Cannot delete Windows.old in Windows 10
Hi all, After having reinstalled W10 I find that I now have 2 and sometimes 3 icons to chose from at startup before the desktop. If I press the wrong icon I am taken to a Recovery options page. If I press the Default ( mine is partition 4) then all is well and it boots into the desktop and works as it should. In W7 I was able to just delete Windows.old without any problems. I was also able to edit the Boot.ini file to eliminate more than 1 copy appearing at Boot Time!
However if I try to delete Windows.old in W10 there seems to be a lot more security involved even though I am the administrator. When I was able to delete just SOME of Windows.old I restarted my machine and was only able to get as far as the PC Recovery screen. I was not able to get back into Windows 10 at all. Another Hard Lesson Learned! The cause of my problem is having tampered with Windows.old. Why does it cause such havoc and why can't it be deleted to reclaim valuable Hard Disk space? Can you guide me in the right direction Please, Regards, Laurie
However if I try to delete Windows.old in W10 there seems to be a lot more security involved even though I am the administrator. When I was able to delete just SOME of Windows.old I restarted my machine and was only able to get as far as the PC Recovery screen. I was not able to get back into Windows 10 at all. Another Hard Lesson Learned! The cause of my problem is having tampered with Windows.old. Why does it cause such havoc and why can't it be deleted to reclaim valuable Hard Disk space? Can you guide me in the right direction Please, Regards, Laurie
Run Disk Cleanup and when it first comes up, check Clean Up System Files. It will run again. Check most of the items including Windows.old and then run again. It will give you a message saying you cannot roll back. That will reclaim the space.
After the first upgrade to Windows 10, this deleted Windows.old. After Threshold 2, it deleted almost all the content but left WIndows.old. No space used, so maybe it wants it for next time.
After the first upgrade to Windows 10, this deleted Windows.old. After Threshold 2, it deleted almost all the content but left WIndows.old. No space used, so maybe it wants it for next time.
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Thankyou Noxcho, this is the solution I was really looking for!. I kept looking for the Boot.ini previously instead. Your suggestion has now allowed me to delete these two rogue entries I had, even though I now have no more windows.old Thankyou again, Laurie
Glad to hear that I could help!
Have a nice weekend.
Nox
Have a nice weekend.
Nox
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-delete-windows-old-folder-in-windows-10/
I haven't tried the Disk Cleanup method.
You might need to delete extra OS references, check this out,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2288-windows-boot-manager-delete-listed-operating-system.html
I haven't done this in 10 yet, but i'm sure it must be the same method as previous Windows.