cannot delete windows.old file

T

T5

I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file
that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I
do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?
 
M

Mark Dietz

You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log
in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator
as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that
you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had.
That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without
upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that
folder.
 
T

T5

Thanks Mark,
I'm going to run vista for the full course on a clean machine and then
decide if it is worth parting with the mazoola. I have everything I need
backed up on an xp machine, I can always transfer it back later.
 
T

T5

doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says
that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file
 
M

Mark Dietz

Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid
of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and
deleting it via command line.
 
G

Guest

Watch out! It's dangerous to only delete that directory!

Use BCDEDIT from within the DVD's recovery console to remove the old Vista
installation!
 
M

Mark Dietz

It isn't necessary Vista in the "windows.old" directory, and bcdedit will not
remove files. windows.old contains the user profile directory, program files
directory(ies), and the windows directory, and is only present when you install
over top of a previous installation of windows without upgrading or formatting.
 
G

Guest

bcdedit doesn't remove the directory, that is true. But what I experienced is
that, if the windows.old system is still defined in Vista's version of the
old boot.ini file and you remove the directory, future system restores will
take a very long time and recreate the directory. It also may explain the
lock on the directory that prevented the removal of the directory.
 
2

2

Too stupid for a beta OS.

When you help someone like this they will just be back in a few more
days with more stupid question.

This group is being flooded with moronic questions:
How do I get a product key
Where do I get a driver for xyz hardware
Won't install on my lapotop
Won't install on my computer circa 1968
My crappy video card won't run aero glass (the sky is falling)
My crappy sound card doesn't work
Can't figure out how to activate
Will my 16 bit program from 1992 run on Vista
How long can I use Vista Beta
How do I dual boot
I NEED STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO GET XP BACK
cannot delete windows.old file

Ignore them, children should only listen to adult conversations, not
be incouraged to join in.
 
R

Roy Coorne

T5 said:
I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old
file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling
me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely
delete it?

I had no problem with deleting windows.old - I right-clicked
windows.old > properties und unchecked write-protected!

Then I could delete the whole folder or parts of it - after saving
worthwhile files like pictures...

Roy
 
P

printan pathak

I was just able to delete windows.old by going into program files and then windows.old and (shift + delete) I was able to restore about 20GB of space on my ibm thinkpad t40 and it's a lanovo notebook. should you have any questions and like more info on how to delete your old windows files you can contact me at (e-mail address removed)


have fun and enjoy your vista cuz I'm really enjoying my new vista whic I downloaded at ********.com (figure out the *'s)


Good luck

EggHeadCafe - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
 
J

John Adams

Yes, in fact the proper way to do it is from disk cleanup. The other way
can leave things behind.
 

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