New Copy of Vista with "Windows.old" ???

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rusty12

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2007
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I had to recently re-install Windows Vista after my cousin screwed up my PC. However this is only my second time re-installing an OS and I did something I unintentionally meant to do.

On my new fresh install of Vista when I go into my C drive, at the bottom of the folders there is a folder called "Windows.old" and when clicked upon, it has all my program files, documents, music and everything else in between. While this was actually nice since I foolishly don't have a backup drive yet I was able to easily transfer over a lot of files onto my fresh Vista install.

My question is this. Now that I've transfered over mostly everything that I want, how do I go about getting rid of this "Windows.old". It's eating up a ton my HDD space and I want to install MS Office but I don't want to use the license that is being used on the old copy of Vista. ...I hope that was written clearly. Anyways, is it as simple as just deleting the folder? That seems way too simple and easy as nothing is that simple I feel like lol.


Also, if anybody knows where I went wrong in the installation process of my new copy of Vista, could they explain what option/step I missed in the install? I'd appreciate it.

Cheers!
 
I just 'click - delete' the thing when I had to reinstall Vista. My only issue was getting rid of the Bioshock copy protection files which will not delete manually. I've had no issues with just deleting the Windows.old folder.
 
It sounds like you installed Vista over itself, which normally isn't the most recommended method, but it sounds like you have no place to back your data up to. The Windows.old folder is perfectly normal, as it is where all old files and settings are stored from the previous OS. Assuming you removed all of your important data from the Windows.old folder, you can delete it.

You did nothing wrong, but you should invest in an external hard drive, so in the future, you can move your data off to that drive, and wipe your internal hard drive clean before reinstalling. Or, if you needed to reinstall to fix a problem, a repair install would have worked, assuming that option is still there in Vista. I haven't had to try as of yet.
 
The funny/sad thing is I did not intend to re-install Vista over itself. I wanted to have wiped my drive clean and then put a fresh new copy of the OS on it. I did it before but I don't know what I did the second go around.

Yes, I know I should know better than not to have my files backed up. I've been looking for an external drive but can't find one that I like that meets what I'm looking for thats in my price range.

I guess I'll just delete the old windows and see what happens. **Crosses fingers**:p
 
rusty12 said:
I wanted to have wiped my drive clean and then put a fresh new copy of the OS on it. I did it before but I don't know what I did the second go around.
Click to expand...
It's not what you did this time, it's what you didn't do.
When you reach the screen that shows the available drives and asks where you want to install the OS you can highlight the partition/drive and use the "format" option to erase the current install.
This eliminates the "windows.old" folder as there is no previous install to be saved.
 
sprocket said:
It's not what you did this time, it's what you didn't do.
When you reach the screen that shows the available drives and asks where you want to install the OS you can highlight the partition/drive and use the "format" option to erase the current install.
This eliminates the "windows.old" folder as there is no previous install to be saved.
Click to expand...


Ah, thank you for the explanation. I'll have to make a sticky note to watch out for that lol
 
Most people tend to prefer wiping the drive clean with some 3rd party utility, but the quick and dirty way is to delete your previous partitions during that screen, and then recreate them.
 
There should be an option to remove all of the old files in the Disk Cleanup utility (in Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools). I would do it from there instead of just deleting the folder.
 
rusty12 said:
Ah, thank you for the explanation. I'll have to make a sticky note to watch out for that lol
Click to expand...
This is a good example of how Vista seems to have changed things for no apparent good reason.
Installing XP, after you picked the target partion/drive the next screen displayed format options (including "leave it alone"), so you were essentially forced to consider what to do.

Vista skips this step and just merrily goes ahead and installs over the old OS unless you have opted to deal with it on the previous screen.
I know that one of the MS designers goals was to make the install process simpler (or at least fewer question screens) but this seems like a silly omission to me.

As long as I'm at it...whoever decided to make the "Welcome Center" automatically open at log in by default should be shot.
XP's "Tour" was bad but at least it went away after being opened once...
 
sprocket said:
As long as I'm at it...whoever decided to make the "Welcome Center" automatically open at log in by default should be shot.
XP's "Tour" was bad but at least it went away after being opened once...
Click to expand...

LOL, A tad excessive don't you think, considering all you have to do is uncheck the box at the bottom to tell it not pop-up on the next boot. :p
 
"Excessive"...maybe, but to me it's the equivalent of putting the key in your ignition and having the glovebox pop open and the owner's manual eject into your lap.
Yes, there are occasions that I might want to see it, but every time I start the car?
 
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