SOLVED Leftover Windows.old folder - again

[Saltgrass]

Has anyone else noticed a Windows.old folder is still hanging around? It is only a partial folder and I know how to get rid of it, but since it seems to be on all of my systems, I assume others still have it. You do need the view setting to show hidden items to see it.

Has anyone determined if this partial folder will cause problems for future updates?

 

[Bif]

No folder of that kind on my systems since deleting it when first upgraded to 10 in 2015..odd yours is still hanging around. As to updates after deleting it, I've had no issues.

 

[Norton]

I've deleted mine after the first upgrade with no impact on updates. I doubt that MS would allow users to choose delete with the native Disk Clean Up if it was going to cause problems.

 

[davehc]

Nothing on my machines.

 

[Saltgrass]

Bif, the folder is created whenever there is a Build upgrade in case a rollback is required. So you had one, at least for a while. The path not being removed from my Dell systems is:

Windows.old\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ which contains a bunch of App folders, such as Bing Weather.

Norton, I am concerned with the folder being there rather than not being there. When those folders remain, something in the normal process which removes it after 10 days, has failed. If Windows could not remove it, will Windows be able to overwrite the folder during another build upgrade?

One interesting thing, on one system, by oldest, I do not have the Windows.old folder but do have a Windows10Upgrade folder which is dated Oct. 17 when the FCU was installed. On that same machine I have other hidden folders, such as:
$GetCurrent
$Windows.~WS

Which are also dated 10/17/2017. I am assuming I could remove these folders but not completely sure.

 

[Bif]

I did have one when I first upgraded in 2015, deleted it shortly after and have never had one again...just triple checked..and it ain't there.
It maybe is directly related to DELL systems?..IDK

 

[bassfisher6522]

I don't have one either.....simply because with each upgrade release I get the ISO and do a clean install.

 

[Saltgrass]

It maybe is directly related to DELL systems?..IDK

It may be related to the Dell systems since my oldest ASUS system, which was the only system upgraded from Win 8.1, doesn't seem to still have it.

Of course, that system has different devices where all the Dells have similar configurations.

I am going to go through and check the permissions to see if there is a safe, easy way to remove the folders since I have to do it four times.

Thanks folks..

 

[Norton]

I have 3 Dell systems and I still get the temp folders.
$Windows.~WS $Windows.~WS WINDOWS.~BT . They are usually deleted whenever I decide to run Disk Clean-Up.
I haven't seen Windows.old\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ Temp folder since the initial Win 10 ISO install.

 

[Saltgrass]

I haven't seen Windows.old\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ Temp folder since the initial Win 10 ISO install.

OK, not sure if this is what you mean, but an extract from the setupact.log done during the FCU upgrade. This, with the fact a boot option is added which boots into the Windows.old folder for a Rollback, seems to tell me this is still the normal procedure. I did not have problems deleting the folder from four systems.

The Windows.old folder doesn't always remain, just when something is not deleted for some reason.

2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP CRelocateOS:oExecute: Moving previous OS piece from C:\Windows to C:\Windows.old\Windows
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Path C:\Windows has no exceptions, trying a straight move
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Successfully moved C:\Windows to C:\Windows.old\Windows
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP CRelocateOS:oExecute: Moving previous OS piece from C:\Program Files to C:\Windows.old\Program Files
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Path C:\Program Files has no exceptions, trying a straight move
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Successfully moved C:\Program Files to C:\Windows.old\Program Files
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP CRelocateOS:oExecute: Moving previous OS piece from C:\Program Files (x86) to C:\Windows.old\Program Files (x86)
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Path C:\Program Files (x86) has no exceptions, trying a straight move
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP VERBOSE: Successfully moved C:\Program Files (x86) to C:\Windows.old\Program Files (x86)
2017-10-17 14:11:47, Info SP CRelocateOS:oExecute: Moving previous OS piece from C:\Users to C:\Windows.old\Users

 

[Norton]

Saltgrass I just searched explorer for *.old found nothing of any significance.
I just performed a clean install two weeks back, all I see is two files Local Disk C:

 

[Grizzly]

you can delete the folder by using the DISK CLEANUP. click on [clean up system files]. there you check-mark previous windows installations. It will let you know that you won't be able to roll back. click on OK and let it work its magic. The folder windows.old will be gone after that..

 

[Bif]

the folder is created whenever there is a Build upgrade in case a rollback is required.

I've never had a Windows.old folder with any of the subsequent builds since the original July 2015 upgrade.
I deleted it once and haven't seen it since.

 

[Norton]

Same here, The last time I saw that folder was last July 2015 too. I uninstalled it, why go backwards, I prefer to go forward Win 7.

 

[davehc]

you can delete the folder by using the DISK CLEANUP. click on [clean up system files]. there you check-mark previous windows installations. It will let you know that you won't be able to roll back. click on OK and let it work its magic. The folder windows.old will be gone after that..

Another shortcut(?) is to right click the Disk Cleanup - more - run as Administrator. You can go down to the root file in system32 - Advanced, and have it permanently on "Run as Administrator".

 

[Wolfie]

In CCleaner there is also an entry for Windows Old (assuming the file is still there!) which you can tick (near the bottom of the list):

Click the "Free" version here:

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

 

[Saltgrass]

Wolfie, as I mentioned I know how to get rid of it just wondering why Windows can't.. All I had to do was to delete the Windows folder and then the Windows.old.

 

[Wolfie]

HI Saltgrass,

my link is basically for others that are reading this thread that don't know, CCleaner will of course only delete the contents of the Windows old folder and not the folder itself!.

 

[Lawrence Stewart Talbot]

I've never got rid of the Windows.old Directory on this particular machine since day one. Oh yes, I did get rid of it only to have the computer not reboot. On two other machines, everything goes with Disk Cleanup but not this machine. Three times over, having removed this Folder one way or the other leaves the machine bricked.
I've had the Windows.old Directory showing zero contents since last Fall. With the Spring Update, it created another Windows.old Directory. But having remove it last evening with Disk Cleanup, the Folder is still there and I actually believe it's the Folder from last Fall. I cannot believe there's a safe way to remove it unless I want to enjoy the computer not rebooting again and that particular joy is not something I crave at the moment.
If there's advice on how to actually remove it, even if it contains something in there that Windows really wants, let me know.

 

[Saltgrass]

I would mention two things. First, if removing or altering it causes you not to boot then I might think the folder is being used to boot your system since it would have been used in case of a Rollback to a previous OS.

Secondly, there has to be something in the folder, unless the folder itself has permissions you can't remove it with. Make sure you are showing the Hidden items in Explorer and set the View-options-Change folder and search options, then the view tab and uncheck the hide system protected files. Also, check its properties and see who has control on the Security tab.

Check to see if anything is showing in the folder with these settings. You might also check your Bios and see if the Boot devices contains more than one boot option and what it is.

If you want to check if that folder is involved in your boot process, run the command below in an administrative command prompt and copy and paste the results.

bcdedit

This should be enough but if you want a longer listing you can add a switch.

bcdedit /enum all