Solved Unable to Delete Windows.Old Folder Windows 11 22H2


bikemanI7

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Windows 11 Pro x64
Did my first ever over the top upgrade from original Windows 11 to 22H2, anyways i ran storage sense, and disk cleanup, it said Previous WIndows Installation Removed, but Windows.Old folder still present on C NvMe SSD drive.

Do i have to take the time and do a clean install anyways of everything just to get rid of that folder?

I assume if i did clean install right i'd just setup my normal MS Account as Main account, then somehow add my Local PC Admin account after the install, and switch the MS Account one back to Standard user, and keep Local PC Admin one as Admin

Alot of work, but don't want C space taken up for useless files if i can help it. Should i shutdown and disconnect all other drives first, or will doing clean install be fine if i go that route with all of them connected, and just wipe the M.2 SSD, and do the clean install, then wipe the other drives once system back up and running and user accounts sorted.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
No, there are ways, but rest assured that 1) it doesn't hurt anything, and 2) you don't need it gone, it will usually go away after a while, in most cases, especially after a reboot or 3.

Usually, it is a stubborn file somewhere (that is also marked as system and hidden) that gets in the way. I know a few users have reported something similar here as well, every time it pops up it is either a particular update, or else the System thinking it needs it there for whatever reason.

However, if you want it gone, clean install will probably be better, and yes, you can do pretty much as you've described, except that once I had it installed in the VM that I tested it in, after using my Microsoft account, in Windows Settings I *did* have the option to change to a local account only (Windows 11 Pro - don't know it Home offers that, I suspect it does not). But your plan sounds good enough to use for what you want to accomplish.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Oh Ok then leaves alone for now then, was starting to get on my nerves wasn't removing lol. I got enough space it looks like to not really worry on it anyways it appears for the moment, if it not gone in a few weeks or when the first "Moments" update comes out, then might just do my clean install then.



Continues with system cleanup with other folders, and moves onto PC gaming in a bit here in that case
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
Yeah, just monitor it, if it keeps filling back up with GB of stuff, maybe get concerned.

IIRC, I also remember at least one user here who had issues with it ... until the next big update came, at which point using the Storage clean function actually cleaned it out and got rid of it too.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I had the same problem. I ran chkdsk C: /r, afterwards I was able to delete windows.old
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER
    CPU
    intel I7-8750h
    Motherboard
    CFL Cayman
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia GTX 1070
Showing as 0 Bytes anyways, will do the Chkdsk C:/R command shortly here or soon as have time to, and hopefully all issues solved after that
 

Attachments

  • WIndows Old Folder Size.png
    WIndows Old Folder Size.png
    7.3 KB · Views: 1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
mine was 0 bytes as well
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER
    CPU
    intel I7-8750h
    Motherboard
    CFL Cayman
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia GTX 1070
Chkdsk completed, States No Permission to Delete though even with Admin account, so for now just gonna leave it, and carry on with other PC Tasks, and eventually in the future when got time, might just tackle with clean install at that point.

Who knows it may go away on it's own at some point

This was just first time i ever did a major Windows Update via upgrade method after created the USB flash drive with Media Creation tool, on Windows 10 every feature update usually twice a year did a clean install, i know probably way too much lol, but at least system was always squeakly clean lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
I managed to remove windows.old over here > system > storage > cleaning recommendations
1663871051348.png1663871024861.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11, Pro for Workstations, 22631.2861 (23H2)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Amd Ryzen 5 5500 ("Zen 3") (3.6GHz,45-65W,L3:16M,6/12)
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime B450M Gaming/BR Chipset B450 AMD AM4 mATX DDR4 - BIOS 4002
    Memory
    DDR4 OLOy Owl Black, 8GB, 3200MHZ, (x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Colorful GeForce GTX 1650 Super
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips TV 43PFG5102/78
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: 120GB, Sata III, Leitura 560MBs e Gravação 540MBs
    HD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB, Sata III, 7200RPM, 64MB
    PSU
    Corsair ATX CV550 550W, 80 Plus Bronze, PFC Ativo
    Case
    Wheel Jack, Mid Tower, Vidro Temperado, Black
    Cooling
    default
    Keyboard
    common
    Mouse
    commom
    Internet Speed
    600mb
    Browser
    Opera
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
I believe windows.old is deleted 10 days after you update windows :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    10700k@5.2
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Gaming X Z490
    Memory
    Viper Steelseries 32gb@ 3600mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 2070 Super 8GB, +200 core + 600 memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 4k HDR, Two 1080p Benq and Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160/2560x1440/1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Adata XPG SX8200 PRO 1tb
    Samsung EVO 870 500GB
    PSU
    Corsair RX 650
    Case
    NZXT h510
    Cooling
    CM HYPER 212 RGB
    Keyboard
    Razer Ornata Chroma
    Mouse
    Steelseries Rival 710
Yeah i tried Cleanup Recommendations area, Nothing

Tried Disk Cleanup

Even tried from Safe Mode

So whatever is causing the folder to be 0 Bytes, and still there who knows, eventually i make sure personal data backup is up to date, and gather drivers, and stuff, might break down and conduct clean install, then do a new base System image with Macrium Reflect Home, and should be fine after that in the future.

No other issues so for now can live with this issue for time being
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
Yeah i tried Cleanup Recommendations area, Nothing

Tried Disk Cleanup

Even tried from Safe Mode

So whatever is causing the folder to be 0 Bytes, and still there who knows, eventually i make sure personal data backup is up to date, and gather drivers, and stuff, might break down and conduct clean install, then do a new base System image with Macrium Reflect Home, and should be fine after that in the future.

No other issues so for now can live with this issue for time being
Could try using REVO to see what it shows, Either that or TreeSize is good for showing where things actually are. Windows storage told me i had 50gb in temp. I checked with revo and Treesize..Yeah windows was full of bs, was like 2gb in temp lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    10700k@5.2
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Gaming X Z490
    Memory
    Viper Steelseries 32gb@ 3600mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 2070 Super 8GB, +200 core + 600 memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 4k HDR, Two 1080p Benq and Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160/2560x1440/1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Adata XPG SX8200 PRO 1tb
    Samsung EVO 870 500GB
    PSU
    Corsair RX 650
    Case
    NZXT h510
    Cooling
    CM HYPER 212 RGB
    Keyboard
    Razer Ornata Chroma
    Mouse
    Steelseries Rival 710
Finally Removed Somehow after i wasn't watching it, Guess WIndows finally decided ok we'll delete this now lol.

Only other thing i did was repair Samsung Magician Software after uninstalling it, and reinstalling it, as after the 22H2 upgrade, it was getting stuck on Scanning for Drive information, Then disabled Indexing like i normally do, then a bit of PC gaming, and opened Explorer again just now, and no more Windows.Old in the C:\ Drive list
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition
Finally Removed Somehow after i wasn't watching it, Guess WIndows finally decided ok we'll delete this now lol.

Only other thing i did was repair Samsung Magician Software after uninstalling it, and reinstalling it, as after the 22H2 upgrade, it was getting stuck on Scanning for Drive information, Then disabled Indexing like i normally do, then a bit of PC gaming, and opened Explorer again just now, and no more Windows.Old in the C:\ Drive list

I had a feeling that would happen. And thanks for the heads up on Samsung Magician. I haven't run that since installing 22H2, and my 980 Pros are due for some testing.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
When I've had problems deleting something that was resisting being deleted in Windows, I just bypass Windows entirely.
I've usually been doing this for a customer, and I'm on the Clock. So, why fight with it?

I boot up the PC in DOS, with my DOS Utilities disk ,or Flash Drive, and run "NTFS4DOS", which lets me access every file on the C: drive, from my DOS Prompt.
Then I can go into C: and access the offending file and delete it. If I use the old DOS Deltree.exe command, I can take out an entire tree structure in one command.
It's Old School, but it still works like a champ.

Cheers Mates!
TM :cool:

PS: Windows has a back door, and it's called DOS! What you can't do via the front door, (Windows) can usually be done via the back door (DOS).
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-11/Pro/64, Optimum 11 V3, 23H2 22631.3085
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Made w/Gigabyte mobo/DX-10
    CPU
    AMD FX 6350 Six Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte, DX-10, GA-78LMT-USB3
    Memory
    Crucial, 16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, ATI Radeon HD 3000; NVIDEA GeForce 210, 1GB DDR3 Ram.
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 500GB, SanDisk 126GB SSD, Toshiba 1TB HD
    PSU
    EVGA 500 W.
    Case
    Pac Man, Mid Tower
    Cooling
    AMD/OEM
    Keyboard
    101 key, Backlit/ Mechanical Switches/
    Mouse
    Logitech USB Wireless M310
    Internet Speed
    Hughes Net speed varies with the weather
    Browser
    Firefox 64x
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Super Anti Spyware
    Other Info
    Given to me as DEAD, and irreparable.
    Rebuilt with Gigabyte mobo, AMD cpu, 16GB ram and 500GB Crucial SSD.
I just did it on a system about an hour ago :-).

The method I use is this:

1) Open an elevated command prompt.
2) Run cleanmgr c: /sageset:65535
3) Check all available boxes (you don't need to select them all, but that is what I do).
4) Run cleanmgr /sagerun:65535
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Just create a Linux setup "USB stick" (Linux MINT) and just delete the folder
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    WiN11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom 775 System
    CPU
    Xeon E5450 3.0GHZ (OC 3.7GHZ)
    Motherboard
    ASUS PQ5-EM
    Memory
    8GB (2GBX4)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD R5 430 2GB
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1TB|750GB USB, 3 SSDs 2 240GB 1 128GB, 750GB HDD
    PSU
    650WATT Rosewill
    Case
    Rosewill with side Window
    Cooling
    5 Fans and a big HSK for cpu
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RGB
    Mouse
    Rosewill RGB
    Internet Speed
    AT&T 150MB DL\UP
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    I'm lucky to even be here after 6yrs from my car accident
  • Operating System
    WiN10 LTSC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hp 8460p
    CPU
    i7 2670QM 2.20GHZ
    Motherboard
    Hp 161C
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DUAL Channel
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000
    Sound Card
    Intel high Def (basically onboard)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    OS 128GB l Storage (caddy) 320GB
    PSU
    AC (IDK the watts)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    A USB 3.0 in the Express Card Slot
Just create a Linux setup "USB stick" (Linux MINT) and just delete the folder
The last time I did that was on an old Windows 8 system after updating it to Windows 8.1. Luckily, I never had a problem deleting the windows.old file during Win 10 or Win 11 updates.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3793
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 1065G7 @ 1.30GHz Ice Lake 10th Generation
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0V996R
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus Graphics with shared graphics memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop Display 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2, NVMe SSD
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbs
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    F-Secure Security Suite
    Other Info
    Upgraded from Windows 10 to Win 11 on 10-21-21
    Upgraded to Win 11 22H2 on 9-20-22 (Clean Install)
    Upgraded to Win 11 23H2 on Halloween 2023
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3910
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700 processor (12-Core, 25M Cache, 2.1GHz to 4.8GHz)
    Motherboard
    Dell 0KHP4K
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 with shared graphics memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 27" Monitor S2721DS,
    Screen Resolution
    QHD 2560 x 1440 @ 75 Hz
    Hard Drives
    1TB M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    F-Secure Security Suite
    Other Info
    Bought in November 2022
    Updated to 23H2 10-31-23
Just create a Linux setup "USB stick" (Linux MINT) and just delete the folder
How would that help him delete windows.old?
May as well have said, Just get in a plane..know where you wanna go..and fly there.

It couldn't be more simple. Either wait the 10 days and it will do it itself...or download REVO or TreeSize( Or something similar) and remove it there. It isn't a rocket science question.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    10700k@5.2
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Gaming X Z490
    Memory
    Viper Steelseries 32gb@ 3600mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 2070 Super 8GB, +200 core + 600 memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 4k HDR, Two 1080p Benq and Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160/2560x1440/1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Adata XPG SX8200 PRO 1tb
    Samsung EVO 870 500GB
    PSU
    Corsair RX 650
    Case
    NZXT h510
    Cooling
    CM HYPER 212 RGB
    Keyboard
    Razer Ornata Chroma
    Mouse
    Steelseries Rival 710
Yeah and WIndows seemed to solve it itself after i did some other tasks, checked C:\ directory list again and it was gone.

All should be good now
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel I7 10700
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B460M_DS3H Rev 1.0
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Geforce 1660 Super
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VG245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB Boot
    Samsung 860 Evo 1TB-Game SSD
    Western Digital Black 4TB Storage Drive

    External
    Western Digital Elements 500GB
    Western Digital My Passport 2TB
    Toshiba 2TB in External Enclosure
    Seagate 8TB in External Enclosure
    Western Digital My Book 8TB (Primary Backup drive)
    PSU
    EVGA G3 650 Watt
    Case
    Thermaltake V200 TG RGB
    Cooling
    Arctic Freezer 7X, 3 Front Intake Fans, 1 120 Exhaust in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Logitech G513
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 X
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit 1000Mb/20 Upload
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Free
    Other Info
    UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Macrium 8 Home Edition

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