How to remove previous versions of Windows 7. Extra Windows old folder how to remove

Operating Windows systems Although they are incredibly popular, they still cannot boast of long-term stable operation. So, in some cases, the need to reinstall occurs several times a month - it all depends on the programs the user is working with. In light of this, it is not surprising that many are interested in the question of how to remove old Windows. The fact is that installing a new system on top of an existing old one is highly not recommended, since this rarely eliminates software errors and failures, rather, add new ones. Starting with the Vista operating system, Microsoft developers took into account the wishes of users and added them to the installer special opportunity, thanks to which it has become much easier to figure out how to remove old Windows.

Advanced installation mechanism

Before we tell you how to remove old Windows, let's analyze the behavior of the installer in Win systems XP (or more) earlier versions), as well as Vista (and later). When installing old systems on a partition hard drive, where a copy of the system was already present, the installer prompted the user to make a choice - erase the existing Windows folder or start installation in a directory with a non-standard name. In both the first and second cases, all data from the “Documents” section, “Desktop” and other key folders were lost. I had to learn how to remove the old Windows while keeping necessary files. With the advent of Vista, the situation changed: the installer, having discovered a copy of the system, renamed it to Windows.Old and moved all related folders there. The significance of this small innovation for end users cannot be overestimated - it is revolutionary.

How to remove the old oneWindows 7

Depending on the system being installed, the preparation also changes. Let's consider a more complex option, when Win XP is installed on the hard drive. The easiest way to save any files from previous system- this is to prepare media with a bootable version of LiveCD.

There are quite a lot of these solutions, so there shouldn’t be any problems with choosing. You should download a LiveCD from the Internet. According to the instructions provided with it, write it to a disk/flash drive. Then boot into this mini-system and copy the necessary data. The next step is to delete the Windows, Program Files folders. If we are talking about Win 7, then you can also erase ProgramData, Users. All that remains is to reboot and start the installation. In case it is installed a new version system, then a LiveCD will not be needed: after installation is complete, there will be a Windows.Old directory on the disk, where all system data will be transferred. What you need from here must be copied, and what is unnecessary must be erased. Removing remnants of the previous system can be done through the "Disk Cleanup" function in the "Start" - "Accessories" - "System Tools" menu, indicating in the list " Previous installations"Sometimes people who want to use the system for free are wondering how to remove the old Windows 7 activator. To do this, you need to restart this program and select the uninstall option. Another method that is no less effective is to install a new solution simply on top of the old one. All key links will be automatically overwritten.

After Windows installations(or after upgrading to Windows 10 recently), some novice users discover an impressively sized folder on the C drive, which is not completely deleted if they try to do this using conventional methods. This brings up the question of how to remove windows.old. If something in the instructions was not clear, then at the end there is a video guide about deleting this folder (shown on Windows 10, but also suitable for previous versions of the OS).

How to remove Windows.old on Windows 10

If for some reason this does not happen, right-click on the Start button, select the menu item “Command Prompt (Administrator)” and enter the command RD /S /Q C:\windows.old(assuming the folder is on drive C) then press Enter.

Another option was also suggested in the comments:

1. We launch the task scheduler (you can use Windows search 10 in the taskbar)
2. Find the SetupCleanupTask task and double-click on it.
3. Right-click on the task name and select Execute.

As a result, the Windows.old folder should be deleted.

Correct removal of windows.old in Windows 7

The very first step, which will now be described, may fail if you have already tried to remove windows.old simply through Explorer. If this happens, do not despair and continue reading the guide.

So, let's begin:

Perhaps the steps already described above will be enough to make the folder we don’t need disappear. Or perhaps not: empty folders may remain, causing a “Not Found” message when you try to delete them. In this case, run Command Prompt as an administrator and enter the command:

Rd /s /q c:\windows.old

Then press Enter. After executing the command, the Windows.old folder will be completely removed from the computer.

Video instruction

I also recorded a video instruction with the process of deleting the Windows.old folder, where all actions are performed in Windows 10. However, the same methods are suitable for 8.1 and 7.

If nothing in this article helped you, ask questions and I will try to answer.

"(BSOD) and freezes, at times, can change its operation beyond recognition or stop functioning altogether. Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of requests from Internet users “how to remove old Windows” is constantly increasing.

Windows OS can last for years for those who limit themselves to working in office applications, viewing multimedia files, and the programs used are not even updated. It's a different matter for those who like to experiment with new programs. Exactly for them question about deletion old Windows most relevant.

When a new Windows OS is installed on top of the old operating system or in another partition parallel to it, it becomes very important that not a trace remains of the old version. The previous Windows system is called Windows.old, and does not interfere with the main system.

But there are two problems here:

1. The impressive volume of the old system while occupying the right space;
2. The presence in the boot menu of an inscription about the old Windows.

Or maybe you are simply planning to change the operating system, for example, to Linux. All this pushes you to get rid of the old Windows OS As soon as possible.

According to statistics, old Windows XP is uninstalled much more often than Windows 7. It is also worth knowing that deleting the Windows.old folder is an irreversible process. For different versions OS Windows windows and the sequence of actions may vary slightly, but, in general, the principle is the same.

For removing previous system Windows from your PC, there are 3 main ways. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Method No. 1

Widely used for Windows 7, but not suitable for Windows XP. You need to insert the disk with the installation distribution into the disk drive, and then begin the installation. A message will appear indicating that an old system has been detected that is stored in the Windows.old folder.

The process will not affect important data, because old system folders and the files will simply be moved. If something happens, you can easily restore them. If desired, the Windows.old directory can be completely deleted.

Method number 2

Not accessible to everyone due to its specificity. Try booting from a different hard drive. Problems with deleting the old one Windows versions should not arise, since it is visible in Explorer, and you can delete any of its directories. However, the presence of two stationary hard drives on one computer is extremely rare.

Method number 3

A universal option based on downloading a smaller version of Windows, called Windows PE. You can boot from a CD or, more popularly, from a flash drive.

But the functionality of the system is extremely limited, so it’s quite difficult to get video. However, work with file system possible in full. After loading the LiveCD, it is recommended to erase the old Windows. HDD may not be displayed in the PE system.

Therefore, simply change the operating mode of the disk subsystem in the BIOS to IDE with AHCI. If the erasing process is unsuccessful, then you just need to change the access rights using the commands “Folder Options” - “Security”, and then “Advanced”.

The easiest way to remove the old Windows 7 activator is through its installer. Don't forget to disable protection software using the “Control Panel” services, then “Administrative Tools” and finally “Services”.

In general, to delete the Windows.old folder, you need to open the Disk Cleanup program using the Start button. In the search field you need to enter “Disk Cleanup”, then in the list of results select the item of the same name “Disk Cleanup”.

Then the Windows OS drive is selected, after which the “OK” button is pressed. Go to the “Disk Cleanup” tab and click the “Clean up system files” button. Be sure to select the “Previous Windows installations” checkbox for all files to be deleted, and then click “OK”. A message box will then appear where you simply click on “Delete Files”.

Also for complete removal a second or older version of Windows from your computer’s hard drive, a simple but very effective program called NanWick Windows Uninstaller is suitable.

Suitable for Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8. Effectively removes unnecessary files, Related previous versions OS and folders on all subpartitions of the disk and in the boot menu. After making copies of the necessary data, proceed to install the program through the installer.

After installing a new operating system on top of or in parallel (in another partition) the previous one, the question arises of how to get rid of the remnants of the old version. Legacy Windows, if it is installed on the same partition, it gets the name Windows.old and does not interfere with the main system. If the old operating system is installed on another partition, then the folder name remains the same, but this also does not interfere with the new system. Everything seems to be fine, but there are two problems. Firstly, the old system takes up useful space and the volume can be more than impressive. Secondly, it is present in the boot menu, which we see when we turn on the computer. How to get rid of old Windows?

Why can't you just delete old files?

Old system files cannot be simply deleted. The user doesn't have access to the folder. current version Windows. Usually this message appears.

Attention! Proceed with deleting old Windows directories and Program Files only after you have transferred all their data to the new Windows!

If the new system is installed on the same partition as the old one

In this case, we just need to clean out the old system files, including the Windows.old folder. To do this, we use the Disk Cleanup program, which is included with the operating system. can be found on the Microsoft website.

By the way, you can delete a number of other service files in the same way.

If the new system is installed on a different partition

Removing old Windows from the boot menu

To restore order in the boot menu, open “ Extra options system" (to do this, click Win-Pause and select the item of the same name).

Now uncheck the “Display list of systems...” checkbox. All: the old operating system will not appear in the boot menu when the computer starts.

For those who like to control all launch parameters, we offer a method with direct editing of this menu. Press Win+R and write msconfig in the window that appears.

We simply remove the old system from the list.

Removing old system files

Now let's move on to deleting the directory itself. Windows old systems. To do this, find it on the disk and open the folder properties.

Here we select “Security” and click on the “Advanced” button.

To become the owner of the folder, enter the username under which you work in the field indicated in the picture.

Don’t forget to check the “Replace owner of subcontainers and objects” and “Replace all records...” checkboxes, click OK.

You are now the owner of the folder and have the power to delete the directory. During deletion, a message like this may appear.

Check the “Run for everyone...” checkbox and click Continue.

Remember that after deleting old system files the way back will be closed. So don't rush into this. First, make sure that all the programs and data you need are transferred to the new system.

A nice addition to the new operating system Windows 10 is a fact. This saves all user files, settings and programs. Unfortunately, this comes at a very high price in the form of deprivation of a certain amount of hard drive space. Yes, there is a certain Windows.old folder that stores old version. So the 10th generation can quite easily return to the user everything that he had before installation.

Nevertheless, old folder is huge in size, since a large amount of data is needed for a correct rollback. Many users want to delete such a folder. Well, in fact, Windows 10 looks so great, and all the bugs will most likely be fixed in the near future. Thus, the question arises, how to delete this old folder, no longer needed by anyone, in order to allow the system to breathe freely and not store an impressive pile of old junk? There is a certain simple sequence of actions in this regard.

Getting rid of the old

The old folder on the computer is created if the user automatically upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 to the 10 series. It can also occur if you perform a clean installation without hard formatting disk. It often eats up several gigabytes, which are very valuable at the current prices of hard drives.

It should be remembered that if you erase the old folder on your computer, you will no longer be able to painlessly return from Windows 10 to your old system.

So such a decision should be approached extremely carefully. So, if all doubts are swept aside, then:

• Press Win + R on the keyboard, which launches a special Run window.
• Enter the command in the window that appears: cleanmrg and click OK.

• Thus, standard disk cleanup starts.

• In the window that appears, click on the Clean system files button.

In this simple way you can delete the folder called Windows.old. But Windows 10 is a treacherous system, it is full of unpleasant surprises. Therefore, in some cases, you may simply not delete the old folder for reasons unknown to the user. In this case there are countermeasures.

If it didn't work out right away

Opening a wonderful interface command line, who always helps out in difficult times. Naturally, this must be done under administrator rights. Next, enter the command: RD /S /Q C:\windows.old. Of course, this folder should be located on drive C. Press Enter and wait for the result.

There is another way to delete the old folder. To do this you should:

• Launch Task Scheduler, which can be opened via search.
• In the list of tasks that opens, you need to find SetupCleanupTask.
• Right-click on this task and select Run from the drop-down menu.

At the end of the process, the old folder should disappear forever.