Clear old system backup files in the system disk after Win8 upgrade

Author: Shiny

Some people upgrade from older versions of Windows to Windows 8 will feel the system disk space occupied by relatively large, this is because the system files automatically backup storage before the upgrade process will Win8 In the Windows.old folder, the size of this folder ranges from a few gigabytes to a dozen gigabytes. If the space of the system partition is not sufficient, the disk usage problem will be more obvious. To delete this folder, you can use the WinDisk system's "Disk Cleanup" function as follows.

Open Win8 File Explorer by “Win+E”, you can see the “Windows.old” folder from the system partition. Direct deletion can be a bit cumbersome because of the special nature of the system files and the associated permissions settings. Therefore, we recommend using the Win8“Disk Cleanup" function to clear the "Windows.old" folder.

Windows.old folder:

Windows.old is a folder for backing up important files of the old system during Microsoft Windows system upgrade or reinstallation. The new system will be in the original system. “Windows”, Program Files”,“Users” and other files in the directory are transferred to the <quo;Windows.old" folder in the system partition of the new system. If there is a problem with the new system, you can extract the files to replace the entire system or a single file.

After using Win8 for a period of time, if you confirm that the original files and settings are already in the corresponding location of the new system, you can safely reclaim the disk space by using the "Disk Cleanup" folder to delete the Windows.old folder. Note: Before using Win8“Disk Cleanup, make sure all files and settings are in the location where they are in Win8. The delete operation performed on the Windows.old folder is irreversible.

Right-click on the system drive letter and select “Properties” from the context menu.

Left: Old System Backup Folder Right: View Win8 System Properties

Next, click the "Disk Cleanup" button in the &#>General” tab.

Icon: Click on "Disk Cleanup" button

Now we enter Win8's Disk Cleanup interface and click on the “Clean System File” button.

Illustration: Select "Clean up system files" in the Win8 disk cleanup interface.

Here we can see the "Previous Windows installation" option, check this box. Click “OK" to delete the Windows.old file.

Illustration: Check "Previous Windows installation" and confirm cleanup

Above we have introduced how to upgrade the old Windows system to Win8 through Win8“Disk Cleanup> The method and steps for deleting the stored Windows.old folder in the system partition are expected to be helpful to everyone.