cannot delete windows old file

I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org>
T5 wrote:

I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

Thanks Mark, I'm going to run vista for the full course on a clean machine and then decide if it is worth parting with the mazoola. I have everything I need backed up on an xp machine, I can always transfer it back later. "Mark Dietz" wrote in message

You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message

You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and deleting it via command line. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org>
T5 wrote:

doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

Watch out! It's dangerous to only delete that directory!
Use BCDEDIT from within the DVD's recovery console to remove the old Vista installation!
"Mark Dietz" wrote:

Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and deleting it via command line. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

It isn't necessary Vista in the "windows.old" directory, and bcdedit will not remove files. windows.old contains the user profile directory, program files directory(ies), and the windows directory, and is only present when you install over top of a previous installation of windows without upgrading or formatting. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org>
WielM wrote:

Watch out! It's dangerous to only delete that directory!
Use BCDEDIT from within the DVD's recovery console to remove the old Vista installation!
"Mark Dietz" wrote:
Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and deleting it via command line. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

bcdedit doesn't remove the directory, that is true. But what I experienced is that, if the windows.old system is still defined in Vista's version of the old boot.ini file and you remove the directory, future system restores will take a very long time and recreate the directory. It also may explain the lock on the directory that prevented the removal of the directory.
"Mark Dietz" wrote:

It isn't necessary Vista in the "windows.old" directory, and bcdedit will not remove files. windows.old contains the user profile directory, program files directory(ies), and the windows directory, and is only present when you install over top of a previous installation of windows without upgrading or formatting. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
WielM wrote: Watch out! It's dangerous to only delete that directory!
Use BCDEDIT from within the DVD's recovery console to remove the old Vista installation!
"Mark Dietz" wrote:
Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and deleting it via command line. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

Too stupid for a beta OS.
When you help someone like this they will just be back in a few more days with more stupid question.
This group is being flooded with moronic questions: How do I get a product key Where do I get a driver for xyz hardware Won't install on my lapotop Won't install on my computer circa 1968 My crappy video card won't run aero glass (the sky is falling) My crappy sound card doesn't work Can't figure out how to activate Will my 16 bit program from 1992 run on Vista How long can I use Vista Beta How do I dual boot I NEED STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO GET XP BACK cannot delete windows.old file
Ignore them, children should only listen to adult conversations, not be incouraged to join in.
On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 01:55:01 -0700, WielM wrote:

bcdedit doesn't remove the directory, that is true. But what I experienced is that, if the windows.old system is still defined in Vista's version of the old boot.ini file and you remove the directory, future system restores will take a very long time and recreate the directory. It also may explain the lock on the directory that prevented the removal of the directory.
"Mark Dietz" wrote:
It isn't necessary Vista in the "windows.old" directory, and bcdedit will not remove files. windows.old contains the user profile directory, program files directory(ies), and the windows directory, and is only present when you install over top of a previous installation of windows without upgrading or formatting. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
WielM wrote: Watch out! It's dangerous to only delete that directory!
Use BCDEDIT from within the DVD's recovery console to remove the old Vista installation!
"Mark Dietz" wrote:
Ok, thought that might do it. The only other way I've heard of users getting rid of this was booting from an XP cd and going into the recovery console and deleting it via command line. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: doesnt work Mark, even in safe mode logged in as administrator it still says that I do not have sufficient permission to delete the file "Mark Dietz" wrote in message You will need to remove it as the Administrator (this isn't the account you log in under). You can do so by booting into Safe Mode and selecting Administrator as the user you want to log in as. Just a note, the "windows.old" folder that you want to delete has everything that was in whatever OS you previously had. That folder shows up when installing Vista over top of another OS without upgrading, so if you had XP previously, all your files and settings are in that folder. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
T5 wrote: I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

T5 schrieb:

I have just installed vista preview and wish to delete the windows.old file that is nearly 28gb in size however i get a vista message telling me that I do not have sufficient permission to do this, how do I safely delete it?

I had no problem with deleting windows.old - I right-clicked windows.old > properties und unchecked write-protected!
Then I could delete the whole folder or parts of it - after saving worthwhile files like pictures...
Roy