Windows during upgrade of the computer to a newer version create the Windows.old folder containing the older one, as a safeguard in case something goes wrong and a system restore needs to be done.
As mentioned before, the Windows.old folder contains all the files and folders of the old Windows installation. The folder is not saved for a long time, and it is automatically deleted from Windows.
Of course you can use it tool εκκαθάρισης δίσκου για να διαγράψετε το φάκελο, ειδικά αν διαθέτετε περιορισμένο χώρο. Αν τώρα προσπαθήσετε να διαγράψετε το φάκελο με μη αυτόματο τρόπο από τον File Explore your, you will notice errors showing that you don't have permission because the folder contains system files.
Remove the Windows.old folder manually
To do so, you should run the following commands in the cmd.exe box
Open an cmd window with administrator privileges. To do so easily, tap the button that has the icon Window, and type cmd. Hold down the Shift + Ctrl keys and press Enter.
If the above is difficult for you, open the Windows menu and search for cmd.exe. Right click on the black icon and "Open as Administrator"
The three commands
takeown / F c: \ Windows.old \ * / R / A / DY
cacls c: \ Windows.old \ *. * / T / grant administrators: F
rmdir / S / Q c: \ Windows.old
Let's look carefully at the commands to understand what they are doing:
takeown / F c: \ Windows.old \ * / R / A / DY
Takeown can be used to make it team administrators, owner of a file or folder.
/ F c: \ Windows.old \ * - This specifies the location and files in which the operation will be performed.
/ R - performs an iterative operation for all files in the Windows.old folder
/ A - gives ownership to the Administrators team.
/ DY - answers the confirmation question when the current user does not have the "List Folder" license.
cacls c: \ Windows.old \ *. * / T / grant administrators: F
This command displays or modifies DACL files (discretionary access control list).
c: \ Windows.old \ *. * - The files in which you want the operation to run.
/ t - Changes the DACL of files in the selected folder and all subfolders.
/ grant administrators: f - Provides full access rights to the admin group (F stands for Full)
rmdir / S / Q c: \ Windows.old
The command deletes the folder
/ S - This parameter allows you to delete all specified subfolders and their files in the specified folder.
/ Q - executes the program in quiet mode without confirmation prompts.
c: \ Windows.old - specifies the folder to be deleted.
