Delete Windows.old via the Command Prompt

Delete Windows.old via the Command Prompt
Windows.old takes up a huge amount of space, so if you are on a SSD you need that precious space. I will show you how to remove Windows.old via command prompt. Their are easier ways to do this, but I know you guys like the command prompt videos.
1. takeown /F C:\Windows.old\* /R /A
2. cacls C:\Windows.old\*.* /T /grant administrators:F
3. rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\
That's it, you have just deleted your Windows.old folder and reclaimed back 25GB plus of hard drive space.
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[@StuderRevox]

Thank Brian it worked for me after just updating my Windows to version 1809. I got access denied at first for both the last 2 commands but when I repeated the process in safe mode it worked flawlessly. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work :)

[@99MasterMind]

how do to process in safe mode?

[@kidego1971]

WOW!! I cannot thank you enough for this. I have had 12g of space taken up for a LONG time because of the windows.old folder on my system. I have tried numerous fixes and ways to delete and it never worked. THIS, my friend, worked like a charm. The only thing it didnt delete was certain NVIDIA DLL files...but 96 meg instead of 12 GIG..Ill take it happily. You are a god among generals sir!!

[@Quinceyyy]

lmao I got 200 gb taken from that thing what do you mean? are you using an old Acer laptop (like my old one :|) with 90 gb or what?

[@vivekshah490]

I am very grateful to you for this video as I have used lots of methods to delete win.old folder but none of them worked ...but ur one worked and it's very easy ...keep up your good work ...

[@NomadiCoupleHL]

Thanks Bro, finally after wasting a 1 and half hour i got a solution *Thumbs up*

[@Britec09]

You're welcome.

[@IgorTurgenev-UK]

Excellent and informative as always Brian

[@Britec09]

Thanks.

[@maximocastro6417]

Que honesto es Ud. Caballero gracias Julio 2023

[@SkyrimBeast]

Well some this process worked. But I still have ProgramData and the WINDOWS directory inside Windows.old Either way, I did gain about 20gb's of space back onto my C drive so thanks again Brian.

[@SkyrimBeast]

Update. Opening the command prompt and navigating to C:/Windows.old/ProgramData while pasting the takeown command worked for me. 1. Open command prompt as an administrator. 2. Navigate to C:/Windows.old/ProgramData and paste takeown /F C:\Windows.old\ProgramData /R /A 3. Paste cacls C:\Windows.old\*.* /T /grant administrators:F 4. navigate back to the C:/ directory by typing cd ../../ 5. Paste rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\ You're done

[@RamboGAMER_YT]

Hey thank you very much ☺️ I had been so messed up deleting files And granting them administrative permission one by one A big thank you brother

[@lfcjay100]

can you do a vid on how to remove the windows10 upgrade folder. thanks

[@rabidkitty7386]

It said access denied, but it worked. Thanks dude.

[@victorfigueroa9385]

You're awesome, every time I search up something Windows related, Britec09 pops up You do video on everything Keep up the good work..😁

[@PersesEmi]

Either you can do this or the less complicated way which is using Disk cleanup. Only takes about 20sec to google it.

[@locoleitekkencompetitor9158]

I have been trying to get rid of that folder forever, renamed it once and since then it could not be found or modified....this worked. Can I remove an inactive version of windows on another drive with the same method?

[@absure7862]

Access denied for me after trying. Ant thoughts?

[@jhaycobumpad7340]

Thankss Bro it really works on my old laptop that I had upgraded from windows 7 to windows 8.1

[@nadimmatoussi8772]

Worked like magic , thank you

[@Logicalx]

I think the old 'Take Ownership' reg edit to add to the context menu is a far simpler way. I would add them to your forum Britec09.

[@Britec09]

You can match a batch file with these commands one click and your done.

[@Pch100]

please do other videos on those other 2 folders

[@parkinLotDate]

hey i was wondering why this is happeneing, (i did this and now some of the files dont open, and some files i have to run as administrator, and i also get error codes from file explorer) any fix please???

[@pankajupreti6848]

it shows the file cannot be accessed by the system. what should i do?

[@yusrabutt4102]

on 1st and 3rd command it does not have the files specified and for 2nd command access denied kindly help ASAP

[@abdallahashraf830]

Thanks allot . You are a great professional

[@Ghostkiller695]

hey brotec i have done this and now pc not starting stuck on windows loading screen ?

[@spmj1251]

I really want to delete the old one brian, i only have 409 out of 495 on the hdd, ive already did a recovery backup💩

[@evanstonbucao7714]

last command is denied.. i already running the cmd as admin ??? help

[@marco_evertus]

My master always told me to learn from the old and embrace the new....guess he never thought about Windows.old

[@Britec09]

Well I am the master and old lol

[@blinkwinkenterprises8056]

I always a solution to my current situation here, thanks and good job boss

[@golduzbek786]

Thank you so much I can't delete it before I didn't see that video

[@rosblaze]

When I enter the last command , it shows Access is denied. What should I do?? Please help...

[@WarriorBoy992]

If Windows deletes old from me and resets in it, will it get tired or not

[@Sid-Cannon]

Nice video Brian, if I booted up with Hirens Boot CD and loaded Mini Windows XP and deleted the Windows.old folder from there, would that cause problems at the next boot or would it be fine?

[@Britec09]

No should be fine, you could also use unlocker.

[@Sid-Cannon]

Cheers Brian

[@Britec09]

You're welcome.

[@furious_penguin3656]

couldn't you just use disk clean up in admin mode and delete the windows.old folder?

[@theelectrus420]

can i do this for windows.old.000?

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

RunAsTI or ExecTI, then run cmd then type rd C:\Windows.old . Press enter. Or just use Disk Cleanup.

[@pigo2k3]

Thank you so very much it helped

[@Britec09]

You're welcome.

[@fightinirish73kk]

on first command got syntax error then pass is too small then on last command got access is denied

[@Britec09]

You got to run as administrator

[@trollbreeder2534]

sudo rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\ maybe???

[@AlphaLimaTango]

sudo rm -rf /

[@harunniksic9559]

same happened to me go to security remove your self the user from the control so you are left with administrator and etc apply then run this again cmd as administrator and apply the following commands

[@stageredgamer2700]

@@harunniksic9559 You make no fucking sense

[@jettdean2785]

What if it says, "Access Denied"?

[@hugo122221]

YOU ARE the best i knew how to do it with cleanup but the folder always is there and i wasn't like it thanks a lot

[@tildeathgaming9510]

Thanks alot its working like a charm. ;)

[@achomsinghito2572]

file cannot be accessed by the system. ny idea p.s executing in admin mode

[@heenanayak7125]

it say acces denied and after that my display driver is disabled so please do not shut down your pc if your display driver is disabled

[@roadthebakers99]

It takes too more time to complete that. Because i reseted 5/6 times. So i have 5/6 old folder.

[@but1115]

Perfect, thanks for video

[@DeepakKumar-yu2vr]

It stuck after second code apply. i mean when second work finish, i found the option that "your system area is too small", the option was like that and so i am unable to use 3rd code and unable to remove windows.old. what to do now ?

[@MrSham3less]

Watch his previous video about how to delete windows.old. He explains how to with disc cleanup an Ccleaner.

[@Britec09]

Watch me previous video, there is a easier way.

[@cbrash9]

Great Vid!!, I'm under the impression that you cannot roll back to your previous windows installation after a certain amount of time, is that correct?

[@bdm1019]

Microsoft says you have one month from the time you upgraded to perform a rollback

[@Britec09]

31 days is the limit

[@73d_th3_Master_Of_Shadows]

You can also delete it with clean manager click delete system files and select all boxes and it wil be gone i think the tick its called previous windows installations i did this with that way on my friend that had 6 windows.old folders xD :D

[@mattfawzy9560]

Thanks!, worked for me.

[@haridaei587]

I used Windows 7 I changed with Windows 8 I now Windows 10 My old Windows does not clean

[@tstanley5887]

Does not work for me. I get "the system cannot find the file specified" when I run the very first command... even though the file very much shows up on the C drive. It has not automatically deleted after 2 weeks, and running "disk cleanup" from the C drive's properties didn't work for me either. It's very frustrating 😣

[@guiltyspark1423]

I like the way Windows stole the "rm" command from UNIX, what was wrong with the old "deltree" commands? Nice video as usual Brian :)

[@Britec09]

Fully trained on UNIX :)

[@guiltyspark1423]

Any chance I can get my ban lifted off the forum?

[@Jaros911ify]

Thanks, it worked. Thumb up:D

[@wayneseymour1]

I got access denied on the second command and I'm logged in as Administrator

[@naziftanki5133]

Thank You So Much.

[@FF_INTERNATIONAL]

Starting itself shows error : The current logged on user does not have administrative privileges...

[@drEssamKamel]

Thanks ever so much

[@kutaglee64]

Thanks Bro i like your hobby

[@AlistonPinto7]

last command is telling access dined

[@siddheshgaikwad6265]

yes for me also but files are deleted

[@technologyhelpbundaberg8426]

you must Run Cmd [Command Prompt] as Admin [Administrator] (Right click CMD)

[@reginaldmosley64]

that doesnt work

[@Mikelangelow]

@Kix it still doesnt work even tho it's running on administrator

[@kiankian1420]

i cant delete a folder name "hirez studios" it takes ur ram and ur proccesor and its so large

[@kiankian1420]

i deleted a few files now they are onl like 5 files i cant delete it

[@pigo2k3]

And please do other videos on those other 2 folders

[@Britec09]

Ok will do.

[@czlian4081]

rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\. This part access is denied. plzz help

[@Britec09]

You can't run that command on the new Windows 10, hence why I never used it lol. I think Microsoft done something to stop that command working.

[@awaisanees4352]

takeown f must write or not?? means f menas>???

[@dennishenderson6857]

Can't you just do del /F C:\Windows.old ?

[@freekickbros.6115]

+Britec09 How is your mouse moving that smooth?

[@Britec09]

What do you mean?

[@freekickbros.6115]

+Britec09 Wait. Do you use a mouse pad?

[@Britec09]

Yeah sorry, I was using touch pad for this one and trying out my capture box

[@freekickbros.6115]

Oh i get it

[@nightprowler1]

I got some space but it didn't delete all. It says I need admin's permission although I'm admin.

[@muhammadmusa4784]

Hahaha so funny

[@prashantvaishnav5635]

it worked. thanks mate

[@FERLAMEGO]

Hello, I dit but I can't delete this (C:\Windows.old\PROGRA~3\MICROS~1\Windows\SYSTEM~1\S-1-5-~1\ReadOnly) can you help me?

[@fightinirish73kk]

ran as admin don't know what I did just got continously circle spinning on start up and black screen did start up repair got dreaded your drive is locked

[@RobyMicrobi]

Same here. This guy ruined my pc...can't boot windows no more and I followed to the letter his instructions

[@EarthWormJim90]

@@RobyMicrobi he didint ruin your pc you chose to follow his steps and you messed it up. you controlled your pc not him so how did he ruin your pc?

[@harby2875]

thank you now i can delete everything i want with this video

[@reginaldmosley64]

I tell you guys...this deleted MOST of the files, but not all of them...i could not do a complete delete of windows.old because there is a file in it that is being used by my current install of windows 10. I think what the problem is, is that I reset my OS and installed win 10 back on the computer and some of the files in the new install are in the windows.old folder which is why it will not allow me to do a complete wipe of windows.old...just need to find out which files are being used by the new install that are in windows.old...but I do have a faster machine thank God!!!! Keep trying guys!

[@user-ru9cs9hl3h]

thx

[@guanagrace1923]

Thankss i cant find that disk drives and i found u using cmd

[@dimlawss]

Access Denied FIX.. run his steps again.. I got denied then re-ran and it worked.

[@ohene1238]

thanks a lot you just gain a subsciber

[@dresticks110]

I have try it Telling me access is denied

[@CH1K3N99]

Thanks!

[@AmilaNadeera]

Thanks.

[@mercuryow6052]

My computer won't start now... helppppp

[@adamcsontos2421]

this is a lot of time for me :O

[@alexzenderpascal5495]

thks it really work ur geneus

[@chinaexpat1827]

For those of you having trouble run the command prompt on startup.

[@yukki5759]

Thx... U Made My Day

[@MrHaralambo]

Thanks

[@kerrygwebster]

Bravo!!!! And Thanks.

[@gabrielmontoya6494]

Thank you it worked

[@abdousamadhydara]

It is practically impossible to wipe out Windows.old from Windows 10.

[@goranmajnaric556]

i had problem with winSxS after dooing what he did [with administator] do all the same for this sub folder 1. takeown /F C:\Windows.old\Windows\WinSxS\* /R /A 2. cacls C:\Windows.old\Windows\WinSxS\*.* /T /grant administrators:F 3. rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\Windows\WinSxS\ A couple of folder left in windows old but they were apsolutly empty

[@shivkaran2535]

It's showing something the directory is not empty

[@ahmadishaq8881]

again an again it Shows access denied , plz Sir help me

[@TheWeirdestSnow]

Before you open "cmd" right click on the program and Run as Administrator

[@awaisanees4352]

command 1 does not work

[@ralucasirca6603]

And my acces is denied

[@sportsinfo1908]

thnx

[@hekasoram]

just rmdir /s /q CC:\windoes.old\ worked for me

[@anillsharmaa]

ThankS it worked :)

[@Sath888]

Another way to delete old Windows 7 files Hey, I think your videos are brilliant but I'm just wondering why do you and other tech savvy people always use command prompt to do stuff. You see for me it seems a lot simpler to have done this by, first click on Start button then going to Settings >System >Storage >click on This PC drive, then scroll down to, and click on Temporary Files, then scroll down to Previous Version of Windows, then click on Delete Previous Versions. Well at least if anything my way might help people who are not confident using Command Prompt.

[@Britec09]

I did make two videos? one with command prompt and one the easier way.

[@yeetacus1487]

I just right clicked and deleted it and it said I needed admin permission and I continued. I would say that was easier.

[@kidego1971]

Here was my problem....Previous Version of Windows was NOT in my disc cleanup. Windows likes to be bossy and try to tell you what you can and cant do. By using an elevated command prompt, YOU get to tell Windows whos in charge!

[@kidego1971]

Its not always that simple. This video worked like a charm!

[@carsonwu6263]

Sath888, thanks alot! you so brillant also.

[@christophercastillo383]

what is windows 10 Aniverasy

[@DerpProductionz]

The Windows 10 anniversary update

[@Britec09]

Its the new update for Windows 10

[@sjain8853]

Why is there a 'butt' image on the desktop Pls +Britec09

[@Britec09]

For my reggae radio station, don't know why they called it butt lol

[@sjain8853]

Maybe because it's a shorter, easier filename instead of "button"

[@pisey_rio9527]

Thank

[@siddheshgaikwad6265]

thank you very much I have subscribed your channel

[@oplmyt6495]

Ok tanks bro