Solved Should you keep your Windows.old folder just in case?

I used a tutorial on this forum to increase the number of days the folder stays to 60. Should I keep it on an external drive, just in case? After all, Windows 11 is still kinda half-baked and buggy in some areas.

I don't keep it at all, and get rid of it soon after an upgrade with disk clean-up. I keep my C: drive as exclusively for Windows as I can such that its used space is about 40 Gb. I do regular image backups with Macrium Reflect, and especially before any upgrade, so that fall-back is simple. I also don't use system restore for the same reason.

It takes 3-4 minutes to do the backup, and slightly longer for a restore as you have to first boot from the Macrium Rescue disk (actually USB stick now).

I can only speak for myself. I image regularly so the windows.old is of no use to me.I give it 3 days at best after it is created. If everything runs smoothly, it's outta here.

quack101 said:

I used a tutorial on this forum to increase the number of days the folder stays to 60. Should I keep it on an external drive, just in case? After all, Windows 11 is still kinda half-baked and buggy in some areas.

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Once it is removed from C drive it cannot be used to restore windows, and is only useful for having files as a backup. However, it is a really clunky way to act as a backup of files in user drives. Far better ways to back up data. Image backups have no time limit to revert.

I just make image backup before upgrading, then delete windows.old immediately.

I always remove it before I make an image. Windows 11 isn't that bad

quack101 said:

I used a tutorial on this forum to increase the number of days the folder stays to 60. Should I keep it on an external drive, just in case? After all, Windows 11 is still kinda half-baked and buggy in some areas.

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Sounds like the results of an inplace upgrade. So any "half-baked and buggy" issues could quite easily have been carried over from the previous installation and/or the result of a flawed upgrade process (not the end result)

Win 11 on its own as a clean install .... perfect! Consider.

It completely disappeared from my PC after one of the Win11 build updates... but, had it still been on my system, well I would have gotten rid of it. As someone else posted, Win11 isn't that bad.

No

In my windows 11 upgrade/install, windows.old size was about 10 GB to 28 GB (varying on desktop or laptop)
it's noticed when I run CCleaner, CCleaner will automatically clean up windows.old. (only about 2.5MB left after cleaning)
hence now I let CCleaner do it after upgrade.

cereberus said:

Once it is removed from C drive it cannot be used to restore windows, and is only useful for having files as a backup. However, it is a really clunky way to act as a backup of files in user drives. Far better ways to back up data. Image backups have no time limit to revert.

I just make image backup before upgrading, then delete windows.old immediately.

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User files should always be moved to a separate drive/partition anyway. My C: drive has Windows only on it, everything I want to not lose is stored somewhere else.

Personally, I think it's doable.

No, just make a image with Macrium before you update. But you could hold onto the windows.old folder for the 10 days if you want.
You should be making images anyway :)

AddRAM said:

No, just make a image with Macrium before you update. But you could hold onto the windows.old folder for the 10 days if you want.
You should be making images anyway :)

Macrium Reflect Free Trials

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

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@AddRAM I did make images in Windows 10, but now it seems like my external 128 GB (yes it's that small) drive is too small. I think the win.old folder might be the reason. Will get rid of it.

quack101 said:

I did make images in Windows 10, but now it seems like my external 128 GB (yes it's that small) drive is too small.

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The other thing you can do is put the image on an external drive. This helps with storage space on the main drive.

Dru2 said:

put the image on an external drive

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The external drive is only 128GB. They need a larger drive.

Winuser said:

The external drive is only 128GB. They need a larger drive.

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Then get a larger drive. I thought they said the main drive was 128gig.

Dru2 said:

Then get a larger drive. I thought they said the main drive was 128gig.

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I noticed it when I read the quote in your post.

Winuser said:

I noticed it when I read the quote in your post.

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Doh! Yeah, I missed the "external" part. Sometimes you read so fast you gloss over things and end up missing key points

Sorry

quack101 said:

I used a tutorial on this forum to increase the number of days the folder stays to 60. Should I keep it on an external drive, just in case? After all, Windows 11 is still kinda half-baked and buggy in some areas.

See and Set Number of Days Go Back to Previous Version of Windows in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to see and set the number of days after an upgrade you are still able to go back to a previous version of Windows in Windows 11. Windows 11 gives you the ability to uninstall and go back (roll back) to a previous version of Windows. When you upgrade to Windows...

www.elevenforum.com

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You should be keeping a system image made with a program such as Macrium Reflect Free instead of relying upon Windows.old.

Dru2 said:

Doh! Yeah, I missed the "external" part. Sometimes you read so fast you gloss over things and end up missing key points

Sorry

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I'm no stranger to reading things wrong because I read something to fast.