Cannot delete windows.old folder after upgrade to Windows 8...

F

FM 3370

Gawd
Joined
Jun 29, 2002
Messages
791
I upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 a few weeks ago and noticed there is a windows.old directory that I'm unable to delete. I've looked online for suggestions, opened a command prompt as "administrator" to delete the directory but I'm unable to do it. It's taking up about 20GB which will be nice to have.

Has anyone had luck in deleting this directory after upgrading from Windows 7?
 
I tried using the disk cleanup wizard but it doesn't show up in the list. Maybe it's because I tried to delete it manually first, not sure why it doesn't show up there. I'll try safe mode tonight and see if that works.
 
You can change ownership and permissions of the folder, then delete it.
 
FM 3370 said:
I tried using the disk cleanup wizard but it doesn't show up in the list. Maybe it's because I tried to delete it manually first, not sure why it doesn't show up there. I'll try safe mode tonight and see if that works.
Click to expand...

No, it won't. You have to launch the cleanup wizard in admin mode. After clicking "ok" to choose the drive to clean up, click the "clean up system files" button. Then you'll be able to clean up old installations :)
 
Tawnos said:
No, it won't. You have to launch the cleanup wizard in admin mode. After clicking "ok" to choose the drive to clean up, click the "clean up system files" button. Then you'll be able to clean up old installations :)
Click to expand...

"Run as Administrator" worked!!! Thanks so much! :D
 
You're going to run into other problems with folder permissions, it ridiculous that you have to go to each individual folder and give yourself the permissions when you're already logged in a administrator....
 
WeaponX said:
You're going to run into other problems with folder permissions, it ridiculous that you have to go to each individual folder and give yourself the permissions when you're already logged in a administrator....
Click to expand...

Tell me about it lol. I found it easyer to take a copy of the necessary files on the old HDD and then just reformat the thing. Tried to set permissions for 30 minutes to the old Windows folder on it - Win8 wouldn't let me delete it no matter what. It seems MS has taken yet another layer of control away from users.
 
B00nie said:
Tell me about it lol. I found it easyer to take a copy of the necessary files on the old HDD and then just reformat the thing. Tried to set permissions for 30 minutes to the old Windows folder on it - Win8 wouldn't let me delete it no matter what. It seems MS has taken yet another layer of control away from users.
Click to expand...

Uh, it's been like this for a while. There was an effort to make a new and better disk cleanup wizard to replace the super old one (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-8-Evolved-Disk-Cleanup-195175.shtml) but that got scrapped prior to release.
 
Well it takes common sense to use things to begin with. It really comes in handy when replacing a older drive with a new one. Then sorting, removing stuff after that. But anything used for other things then it was designed for can lead to problems. And It isn't slow as once you gain control, you can simply use moveonboot and it is gone then. But to each his/her own.

Tawnos said:
That's recommended against for reasons I won't get into here, but I will say - it's slower than letting the disk cleanup wizard do it.
Click to expand...
 
KILLER_K said:
Well it takes common sense to use things to begin with. It really comes in handy when replacing a older drive with a new one. Then sorting, removing stuff after that. But anything used for other things then it was designed for can lead to problems. And It isn't slow as once you gain control, you can simply use moveonboot and it is gone then. But to each his/her own.
Click to expand...

The reason it's slow is that the "gaining control" step takes much longer than the disk cleanup wizard.
 
Sometimes the disk cleanup doesn't work though. And it surely isn't slow by any means as scripts aren't slow to begin with. But enough of this back and forth. It isn't helping the O.P. doing this.

Tawnos said:
The reason it's slow is that the "gaining control" step takes much longer than the disk cleanup wizard.
Click to expand...
 
Tawnos said:
Uh, it's been like this for a while. There was an effort to make a new and better disk cleanup wizard to replace the super old one (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-8-Evolved-Disk-Cleanup-195175.shtml) but that got scrapped prior to release.
Click to expand...

No it hasn't. In XP/Win7 I could take ownership and do whatever I wanted (talking about a drive that's ripped from another computer) but Win8 refuses to reset the permissions recursively. That leaves a format as the only reasonable option to clear the drive.
 
First of all You need to delete the Old Version of Operating System then you install another Operating system.
 
jacksons84 said:
First of all You need to delete the Old Version of Operating System then you install another Operating system.
Click to expand...

If its an upgrade version it all depends. It used to be that all you needed was a copy of the previous OS on DVD to check with but I think the Windows 8 upgrade needs to see the OS in situ on the HDD.

It's not like you get a horribly melded BrundleFly type upgrade install like you used to get with 3.1 to 95 type installs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top