Solved Windows 10 backup image vs windows.old

I took some extra precautions this time before upgrading to 11. I made a Windows 10 backup image with Macrium Reflect. I also have the windows.old folder still. Will the image of 10 always work even after 10 days in case I ever need to go back? If I backup the windows.old folder too, will it be usable after 10 days on an external drive?

The windows.old folder is no use after 10 days even if you back it up, hence reason for using Macrium Reflect.

Got it. I'll just remove windows.old later.

To return to a prior version of Windows the default restore.old can be used for 10 days.

A command can be run to extend the default period up to 60 days.

It may be possible to extend multiple times before the expiration period expires.


If you save the Windows.old folder it can be used at any time to restore important Windows files.
It does not save applications or drivers.

The Windows.old may be able to be created when a computer is no longer bootable.
For those that have no restore points nor backup images this method allows the saving and restoration of important files.

zbook said:

To return to a prior version of Windows the default restore.old can be used for 10 days.

A command can be run to extend the default period up to 60 days.

It may be possible to extend multiple times before the expiration period expires.


If you save the Windows.old folder it can be used at any time to restore important Windows files.
It does not save applications or drivers.

The Windows.old may be able to be created when a computer is no longer bootable.
For those that have no restore points nor backup images this method allows the saving and restoration of important files.

Click to expand...

How do you extend the grace period to 60 days - I have never heard of this. In the end, reverting to an older version via windows.old is somewhat unreliable, and I have had several failures of it. Image backups are far more reliable and not time dependent.

DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow
DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60



To restore important files within windows.old :

zbook said:

DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow
DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60

Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows

How to Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

To restore important files within windows.old :

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10 When you refresh, upgrade, or custom install Windows 10 on the same partition as the previous Windows installation without doing a clean install, then you will have a C:\\Windows.old folder in you

www.tenforums.com

Click to expand...

Thanks.

Btw - I was not questioning that you can extract files from a backed up copy of windows.old but seems rather pointless if you have an image backup as you can do same with an image backup (at least most image tools can)

One great feature of a Reflect image backup is yiu can run it as a VM using Viboot (now available with virtualbox as well as HyperV).

cereberus said:

Thanks.

Btw - I was not questioning that you can extract files from a backed up copy of windows.old but seems rather pointless if you have an image backup as you can do same with an image backup (at least most image tools can)

One great feature of a Reflect image backup is yiu can run it as a VM using Viboot (now available with virtualbox as well as HyperV).

Click to expand...

I got my new SSD couple of days back. I partitioned it the way I want and then used DISM to create and apply the image of existing OSes from the current boot disk (I have a dual boot system).

While the new disk booted from one of the images, it failed to boot from the other image.

I then tried creating a clone using AOMEI Partition Assistant, but it was creating a 8 MB partition to the left of the partition where I wanted the clone. I didn’t understand the purpose of that 8 MB partition.

So I used Macrium Reflect to clone and it did the job perfectly.

My question: The image that I created using DISM (which failed to boot): Can I use it to create a backup using Macrium and then subsequently use it on a VM using ViBoot?

Like you I had both. I used the DISM command to increase the 10 days to 40 and also had Macrium to fall back on. I only ever did it once on my old machine and using Settings> Recovery> Go Back worked perfectly. If you need any files from Windows.old have a look at the Shadow Explorer program, old but works with 11

Hi,
Although the upgrade process has been greatly improved restoring I would not trust it to go back.

Best to remove windows.old and use reflect to go back if that's what you want.

What I did was use Settings> Recovery> Go Back and it worked perfectly
If it had failed then I would have used Macrium

CatnipTea said:

Got it. I'll just remove windows.old later.

Click to expand...

You can use the built-in utility cleanmgr , or it's UWP alternative in the new control panel in the cleanup menu to do this for you.
No need to manually remove this folder, actually kind of difficult to manually remove. Much better to use the built-in routine.
Also worth to run the cleaner to clean up Windows Update log files, system restore points and other diagnostics and backup data that can be removed in case of a succesful update.

Welcome to Windows 11!

No worries, I quickly abandoned that idea after finding out just deleting that folder manually will cause a lot more problems. I'll remove it through disk cleanup.

Hi,
I would also make a system image of 11 and restore it if I changed my mind in the future.
Only restriction is available offline storage.

Yep I already have around 5 Windows 11 images.