keep Windows.old file says article


R

retiredat44

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My Computer

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    Windows 11 25H2
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    EVGA home brew
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    Broadwell-e 6850K 4.5ghz @1.36v
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    EVGA X99 FTW K
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The key point is Windows normally deletes the Windows.old folder 10 days after the upgrade. This should allow most users enough time to decide if there's any compatibility issues with their apps or HW devices, that require rolling back to old Windows.

It's up to you to decide if you're confident enough to quickly check most of your apps, and devices are working. If you think everything's great, then delete Windows.old before the 10 days has expired.

Obviously if you took a full system backup right before the upgrade, then you don't need Windows.old since you could do a restore instead.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
You might also want to be aware that a Windows.old folder gets created even when you perform a clean install of Windows. It's just an empty folder in that case so it occupies no space and I always delete it immediately after installation.

Thanks to @garlin for pointing out previously that the new Windows setup treats even a new, clean install as an upgrade installation, at least in this regard.
 

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System One System Two

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    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
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    PC/Desktop
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    Acemagic
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    Intel i7-14650HX
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    32 GB
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    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
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    Windows Defender
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    Win11 Pro 25H2 (RTM+)
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    Laptop
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    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
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    Intel i7-1255U
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    16 GB
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    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
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    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
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    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
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    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
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    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
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    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
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    Edge
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    Windows Defender
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    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
I always make an image with MR before any update so I just remove Windows.old.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows11 Pro 26200.8655
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Alienware Aurora R16
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 14900F (24 -Core, 68 MB Total Cache)
    Motherboard
    Dell Alienware
    Memory
    32GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4080 Super w/581.95
    Sound Card
    Realtec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Corsair XENEON 32QHD165
    Screen Resolution
    2560 X 1440
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    1-2TB Samsung 990 Pro PCIe NVMe M2 SSD
    1-4TB Samsung 990 Pro PCIe NVMe M2 SSD
    PSU
    1000 Watt Platinum Dell
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    Alienware
    Cooling
    Liquid Closed Loop
    Keyboard
    Corsair Strafe RGB
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    Logitech MK270 Wireless
    Internet Speed
    100Gb's Down-20 Up
    Browser
    Firefox 152.0
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Very Quiet And Fast
    CyberPower UPS CP1500PFCLCD
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    PClinuxOS Mate (2025.7)
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    PC/Desktop
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    Intel
    CPU
    13th Gen Inter(R) Core(TM) i3-1315U
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    Intel
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    64 GB DDR4 @3200 MHz.
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    Internal
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    None
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    Dell 2419HGCF
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
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    SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 2TB, PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280
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    Chicony 30 Watt
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    Small
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    Dell
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    Razor
    Internet Speed
    1GB
    Browser
    Slimjet
I just delete it. Never had a problem.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (26200.8457)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    CLX Intel Battlebox Ultimate (RA)
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i9-13900KS 3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero WIFI - ATX
    Memory
    128GB DDR5-5200 Kingston Fury Beast RGB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac Trinity NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    Realtek USB Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell G3223Q 32" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @144hz
    Hard Drives
    2TB x 2 Samsung 990 Pro 2280 NVMe M.2 SSD's
    2TB x 1 Samsung 980 Pro 2280 NVMe M.2 SSD
    4 TB x 1 My Passport Ultra External USB
    PSU
    1200W Corsair HX Ser HX1200 80+ Platinum
    Case
    Lian Li / Der Bauer 011DXL ROG
    Cooling
    Phanteks Glacier One 360 RGB AIO LC
    Keyboard
    Logitech K330 Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech M310 Wireless
    Internet Speed
    1GB Fiber : 945/57
    Browser
    Firefox - Brave
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Premium Personal
    Other Info
    Macrium Reflect X
I always delete windows.old immediately after an upgrade. As @hsehestedt pointed out, I never go into an upgrade with making an image so I'm backed up without having a windows.old. I have seen rollbacks fail so I would always restore an image instead of rolling back..
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8655
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x1tb Solidigm m.2 nvme /External drives 512gb Samsung m.2 sata+2tb Kingston m2.nvme
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    #1 Edge #2 Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26200.8457
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink Mini PC SER5
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    integrated
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Crucial nvme
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    still too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    System 3 is non compliant Dell 9020 i7-4770/24gb ram Win11 PRO 26200.8457

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14
    CPU
    I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB soldered
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
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    laptop OLED screen
    Screen Resolution
    2880x1800 touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
    PSU
    Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
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    Built in UK keybd
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    Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
    Internet Speed
    900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
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    Edge
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    Defender
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    TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

    Macrium Reflect Home V8
    Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
    Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
If you don't make backup images you can save Windows.old.

If you make backup images you can allow Windows to delete it or manually delete to free up drive space.

A third alternative is to modify the default 10 day delete to 60 days.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
    Motherboard
    Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
    Memory
    16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
    Hard Drives
    Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Mobile Workstation
hsehestedt said:
You might also want to be aware that a Windows.old folder gets created even when you perform a clean install of Windows. It's just an empty folder in that case so it occupies no space and I always delete it immediately after installation.
Click to expand...

this is only true with Windows 11 version 24H2 & newer. does not occur with clean installing Win11 23H2 & older
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 10 ltsc
A clean install of 24H2/25H2 creates an empty Windows.old. So there's nothing that needs to be done in the short term (unless its appearance annoys you). Where it must be removed is if you're planning to do a sysprep of a fresh 24H2/25H2 install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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