After upgrading to Win10 Anniversary Update a new Windows.old folder appeared on my main drive that is around 6 GB~. Why did it appear? Is it safe to delete?
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4Possible duplicate of How do I delete Windows.old in Windows?– MusselmanAug 5, 2016 at 23:08
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It's not a duplicate. It's a separate problem regarding Anniversary update– keklordAug 5, 2016 at 23:09
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1Read the answers, it answers your questions. The file still exists for the same reason in Win 10 as Win 7– MusselmanAug 5, 2016 at 23:11
2 Answers
This folder contains your old operating system files from whatever your OS was before you upgraded, (Windows 7 or Windows 8 for example.) It is safe to remove as long as you are 100% certain you will never go back to your former OS. The recommendation is to backup this folder beforehand just in case.
Removing it can be quite a challenge as well. By default the folder is protected, you will likely need to take ownership of it, add your account with full control and push the new permissions to all the child items. There's more information on that topic here: How do I delete Windows.old in Windows?
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2Your doing it the hard way!! Use the disk clean up wizard, Cleanup system files. Tick the box next to "Previous version of Windows" and hit OK and your done. Aug 6, 2016 at 1:28
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Use the disk clean up wizard, Cleanup system files.
Tick the box next to "Previous version of Windows"
and hit OK and your done.