How to remove the Windows.old folder that is generated when you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista

This article describes how to remove the Windows.old folder that is generated when you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder contains folders and files that were used in the earlier version of Microsoft Windows that was installed.

To remove the Windows.old folder, follow these steps.

Important Before you remove the Windows.old folder, make sure that there are no important files in it.

1. Click Start
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   , click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
2. Click Disk Cleanup.
3. In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, click Files from all users on this computer.
   
   Note If the User Account Control dialog box appears, type the administrator password, and then click OK. Otherwise, click Continue.
4. In the Disk Cleanup:Drive Selection dialog box, select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK. Wait while the system scans the computer for unnecessary files.
5. Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then look for the Previous Windows installations check box.
6. If you find the Previous Windows installations check box, click to select it, and then click OK.
   
   If you do not find this check box, go to step 7.
7. When you are prompted to confirm the removal of files, click Delete Files.
8. Wait while the system removes the files. You have now removed the Windows.old folder.

For more information about the Windows.old folder, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: