaay smaller than for real. I suspect the reason for this could be the use of an 128 GB OCZ Synapse Cache SSD system cache drive (using Dataplex software). Maybe I should de-install that SSD cache drive and try Option Three after that. Then, after hopefully destroying Windows.old, re-install that SSD cache drive. This SSD cache drive btw is completely hidden and has no drive letter.
What do you think?

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[Brink]

Uffe,

You could give it a try to see, but it shouldn't make any difference as long as you use the correct drive letter for your Windows 8 drive/partition that the Windows.old folder is on.

 

[ustahl]

Hi Shawn,
After disabling the SSD cache drive I was now able to easily identify my boot drive C: from the command prompt. However, the command "rd /s /q "c:\windows.old" did not succeed. It said "The directory is not empty" for Windows.old and the empty folders within Windows.old. So I'm still stuck with the 0-byte sized Windows.old folder (incl. empty sub folders).
I'm clueless.
What now?

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[Brink]

Odd. Did you boot from your Windows 8 installation disc or repair disc to a command prompt, and not through the startup options or safe mode?

 

[ustahl]

Yep, I booted from a usb stick with the Windows 8 installation data, the very same stick I used for upgrading/installing Windows 8, and chose repair -> command prompt.

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[Brink]

I'm afraid that I'm stumped as well.

 

[ustahl]

Hi Shawn,
Got following idea: take out the Windows 8 system hdd from the PC cabinet. Connect my Icy Box USB 3.0 external hdd docking station to my separate Windows 7 laptop. Put the Windows 8 system hdd into the docking station after laptop booted into Windows 7. Delete the Windows.old folder from laptop's Windows 7 explorer. Or should I use some other tool for getting rid of that nuisance? Could the solution be found in this direction?
Not giving up yet!

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[Brink]

You could give that a try, but you'll probably need to take ownership of and set permissions to "Allow" yourself "Full control" of the folder and it's contents before it may let you.

(Option Three) Take Ownership of file - Vista Forums

 

[ustahl]

I'll make backup image of my system drive 1st before trying above solution. Thanks for the 'Take Ownership' hint.
Will revert outcome in due course. If the Windows.old folder is stubborn, so am I.

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[ustahl]

Trying to erase Windows.old from the system disk mounted externally as described above didn't work out. The Windows 8 system drive could not be accessed at all that way, Windows 7 said the disk must be formatted in order to be usable - well, I didn't do that, of course.
So, I'm still the happy owner of an empty Windows.old folder, seemingly impossible to get rid off.
I'll take a rest until I find stronger artillery...

Cheers
-Uffe

 

[aadnankahnn]

aDy

Dear Shawan, Thank you so much. You have saved my whole day. I was unable to delete it after so many tries. Thank you so much ! Regards

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome aadnankaknn, and welcome to Eight Forums.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Hi I just wanted to note that in Option 1, instead of linking to another tutorial, couldn't you just say to right-click the C: drive -> properties -> Disk cleanup? It would be a bit simpler and avoid some confusion.

Sorry if this was asked before, there's a lot of posts and I didn't read them all.

 

[Brink]

Hello FuturDreamz,

I had decided to use a link in step one to open Disk Clean since most people already know how to open Disk Cleanup. For the ones that don't, the link will help show more details on how to open Disk Cleanup.

Basically just to give more details without taking up more space in this tutorial.

 

[ustahl]

Hi Brink,
still haven't got rid of that mystic folder. You may remember my unsolvable problem, some way back in this thread, when I finally gave up - for the time being.
Have you come with any further ammo since, to crack my stubborn problem?

Cheers Uffe

 

[FuturDreamz]

Hi Brink,
still haven't got rid of that mystic folder. You may remember my unsolvable problem, some way back in this thread, when I finally gave up - for the time being.
Have you come with any further ammo since, to crack my stubborn problem?

Cheers Uffe

Make an independent thread for it and you'll get more views from other people. This thread is essentially for suggestions and comments for the specific tutorial, and replies would only be seen by the maker and other people that had commented. Here you're depending specifically on Brink, where on an independent thread with a relevant title you'd have a lot more views from people that may be able to help.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Hello FuturDreamz,

I had decided to use a link in step one to open Disk Clean since most people already know how to open Disk Cleanup. For the ones that don't, the link will help show more details on how to open Disk Cleanup.

Basically just to give more details without taking up more space in this tutorial.

Alright, just that I had linked to this tutorial in my tutorial, and having people that go to this tutorial from my tutorial be required to go to another tutorial could become a little bit confusing.

That being said I'll still be holding the opinion that it would be simpler to just have two steps for opening C: properties and launching disk cleanup that way, with a referral to the disk cleanup tutorial for more information if desired.

But in the end it's fine as it is.

 

[Brink]

Hello FuturDreamz,

I had decided to use a link in step one to open Disk Clean since most people already know how to open Disk Cleanup. For the ones that don't, the link will help show more details on how to open Disk Cleanup.

Basically just to give more details without taking up more space in this tutorial.

Alright, just that I had linked to this tutorial in my tutorial, and having people that go to this tutorial from my tutorial be required to go to another tutorial could become a little bit confusing.

That being said I'll still be holding the opinion that it would be simpler to just have two steps for opening C: properties and launching disk cleanup that way, with a referral to the disk cleanup tutorial for more information if desired.

But in the end it's fine as it is.

It's all good though.

 

[Brink]

Hi Brink,
still haven't got rid of that mystic folder. You may remember my unsolvable problem, some way back in this thread, when I finally gave up - for the time being.
Have you come with any further ammo since, to crack my stubborn problem?

Cheers Uffe

Hello Uffe,

I'm afraid that I'm at a loss for why you are unable to delete the folder since we tried about everything that should have deleted it.