Windows.old is using 30 GB of my disk
After a feature update Windows keeps a rollback copy for ten days. After that it can go, but manual delete fails without rights.
Try this first
- 1Open Disk Cleanup as administrator on the C drive
- 2Tick Previous Windows installation and confirm
- 3Or use DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
- 4Verify the System folder is normal again with dir /a
When to bring us in
If cleanup hangs: boot into WinRE and remove the folder there with takeown and rd /s.
See also
- My laptop is suddenly slowThree main suspects: a runaway background process, near-full disk, or a Windows update in progress.
- One specific application is slow for everyoneIf an app is slow for one person: local. For everyone at once: server side or vendor side.
- Opening files from the file server takes minutesOften the server itself is fine and the issue is network routing or stalling DNS resolution.
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