Sometimes users but forget to delete the old one. There is nothing critical about this, but the old Windows takes up a lot of space.
This article provides information on how to remove old Windows 7 from your computer.
There are several ways to remove unnecessary Windows:
1. Removal old windows using Disk Cleanup
You must run Disk Cleanup. You can find it through "Start". We click “All programs”, there “Standard”, then “Utilities” and in the list we find the required component.
It is the item “Previous Windows installations”We need it. Select the checkbox if it is not there and click OK. When asked about irreversible removal we answer "Delete files". After a while, the files of the old Windows 7 will be deleted.
2. Removing old windows without programs
If the program cannot be found for some reason, or if there are some problems with it, you can remove Windows manually. To do this, find the Windows.old folder and set the rights necessary for deletion.
Go to the folder properties (RMB - Properties) and go to the "Security" tab
Click on "Advanced". On the "Owner" tab, select current user and put a tick on “Replace owner of subcontainers and objects” and click “Apply”.
Now on the "Permissions" tab, select the account that you made the owner of the folder and change it (the "Change" button)
A window appears with the Element of permission, where we put a checkmark where it is highlighted in the screenshot below. Then click OK and with a safety warning.
After the done manipulations, it will be possible to delete the Windows.old folder with no difficulty and the question of how to delete old windows 7 is being resolved.
3. Removal old windows formatting the disk
This method is more radical, but as the saying goes, "fail-safe". The bottom line is that you need to boot from installation disk or a USB flash drive and start installing a clean Windows.
At the time of choosing a disk, you will need to delete all partitions, mark HDD back and format all partitions. Thus we get clean system, without any sign of old operating systems.
Often, in order to preserve the functionality of some software tools or computer games we leave previous version operating system. Meanwhile, we actively use new system, so to speak, we make it habitable. The moment comes to give up outdated version, for several reasons…
How do I uninstall the previous version of Windows?
Everything is much easier than it might seem! First, we need to boot into a more recent operating system, I have Windows 7, and we will remove the outdated WindowsXP. Already from the active system, we will configure the computer boot and clean up unnecessary files!
Cleaning up files from previous Windows
The main part is done, after the above steps, when you turn on the PC, the list of available operating systems... Now you can move the required files from one system to another - active.
To do this, use file manager(for example TotalCommander) or the capabilities " Windows Explorer". You can save office documents, photos or other personal data.
After the files are copied to the directory active windows, you should delete the linked directories of the previous version (be careful when cleaning up the system files)!
Instead of an epilogue, we remove the download records
Actually, you can stop, since the operating system already physically cannot be loaded, but there are saved records of loading in active system and it would be nice to get rid of them too:
This article will talk about uninstall Windows.old on Windows 10 and below. Usually, after updating the operating system in the root directory of the C: drive, a additional folder, called Windows.old, containing information about the previous release of the operating system. Over time, when the need for it passes, the files become unnecessary and there is nothing to do with them. Accordingly, you cannot overlook the fact that they take up a lot of disk space and in the usual way deleting such a directory will fail for security reasons. Further information will help users of the OS in question who have recently updated their system to a new release and do not know how to delete the Windows.old folder from main directory disk.
Removing the Windows.old directory
Of course, using the programs described above, you can destroy the folder in question, but it is best to use the existing methods in Windows, and only then if the attempt is unsuccessful to apply third-party software... To do this, you need to open the explorer on the "This computer" tab, put the focus on system media, press the right mouse button and select the "Properties" line in the menu that appears. Next, a window will open, there you need to make sure that you are on the "General" tab, then click on the "Disk Cleanup" button.
Then, the system will conduct a procedure for evaluating files that are suitable for destruction. At the end, a new window will appear, displaying the delete options, in which there will be a button "Clear system files", it must be pressed.
The file evaluation window will reappear, after which a new one will open. There, in the window under the inscription "Delete following files"among other things, there will be an item offering to delete files old installation Windows (it will be called that, or something very similar to this - previous installations of Windows). Opposite the found line, you will need to put a tick in the box, also, if you wish, you can select additional ones to delete, and then click on the "OK" button located at the bottom right.
Method using the Run utility
You can get to the disk cleaning window using. To do this, you need to call the above program using the hotkeys Win + R, or using the context menu of the "Start" icon on the desktop, in which you will need to select the line "Run". In the search box system utility you should type in the cleanmgr command and click on "ENTER" or the "OK" button located at the bottom right. If you have more than one drive in your system, then a window will first pop up where you will need to select main drive and click on the "OK" button. Then follow the instructions described in the previous section of the article.
The method that appeared in Windows 10
The Windows.old folder can be deleted using the updated, improved clear cache feature that Microsoft developers included in the last Windows releases 10. In fact, this is the same procedure, only it has become faster, and some improvements have been added. To do this, you need to get into the parameters window, the most the usual way- select the line "Parameters" in context menu Start button ( right click mouse on the desktop icon "Start" after which the required list will appear) or use the hotkeys Win + I.
Then, you should go to the "System" section, and in it select the "Device memory" item. Then you need to click on the line "Free up space now".
In the newly opened window, you will be prompted to delete the existing cache in the system. Among other things, there will be an item called - previous installations of Windows or something like that. All that remains to mark this section a tick in the checkbox next to it, and click on the "Delete files" button located at the top.
An operation similar to the one built into the system can be performed by a well-known one, in which you also need to put a checkbox opposite the inscription indicating the deletion of the Windows.old folder in Windows and start cleaning in a regular way. This line is in last section"Other" below. You can always ask your questions in the comments to the article, or from the "Contacts" page you can fill out and send me a form.
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Which can take up several gigabytes disk space... Moreover, in the boot menu the previous Windows versions continue to "hang", offering to boot from them to the user. In addition, they clog up the PC hard drive and slow down its work. So how to remove old Windows?
Through the disk cleanup menu
You can remove the old version of windows using the Disk Cleanup utility, which is available in all Microsoft operating systems, including windows 10
We go to "Computer" and right-click on the icon of the section where the previous version was. We select the item "Properties", then - "Disk Cleanup".
The system will start scanning this section for trash files; among them will be the item "Previous Windows installations"
Make sure it is ticked.
Confirm the deletion. Windows yet once it asks if you want to continue the operation - click "OK". After a few minutes, the utility will notify you that all trash files have been removed.
The disk cleanup utility can be called in another way: left-click the "Start" manipulator and enter the word "Cleanup" in the search bar (it also works for Windows 10 / Windows 8.1). In the list that appears, select the Disk Cleanup item. Click the "Enter" button. The utility will prompt you to select the partition where the cleaning operation will be performed
The previous version of windows can be detected and removed using other cleaning programs. You can use, for example, CCleaner, latest version which has been optimized for work with windows 10. You can install other utilities - Glary utilities, IOBit Advanced care etc. The main thing is that they support work with windows 10 / 8.1 / 7.
Removing the "windows.old" folder and adjusting the boot menu
It happens that neither the standard Windows cleaner, nor a third-party one can find old files. This leads to the fact that the user has to look for the "windows.old" folder himself, delete it, and then, through the Windows boot configuration menu, disable the option to select a version that does not already exist. But for this you need to set system administrator rights
How to do it? It's very simple: press the key combination Win + R, enter secpol.msc and click "Enter". In the left menu that appears, double-click on " Local Policies", Then -" Security settings ". After that, now in the right window, look for the item "Accounts: Status" Administrator ". Double click on it and switch from "Disabled" to "Enabled" and save the changes.
After that, you need to reboot and start a new (not old!) Version of the operating system. After the main stage Windows boot will offer you to log in through two accounts, among which there will be an administrator. We go through it. That's it, now you can play around with the system as a system administrator.
Now you need to go through the "Explorer" to the section where the folder "windows.old" is located and delete it. To do this, right-click the manipulator on the icon of this folder and select the "Properties" item. Then you need to click on "Security" and then on "Advanced". Among the proposed tabs, select "Owner", click the "Change" button and select the one account, from under which the deletion will be carried out. Save the changes with the "Apply" button and click "OK".
A message will appear that we have become the owner of this directory. Click "OK". Now you can delete the "windows.old" folder (after moving it to the "Trash" this directory must be removed from there too).
Now you need to go to the boot configuration menu. Press the key combination Win + R, enter msconfig and click "Enter". Go to the "Download" tab and select the previous versions of Windows. Click the "Delete" button
This article will tell you how to remove the old "Windows" after installing the new one.
Navigation
When reinstalling the operating system " Windows»The user has two choices:
- Demolish old system and install a new
- Install new " Windows"Without formatting the old Windows partition
If you are a beginner and reinstalled the system for the first time, then it is possible that you used the second option, simply not knowing about the existence of the first. In this case old version « Windows"Will be stored in separate folder, taking up extra space on your hard drive, and there is no particular benefit from it.
Then there will be a need to get rid of this extra burden. How to do it? In today's review, we will discuss options for how to remove the second redundant operating system " Windows»On a computer or laptop.
By formatting Right place on the disk, you will forever and completely get rid of the unnecessary old " Windows". This method is considered to be the simplest and most convenient, so we will start with it.
Before proceeding with the operation, transfer, just in case, all important information from one section hard disk to another or to a USB flash drive. Next, do the following:
- Turn on the computer by going to the operating system that you want to leave untouched
- Then go to " Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management».
The first way to remove an unnecessary Windows operating system is to format
- Then right-click on that partition hard the disk on which the old OS is located, and then - on " Format". This action will cleanly demolish the old second Windows from your computer or laptop.
The first way to remove an unnecessary Windows operating system is to format
- If you do not know which section you need to format, then do a simple operation. Go to " Start", Then click on" Execute", Enter the following request in the field of the pop-up window:" % windir%". Now click on " OK».
- This will open a folder that cannot be demolished. Once in the folder, pay attention to its address bar up. As a rule, the path to this folder should be like this - " C: \ Windows". Remember this folder so as not to accidentally delete it in the future, although this will not be so easy.
- As a result, you need to restart your computer, and you will go into your new operating system. Check if everything worked out for you, if there is no second unnecessary operating system left on the computer.
This instruction will help you if you have installed " Windows 7, 8". Sometimes it happens that the files of the second operating system are deleted from the computer, but you can see it in the downloads. To delete extra Windows from download, do this:
- Go to the menu " Start"And then click on" Execute»
- Now, in the field of the window already familiar to us, enter the following query: “ msconfig". Press " OK»
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
- Then a new one will open system window... Go to the "" tab, and here you will see a list of all operating systems that are on your computer. As a rule, there are two of them, if it comes about two operating systems. The one you need will be marked as "Current operating system". Take a look at the screenshot. And you can safely delete any second one. Select the second operating system with the mouse, click on " Delete"And further - to" OK».
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
- Now a window will open to reboot the system. This must be done in any case for the above operations to take effect. Press "". After that, we can consider that the job is done.
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
Let's say you installed " Windows 7"Over" Windows XP" or vice versa. You are satisfied with the new operating system, and now you want to get rid of the old one. There is another method to do this, and without the use of additional software.
Follow the instructions:
- Find the folder " Windows.old»
- Click on it with the right mouse button and then on " Properties»
- We go to " Properties-Security»
- Next, go to “ Additionally", And then into the" Owner»
- Select the owner, check the box next to " Replace owner of subcontainers and objects" and press " Apply».
- Now go to the " Permissions", Select the owner of the folder" Windows.old"And click on the button" Change».
Second way to remove unnecessary Windows operating system
- Next, a window will open in which you need to put the checkboxes exactly as shown in the picture. Then click on " OK"And in the next window also click on" OK". Thus, the old operating system will be removed from the computer.
Second way to remove unnecessary Windows operating system
Video: How to remove the second "Windows" from the computer?
