Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 8

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


information   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   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


Example.jpg







OPTION ONE

Delete "Windows.old" Folder using Disk Cleanup


1. Open Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr).​
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.
Step3.jpg
3. Click/tap on the Clean up system files button. (see screenshot below)​
Step4.jpg
4. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​
5. Repeat step 2 above.​
6. Click/tap on the Previous Windows installation(s) box to check it, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​
Step5.jpg
7. Click/tap on Delete Files. (see screenshot below)​
Step6.jpg
8. When Disk Cleanup finishes, the C:\Windows.old folder will be deleted.​
Step7.jpg







OPTION TWO

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


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.​
RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%\windows.old
CMD.jpg
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.​
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. (see screenshot below)​
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.​
CMD-boot-1.jpg

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.​
CMD-boot-2.jpg

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

6. Verify that the Windows.old folder has been deleted.​
That's it,
Shawn




 

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Welcome to Eight Forums guru2u. :)
 

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Help

Hi, I did an upgrade to my laptop last week. I was having performance issues so I tried disk clean up (like in option one), but it takes too long when deleting the previous windows installation--took me like half an hour before I cancelled the cleanup but there were no progress in the progress bar. But I remember that the windows.old folder is just about 16Mb. I also tried option two, but it gave me the locations of windows.old\windows\monitor.inf and pnf and said that "The request could not be performed because of an IO device error" also in the other files it said that I don't have permission. I also noticed that the disk usage goes up to a 100% when I access the folder (opening it, disk clean up, and delete) and causes things to really slow down and not respond.

Sorry, didn't know if I should create a new thread or just reply here.
 

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Hello acer3, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You may not have used an "elevated" command prompt in OPTION TWO.

You might see if you may be able to use OPTION THREE at boot instead.
 

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Hello acer3, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You may not have used an "elevated" command prompt in OPTION TWO.

You might see if you may be able to use OPTION THREE at boot instead.

Hii Brink, it was in elevated mode. I'l try option 3 later today, I'll give you an update on what happens. Thank you! :)
 

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When you have checked/changed permissions and the old user folder still won't delete, reboot and try again.
This worked for me on 2 old user folders.
 

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Help i think Crap Cleaner deleted my windows.old folder as i cant find it i was going to see if i needed anything out of there and its gone, i used CCleaner to delete some files and now i cant find windows.old. Is it possible it deleted it or did i inadvertently do it running disk cleanup.
 

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Something deleted my windows.old also. I saw it right after I ran the update, but now it is gone. I have not/do not run any disk cleaners or such. Maybe one of the micrrosoft "maintenance" tasks did it?
 

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Hello Tony and Mikey,

You would only have a C:\Windows.old folder if you either refreshed Windows 8/8.1, repaired install Windows 8/8.1, or upgraded to Windows.

Windows will not automatically delete the Windows.old folder. I didn't see a setting in CCleaner that would.

I suppose either the first item is not true, or you may have ran Disk Cleanup or some other 3rd party program that deleted it?
 

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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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I updated from Win 8 to 8.1 via the cellphone-style windows program store. Maybe I saw it while the 8.1 update was under way? I did see it, but only once, did not think too much about it till I saw this thread...
 

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    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
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come to think of it i did run another tool revo uninstallers junk file cleaner the other day i bet that deleted it oh well if i'm missing anything i will just get them from backups on my other drive lol.
 

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I don't use that program, but it's a good possibility that it deleted it.
 

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i did not think about it when i ran it lol usually its all junk in there do i don't even look anymore lol i guess i should have :)
 

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just got rid of windows old thanks
 

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I tried several of the methods posted on several websites. The only method that works, in a folder containing system files, is this one. How to remove the Windows.old folder - Microsoft Windows Help

You can tinker with administrator elevated rights all you want, to no avail.

Hello Kathy, and welcome to Eight Forums.

I'm not sure what you mean.

The link you posted is the same as doing OPTION ONE in the tutorial on the first page here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
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    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
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    Thermaltake Core P3
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    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
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    Internet Explorer 11
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    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
ok so I have tried ALL 3 and it is still there it keeps saying access denied even though I am the only user on the profile and I am the admin so why won't it let me remove the folder?!
 

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Hello Mecke, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Not sure unless you may have play with permission settings.

You might see if you may be able to delete it using the free program Unlocker. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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