What is Windows.old Folder? Windows.old folder contains all the important files (user data, Program Files, Windows files, etc.) from the older version of Windows that was installed on your computer.
Active3 years, 4 months ago
I have a Windows 7 system, and my C: drive is regularly getting full.
What can I safely delete from the C: drive, especially the Windows system folder?
Peter Mortensen
Delete Folders Windows 10
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Ula KrukarUla Krukar
4 Answers
The biggest stuff in
C:Windows
should be the winsxs
folder, read more about that problem Why does the /winsxs folder grow so large, and can it be made smaller?. Since that stuff is used by all kind of apps, you must not remove it. And since it is the biggest chunk (of 'junk'), all other directories do not matter that much any more.
Windows Delete Folder And Files Recursively
You can obviously remove some leftovers / rollback-stuff, best done via http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER.
To make it short: Buy a bigger disk.
Community♦
akiraakira
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Easy invoice software free download. I've written a Blog post on the SuperUser Blog detailing some of the things you can do to scrape back some hard drive space. Read it at Where did all my hard drive space go?
To summarise, there are many things you can do, depending on whether there is functionality that you need:
-
Don't use hibernation? Then you can disable it and claim back a quantity of hard drive space equal to the amount of RAM you have, you just need to log on as an administrator, open a command prompt and type the following two lines:
powercfg –h off
del C:hiberfil.sys
-
Old Windows Update files can be deleted as the folder they are stored in used to get quite big. They are stored in
C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution
but you'll need to go through the method I detailed in the blog to properly clean the directory out. -
System Restore is another hog and deleting old restore points can clean out space, you can even control how much space is available for use with System RestoreAs an administrator, simply click the Windows Start menu icon, enter “SystemPropertiesProtection.exe”
-
The
WinSxS
folder is a red herring and contains no data that is not already duplicated elsewhere and deleting it will save you nothing. This special folder contains what is known as a hard links to files which are scattered across your system and are kept in that folder to simplify matters slightly. The hard links take nearly no extra space in the filesystem as they are simply another pointer to already existing file data.
An alternative to the excellent CCleaner that Akira linked is a more commercially supported alternative from IOBits, Advanced SystemCare4. There is a free version available which will likely do just as much to clean out your system as CCleaner, but has a few added extras.
Mokubai♦Mokubai
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Since October 2013 the disk cleanup utility was enhanced with the ability to clean up Service Pack and Windows Update files, this is the safest way to reduce the sized of WinSXS folder.
KB2852386 is what added this feature and most W7 PC's have it installed now.
Cleanup first pass
Click Clean up system files button and this is what you will see.
MoabMoab
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I've been playing with the WinSXS folder in a few test installs and I have figured out a way to save some space. In a 3 month old Windows 7 Pro install on my laptop, the SxS folder grew to 14GB. I can safely delete 7.4GB of that without any issues.
I was a bit surprised to read that most 'technical' write ups say you can't delete anything in the SxS folder without issues. This is just not true and I wonder if anyone has tried different scenarios or if that opinion is just grown off of Microsoft's warnings. There is one thing that you can't do after 'cleaning' the SxS folder, but it's rare that you'd need to so I won't even waste the keystrokes.
I've had this running smoothly for a LONG time, and on the laptop I use for work as an IT Director, so I put it through it's paces - that's for sure. It's well worth the disk space in some cases. For example -- I love my laptop which is an older Dell and I've got an SSD drive in it. The SSD is only 60 gig, so space is at a premium. As is, I use a 32GB SDCard in the onboard reader to give me extra space, but knocking a chunk of useless crap off is a nice option when you don't need 75% of the files in that folder.
I'll do a write up on it and post it here in the next couple of days.
wonea
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Cor BryantCor Bryant
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HomeHow ToHow to Force Delete Undeletable Files in Windows 10
The best way to prevent your Windows computer from slowing down over time is to manage files and programs properly. This is true especially if you have an old computer. Uninstalling extra programs and deleting unnecessary files pays high dividends in the long run. While you may already be doing this, I’m sure you must have come across the “Item Not Found” error some time while trying to delete a file. This can get annoying to the point that you skip deleting it altogether. While a single file or folder may not look like a big deal, a few of them can start to slow down your computer. Keeping that in mind, here is how to force delete files in Windows 10:
Note: I tried this method on my computer running Windows 10 Pro. It should work for any other versions of Windows as well.
Force Delete Undeletable Files
Whether it is a file or a folder that gives the “Item Not Found” error while trying to delete it, a few Command Prompt tricks can solve the problem for you. If you are wondering how, read the steps below to find out:
- Firstly, open Command Prompt in Administrator mode. You can do this by pressing Windows + X followed by ‘A’ on your keyboard. You may be asked for a confirmation by the User Account Control. Click on “Yes” to continue.
- Now head over to the file that you wish to delete. Right-clickon this file/folder to open the context menu and select “Properties”.
- In the file/folder Properties window, copy the path mentioned against “Location”.
- Now switch back to the Command Prompt window. Here, type “cd”followed by a space, paste the path that you just copied, and then hit Enter. This will change the current directory to that of the file/folder.
Note: If you are using a lower version of Windows, you may have to type the path manually.
- Once the directory gets changed, type “dir /x” in the same window and hit Enter. This will show you a list of all the files and folders that you have in that directory.
- Look for the directory name of the file/folder that you want to delete. In my case, as I want to delete “Test Folder”, so I’m looking for “TESTFO~1”. Now if it is file that you want to delete, type “del /s /q” followed by the directory name, and if it is a folder, type “rmdir /s /q” followed by the directory name. The “/s” command removes the specified directory and all its sub-directories while the “/q” command deletes them quietly – without asking for any confirmation. Hit Enter to execute the command.
The file/folder that you were wanting to delete would now have been deleted.
SEE ALSO: How to Recover Deleted Files in Windows 10
Force Delete Files in Windows 10 To Speed Up Performance
Mfj 1279 software download. So, there you have it. You can use Command Prompt to force delete files in Windows 10, thus preventing them from ever slowing down your computer. So, if you have files that you are not able to delete in your Windows computer, you can use this method to delete those files. That being said, is there any other way that you know of that does the same task? Do let me know in the comments section below.
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