Solved Delete the Windows.old folder

Vince53

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Hello everyone, please, can you tell me how can I delete the folder windows.old?
Thanks in advance
PS: forgive my English :)

Hey, Pisan, if it works, let me know. I've been trying for two days to delete it. The instructions are for deleting the windows.old folder out of Windows 7, and they don't work on Windows 8. I've saved everything I want, and I can't get rid of the rest.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Vince, you may have more luck when you delete the subfolders one by one and then see which parts are stubburn.
 

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Vince, you may have more luck when you delete the subfolders one by one and then see which parts are stubburn.

That's where you start first besides taking ownership over each one as you go along. The option for the right click menu will save a lot of time too enabling you to uncheck the read only box on each. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2814-take-ownership-add-context-menu-windows-8-a.html

With a clean install of Windows 8, 7, or Vista without any previous Windows installation being replaced there won't be any user files to worry about there. One blog writer some time back recommended renaming the main Windows.old folder itself to "Windows.personal" to safe guard your important stuff there once all the subs are taken care of since you are less likely to accidently delete being harder to remove.
 
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Fellows, I appreciate your help, but nothing worked. "Take Ownership" looks impressive, but it changes nothing. I managed to get the folder changed from "Read Only," but no luck. Trying to do it through the "Run" command also didn't work.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
To remove the Windows.old folder you have to dig deep into the sub folders under each sub folder to first remove the last in the line before you can remove any that are above that until you finally reach the main folder itself. If any sub folder has a folder in it that will need to be taken ownership over.

In fact you may have to remove the files in the sub folders before simply being able to remove that one sub! Often you have to take ownership over a good deal of those first just to be able to dump those and then onto the sub they were found in. This is how stubborn they can be at times. The bootstat.dat file just happens to be one of the most stubborn being a protected system file.

This is why the deeper you dig into all the sub folders first and get rid of the files found in them the easier it will become to work outward to the main Windows.old folder. The right click menu options makes things go much easier as you go along there.
 

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    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
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    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
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    1440x900 same on both builds
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    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
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    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
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    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
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    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
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    ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
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    COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Case
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    20 + Mbps
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    Avast
Leave it to me to find an easier way! :D Since I was already booted in 7 I simply opened up Windows Explorer and right clicked to delete the 8 Windows.old folder and it went right into the Recycle Bin!

Windows old Folder Removed.jpg
 

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    1st W10 Professional x64/W7 Ultimate x64 - 2nd Remote system: W10 Insider Builds/W7 Professional
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    AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz -2nd case AMD Atholon II 3.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
    Memory
    Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600mhz 16gb - 2nd case Kingston Hyper-X "Fury" DDR3 1600mhz 8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb - 2nd AMD Radeon 6450
    Sound Card
    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 same on both builds
    Hard Drives
    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
    Cooling
    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
    Keyboard
    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
    Mouse
    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
    Internet Speed
    30mbps
    Other Info
    two MSI 22x ide dvd burners, 25 usb flash drives used for Linux Live, live data recovery 128gb, and Windows 7, 10 usb installation keys
Ahhh, of course, like booting with a linux distro , the file was not in use ;)

A Guy
 

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    EVGA GTX750
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    LG 27MP33HQ 32" IPS LED
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    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB, 2 x SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
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    ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS®, 550W
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    ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
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    COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Case
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Hi,

Doing that kind of housekeeping from the other side of the fence (from within a different OS) is easy enough. However I suppose Vince has to do this from within his active W8 install?

Ciao, ;)
 
Last edited:

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    DELL
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    8GB
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    INTEL INTEGRATED CHIPSET Q965
Try going into task manager and stop the process and then delete the folder.?
 

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    Tablet
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    Surface Pro 3
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    Intel Graphics HD
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    128GB SSD, 128GB MicroSD
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    8GB
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    Bitdefender
Night Hawk, you're a genius of sorts. Having "taken ownership" of the windows.old folder, I kept digging to the last file in each sub-folder and am able to delete about four out of five files. This will obviously take a very long time, as I have 16 gigabytes in the windows.old folder, and most of these files are small.

I'm going to go to 7 and try your other method of removing the folder from another OS.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8
When you boot into 7 you are booting out of 8 at the same time ending all 8 processes. The other method of going into all the subs does work but will take time to go into the last sub folders first and taking ownership over them just to uncheck the read only box and click the apply button to see that put into effect.

Even with the clean install here the RP saw the Windows.old created while it wasn't previously seen with any clean install of the CP showing the RP as expected is much further along. But this is also reason for setting up a dual boot not allowing the RP installer to replace the present Windows installation you already have on.

You will still want to back up anything from the user files and other things from any previous 8 install before tossing it completely. The other option is to use the DiskCleanup tool as soon as you arrive at the desktop if there's nothing there to bother with. Now to get the sound working which has been delayed and see if the startup sound can be changed as it was in 7! :D
 

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    AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz -2nd case AMD Atholon II 3.2ghz
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    Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
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    Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600mhz 16gb - 2nd case Kingston Hyper-X "Fury" DDR3 1600mhz 8gb
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    MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb - 2nd AMD Radeon 6450
    Sound Card
    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
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    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 same on both builds
    Hard Drives
    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
    Cooling
    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
    Keyboard
    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
    Mouse
    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
    Internet Speed
    30mbps
    Other Info
    two MSI 22x ide dvd burners, 25 usb flash drives used for Linux Live, live data recovery 128gb, and Windows 7, 10 usb installation keys
I installed the free IObit Uninstaller, which "unlocks" a file from a program and lets you delete it. It took me a while to figure out that once the file is unlocked, I still have to delete it. I am now going to folders (instead of sub-folders) and am able to delete about half of them.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8

My Computer

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  • OS
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    INTEL Core i5-750
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    ASUS P7P55D
    Memory
    KINGSTON HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz
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    EVGA GTX750
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    LG 27MP33HQ 32" IPS LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
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    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB, 2 x SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
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    ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS®, 550W
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    ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
    Cooling
    COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Case
    Internet Speed
    20 + Mbps
    Browser
    Vivaldi
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    Avast
There you go! That's another option for local deletion while booted in the same installation where you are trying to remove it. I'll be looking at the LockHunter since I run the 64bit OSs here as a rule.
 

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    AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz -2nd case AMD Atholon II 3.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
    Memory
    Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600mhz 16gb - 2nd case Kingston Hyper-X "Fury" DDR3 1600mhz 8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb - 2nd AMD Radeon 6450
    Sound Card
    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 same on both builds
    Hard Drives
    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
    Cooling
    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
    Keyboard
    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
    Mouse
    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
    Internet Speed
    30mbps
    Other Info
    two MSI 22x ide dvd burners, 25 usb flash drives used for Linux Live, live data recovery 128gb, and Windows 7, 10 usb installation keys
Unlocker has a x64 version, and is the more established program. I have both, Lockhunter has a nice feature which is What's locking this file? Both are good. A Guy
 

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  • OS
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    INTEL Core i5-750
    Motherboard
    ASUS P7P55D
    Memory
    KINGSTON HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX750
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 27MP33HQ 32" IPS LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB, 2 x SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
    PSU
    ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS®, 550W
    Case
    ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion
    Cooling
    COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Case
    Internet Speed
    20 + Mbps
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Avast
I've heard of Unlocker before but not the LockHunter app and wanted to give that a look. Actually between both versions just having seen clean installs I ended up downloading both. :D
 

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  • OS
    1st W10 Professional x64/W7 Ultimate x64 - 2nd Remote system: W10 Insider Builds/W7 Professional
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Builds
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz -2nd case AMD Atholon II 3.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
    Memory
    Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600mhz 16gb - 2nd case Kingston Hyper-X "Fury" DDR3 1600mhz 8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb - 2nd AMD Radeon 6450
    Sound Card
    Creative Xtreme Gamer - 2nd case Realtek Onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 19" dual monitor setup - 2nd case HP 20" lcd
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 same on both builds
    Hard Drives
    1st build
    WD Caviar Black Edition Sata II 1tb two OS drives
    WD RE "Heavy Duty Sata II 2tb two Storage/Backup
    2nd build
    WD Blue Sata II 500gb
    WD Black Edition Sata III 1tb
    WD Green Power Sata II 1tb in external usb enclosure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750H 750w -Corsair 500w
    Case
    Antec 900-2 -NXZT Vulcan Mini tower/carrying handle
    Cooling
    120mm front pair, 120 rear 200cm top - 120mm Front intake 200mm side cover
    Keyboard
    Azio Blue led back lit both builds.
    Mouse
    MSI DS200 11 button programmable Gaming optical mouse - Odessa 3 button dual scroll trackball
    Internet Speed
    30mbps
    Other Info
    two MSI 22x ide dvd burners, 25 usb flash drives used for Linux Live, live data recovery 128gb, and Windows 7, 10 usb installation keys
If you have Malwarebytes on your system, it has File Assassin under More Tools tab which will also delete locked files.

Jim :cool:
 

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    ASUS M5A99X EVO
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