Windows.old file not found

S

starcraft25

New Member
So I've recently moved from Xp pro to HP x64. During boot up I have an option to select previous windows installation. I googled and found to delete it you must use Disk Cleanup. I've followed steps to the T and no folder ever appears. So I also found a way to do it manually by typing %systemdrive%\Windows.old in the Start Search box. I get an error windows.old file not found. Can anyone help me delete this folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec) 7200 rpm Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
Hello Starcraft, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Is should be at C:\Windows.old, but I would recommend using Disk Cleanup and select the "previous OS discarded file ..." type option to make it easier to do. Sometimes it was actually deleted, but the window did not refresh to show that it was gone.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hey thnks for the reply but it is not there. Disk cleanup does not have it nor is it in C:\Windows.old. It's very annoying

Brink said:
Hello Starcraft, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Is should be at C:\Windows.old, but I would recommend using Disk Cleanup and select the "previous OS discarded file ..." type option to make it easier to do. Sometimes it was actually deleted, but the window did not refresh to show that it was gone.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast
Have you tried searching for the folder with vista search.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec) 7200 rpm Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
Yup typed %systemdrive%\Windows.old in the search bar. I even searched every fold under my C:/windows and nothing related to windows.old


mansrm81 said:
Have you tried searching for the folder with vista search.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Thanks Brink but I know it's that file but it's not there. If it was there wouldn't show up in %systemdrive%\Windows.old in the Start Search box or even when I try to delete it in the command prompt using this way:
Alternatively, you can also use a command prompt to delete files and folders from an earlier installation of Windows Vista. To do this, Run 'Command Prompt' as administrator.
First you will need to take ownership of this folder, so at the command prompt, type
takeown /F C:\Windows.old\* /R /A​
and hit Enter. Next, in the command prompt, type
cacls C:\Windows.old\*.* /T /grant administrators:F​
and hit Enter. When you run this command, administrators are granted full rights to all files and to all folders. Finally, type
rmdir /S /Q C:\Windows.old\​
and hit Enter. This will delete the windows.old folder.

Brink said:
The file path would be C:\Windows.old, and not C:\Windows\Windows.old if it was created during installation. ;)

Set your system files to not be hidden in folder options to see if it may show up afterwards.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86163-hidden-files-folders.html
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast
Open up msconfig and see if you can see the entry for previous version and if you can delete it form the boot tab.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec) 7200 rpm Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
Hey mansrm81, ok I've tried that also and there is onlt 1 which is Vista. I was convinced the it has been deleted but everytime I reboot I keep get the previous windows installation selection...

mansrm81 said:
Open up msconfig and see if you can see the entry for previous version and if you can delete it form the boot tab.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast
Anyone else have a suggestion
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast
starcraft25 said:
So I've recently moved from Xp pro to HP x64. During boot up I have an option to select previous windows installation. I googled and found to delete it you must use Disk Cleanup. I've followed steps to the T and no folder ever appears. So I also found a way to do it manually by typing %systemdrive%\Windows.old in the Start Search box. I get an error windows.old file not found. Can anyone help me delete this folder.
Click to expand...

The problem is when you installed Vista Home Premium, you did not perform an Upgrade Install.

From the sound of it, your machine is now setup to dual boot between XP and Vista. I know of now easy way to fix that without wiping both... :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I) 2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S) 2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S) 2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
OK guys so I found this when I boot up it has 2 options. 1 load previous windows installation 2 Load Vista.
So I decided to select Option 1. Got an error windows root system32 ntoskrnl.exe missing or corrupt. I'm assumming the mean the file is missing for XP. Vista loads just find but I have no windows.old file to delete. So the question is can I run the XP repair program at boot to fix the corrupted file. and maybe the windows.old folder would appear in vista
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    e6700 3.12
    Motherboard
    EVGA 680i
    Memory
    8gb Crucial Ballistix
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 19in
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    WD Raptor 150 Raid 0 WD 320
    PSU
    700w Thermalright
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Zalman 9700
    Internet Speed
    Comcast
Startcraft,

Just to help make sure everyone here is one the same page with you, could you tell us exactly how, what, and where you installed the XP and/or Vista?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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