
Question:
I was having some issue with my computer, so I went to reinstall the Windows 7 , onto my computer. After the installation was complete, I noticed I have a C:\windows.old that takes up a large amount on my computer. I’ve tried highlighting and hitting delete, but it’s not letting me remove it.
Jeanne Cundiff
Benton Harbor, MI
Answer:
I’ve seen this happen, when people install Windows on a drive without formatting the disk. Luckily there is a very simple way that you can remove this directory.
- Click the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup and the click Disk Cleanup program.
Note: If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive you just installed Windows. - In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, click Clean up system files.
- Select the Previous Windows installation check box.
Note: plus any other check boxes you want to delete, and then click OK. - In the message that appears, click Delete Files.
That should remove the files for you. Just make sure you really want it gone before going through these steps.
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