Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 8

**Brink** · 09-19-2011

How to Delete the "Windows.old" Folder in Windows 8

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. It contains a copy of the previous Windows 8 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 logged in as 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

1. Open the Charrms bar, and click on the Search charm. (see screenshot below)

2. Type cleanmgr in the Search Apps box in the left pane, then click on cleanmgr.exe (Disk Cleanup) in the right pane to open it. (see screenshot below)

3. If prompted, select the drive that you want to use Disk Cleanup on, and click 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.

4. Click on the Clean up system files button. (see screenshot below)

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5. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

6. Repeat step 3 above.

7. Check the Previous Windows installation(s) box, and click on OK. (see screenshot below)

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8. Click on Delete Files. (see screenshot below)

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

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OPTION TWO

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

1. Open a Elevated command prompt.

2. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below, and press Enter.
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.

RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%\windows.old

3. Close the elevated command prompt.

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.

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.

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

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.

A) In the command prompt, type diskpart and press enter.

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

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

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

4. To Delete the "Windows.old" Folder

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.

RD /S /Q "D:\Windows.old"

B) Close the command prompt window.

5. Click on the Restart button to restart the computer and start Windows 8, and to verify that the Windows.old folder has been deleted.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

**mikedl** · 09-19-2011

Nice, Brink. Thanks!

I wish I had known that earlier. Still, I accomplished the same thing with SIW2's PE DVD.

But, again, nice tutorial.

**Brink** · 09-19-2011

LOL, you're welcome Mike. You still got there, and that's what counts.

**Bill2** · 09-19-2011

Originally Posted by mikedl

Nice, Brink. Thanks!

I wish I had known that earlier. Still, I accomplished the same thing with SIW2's PE DVD.

But, again, nice tutorial.

Why did you have to use PE? Wouldnt let you delete windows.old?

**Brink** · 09-19-2011

Hello Bill,

It's just like it was in Windows 7 after a repair install. If the Windows.old folder is not empty due to the refresh, it will eventual give you the ole "Try again... Access Denied" type message if tried to be manually deleted. Using Disk Cleanup is one of the easiest ways to delete it.

Windows.old Folder - Delete - Windows 7 Forums

**Dave76** · 09-21-2011

Nice tut, thanks

**Brink** · 09-21-2011

Thank you Dave.

**vrosa** · 09-21-2011

If I had seen that before it would have saved some time trying to workarround it... Anyway I was able to delete the .old folder from inside Windows 7 after taking ownership and adding new permissions.

Thanks Brink

**Brink** · 09-21-2011

Hello Vladimir,

Sorry to hear that to took the long way around, but you still got there.

**foxjazz** · 10-08-2011

this is just stupid. I don't want to clean up all my previous installs. Just one of them.
It's frustrating that this is so difficult with the new OS.
I guess that's why apple is king.

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Tutorial: Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 8

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