By George Norman
Added on 04 Nov 2009(5790 Views)



If you’ve decided to finally give up on XP and install Windows 7, then you certainly found out that a simple upgrade path is not provided. Microsoft offers to ways to upgrade to Windows 7:
1. In-place upgrade – all the files, folders, settings and programs are moved from your current operating system to Windows. An in-place upgrade can be performed in these instances:
Vista Home Basic -> Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Ultimate
Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Ultimate
Vista Business -> Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate
Vista Ultimate -> Windows 7 Ultimate
2. A custom upgrade – this is basically a fancy name for what is a fresh Windows 7 installation. You have to backup all the data that you don’t want to be (potentially) lost. I used the word “potentially” because Windows 7 creates a folder called Windows.old. This folder contains Windows, Program Files, Documents and Settings, and Users.

If you’ve already backed up all the info you don’t want to lose, Windows.old unnecessarily takes up space on your system. Here is how you can easily remove Windows.old:

Step 1. Click the Start button from the left hand corner of the screen or press the Windows key on your keyboard (the one that has the Microsoft logo on it)

Step 2. In the search box, type in Disk Cleanup -> a list of search results will appear -> click Disk Cleanup.

Step 3. Select the drive you’ve just installed Windows 7 on (typically C:) and click OK.

Step 4. Click Clean up system files (in the Disk Cleanup dialog box, the Disk Cleanup tab).
Select the drive you’ve just installed Windows 7 on – if prompted to do so.

Step 5. Check the box next to Previous Windows installations.

Step 6. Click OK.

Step 7. Click Delete files.

Tips and warnings
  • Deleting the Windows.old folder is not something that can be easily undone. Make sure you got all the data you need from it before deleting it.
  • If you’ve bought a new Windows 7 PC, you can easily transition your data from the old XP-powered Pc to the new Windows 7-powered PC with Easy Transfer and a USB stick or with Easy Transfer over the network.




Don't forget to:

Tags: Microsoft, Windows 7, Upgrade, Windows.old

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Comments

Trish432 - 30 Aug 2010 19:29
I usually delete the Windows old folder by right clicking it in Computer - program files - Windows Old.
ely - 21 Jul 2010 00:37
it does work--at least for my case. The key is step 4. first time when you reach the "Disk Cleanup" window where a list of options are shown, you won't see "previous windows installation". you need to click the UAC button on bottom left (says "Clean up system files")of the tab, go through the scanning again, and then back to the same Disk Cleanup window with the "previous windows installation". Also, make sure the disk hasn't been cleaned up before(has Windows.old). The option will not be listed in that case.
WASTE - 03 Apr 2010 18:16
ya ... also does not work.... all sites HAVE THE SAME CUT AND PASTE
Stan - 01 Dec 2009 23:23
Doesn't work for me--the disk cleanup application doesn't show a delete previous windows installation choice, even though this was a "custom" install of windows 7, and the "windows.old" folder is clearly present. And running disk cleanup anyway doesn't delete it. It may be related to the fact that most of the individual files and folders within Windows.old have been deleted, but still...there ought to be a way to remove this folder.

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