How to return the previous Windows. How to restore old Windows after installing a new one

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Read about what data is stored in the Windows.old folder and how to recover it from there. How to delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space. Have you upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 to the new Windows 10? Has a Windows.old folder appeared on your computer and is it taking up a lot of space? You can delete it, but not in the same way as you delete regular folders.

The Windows.old folder is not new to Windows 10. But before Windows 10, this folder could be seen if you purchased a new version of Windows and installed it by updating the previous version.

Content:

What is the Windows.old folder?

This folder appears when you upgrade from one version of Windows to a newer version, starting with Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder contains all the files and data from the previous version of Windows that was installed before the upgrade. It can be used to revert (roll back) to a previous version of Windows in case the new version does not work. To recover data after reinstalling Windows.

If you need to find a special file that was not copied correctly when updating Windows, you can also rummage through the Windows.old folder and find it.

Essentially, the Windows.old folder contains the old version of Windows. From Windows system files to installed programs, from user account settings to simple files, everything is here. The new version of Windows keeps this information in case you want to go back to the old version of Windows or if you need to find a file.

But, don't hesitate too long. Windows will automatically delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space after a month.

How to return to a previous version of Windows?

From Windows 10, going back to Windows 7 or 8.1 is very easy. After installing Windows 10, you can simply open the Settings application, select Update & Security, and click Recovery. In this section we will see the option Return to Windows 7 or 8.1, depending on which version of Windows you upgraded from.

After we click the “Start” button, Windows will restore the previous version of the operating system using the Windows.old folder as a source.

Before Windows 10, this could also be done. Here, for example, are instructions from the official Microsoft website on how to restore Windows 7 to a previous version of Windows using the Windows.old folder. With Windows 10 everything is much simpler.

But again, as noted in Windows Settings, this feature is only available for a month after upgrading to Windows 10. After a month, Windows will automatically delete the Windows.old folder in order to free up disk space. So you have a month to decide whether you want to continue using the new version of the system or not and evaluate whether all the files you need were copied correctly.

How to recover individual files from the Windows.old folder

If you need to restore individual files from an old Windows installation, you can restore them from the Windows.old folder. To do this, you just need to open the Windows.old folder in File Explorer: C:\Windows.old. Your personal files will be located in the C:\Windows.old\Users\USERNAME folder.

But keep in mind that even on the official Microsoft website it is indicated that, if desired, you can restore all files or (Attention!) some of them from the Windows.old folder. To prevent data loss, Microsoft strongly recommends that you back up your files and settings to an external drive before restoring, reverting, updating, or reinstalling Windows.

That is, there is a risk of data loss when updating Windows and/or returning from Windows 10 to the previous version. Moreover, Microsoft does not provide for the recovery of data lost in this way using standard Windows tools.

In such a case, the only option for data recovery may be third-party software. If, when updating or restoring Windows, any data or files are lost, regardless of their type or extension, scan drive C: using Hetman Partition Recovery from Hetman Software, and restore them to a convenient location or storage medium.

How to delete the Windows.old folder to free up disk space

The Windows.old folder can take up quite a lot of disk space. At best it will be 12 GB. But its volume can reach 20 GB or even more. It all depends on the size of your previous version of Windows.

Try to delete the Windows.old folder in the same way as any other folder, and you will receive an error message. You can work around the error message by changing the permissions of the Windows.old folder. But this is the wrong way to delete this folder.

To remove the Windows.old folder, you can use the Windows Disk Cleanup tool or a third-party program. On Windows 10, open the Start menu, search for Disk Cleanup and launch the application. You can also open this application by right-clicking in the “This PC” folder on drive C, selecting “Properties” from the pop-up menu, then clicking the “Disk Cleanup” button.

Click the “Clean up system files” button. “Previous versions of Windows” will also appear in the list of files to delete, and Disk Cleanup will show how much space these files take up. Select this option and click Clean up disk, the old version of Windows will be removed. This function can also be used to clean the system disk from other unnecessary files.

By deleting the Windows.old folder you do not risk anything. If you are satisfied with the new version of Windows and have no desire to return to the old version of the operating system, and are also sure that all the files you need have been copied from the Windows.old folder, you can safely delete it.

Windows will still automatically delete the Windows.old folder a month after the update. All computers that have upgraded to Windows 10 will still be able to use the space occupied by the Windows.old folder, even if their users are unaware of the folder and are unaware of its existence or the ability to use Disk Cleanup.

The File History utility in Windows gets its name from its ability to restore older versions of a file. This feature is part of all backup programs, although it is often called "Restore". Although the idea is the same: you remove the old version of the file from the backup archive. The File History feature simplifies this process and working with files in general.

In order to return the old version of a file from a backup disk, you need to follow these steps.

If you need to replace the current version with a new one: select "Restore" and then "Replace file in target application." The current file is replaced with the backup copy.
In order to save both the current version and the restored backup, you must click “Restore” and select “Restore to”. Select the target folder for the recovered file.
To view an archived copy: Click Open. The file has not been recovered, but you can view its contents to see if it contains the information you need.

4. Then click close Properties window when done. If there are no previous versions, you will see the message "There are no previous versions available after step 2. This means that the file is new and was not copied, that the file has not changed, or that a backup copy of this file does not exist. The File History utility is not a replacement for recovering a file from the Recycle Bin; if you delete a file, you need to restore it from the Recycle Bin.

File History only works with files in the folders you selected when setting up the utility.

Video: How to recover an unsaved or damaged Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint document

Microsoft will officially launch the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709) starting October 17, 2017. Many users will be able to automatically update the system while saving all personal files, settings, installed programs and drivers.

Many of the changes in the Fall Creators Update are positive and expected by many users. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to roll back to a previous build, then Microsoft provides an easy solution to roll back to Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703).

When faced with serious problems, some users will want to return to the previous version of Windows 10, which worked stably and smoothly. After installing the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, all users have 10 days to test the new version and, if desired, revert to version 1703.

How to downgrade to Windows 10 Creators Update

Launch the application Options, go to section Update and Security and select a tab Recovery.
Select an option Go back to the previous version of Windows 10. You will not see this option if you reset your computer to its original state or deleted the folder Windows.old. In most cases, after updating to version 1709, you will see this option within 10 days.

Click the “Get Started” button and follow the onscreen prompts. The restore process may take some time, after which the previous version of Windows 10 will be installed.

Note: This procedure will return the original state of files and installed programs (which was before the update). Do

Previous versions These are either copies of files and folders that Windows Backup created, or copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of a restore point.

Previous versions can be used to recover accidentally changed, deleted, or damaged files and folders. Depending on the type of file or folder, you can open it, save it in a different location, or restore the previous version.

How previous versions are created

Previous versions are automatically saved as part of the restore point. When system protection is turned on, Windows automatically creates previous versions of files and folders that have changed since the last restore point was created. Typically, restore points are created once a day.

If the drive is partitioned or your computer has multiple hard drives, you should enable system protection for other partitions or drives. Previous versions are also created by Windows Backup when you back up files.

Note: If a file has changed several times within one day, only the latest version at the time the restore point or backup was created is saved as the previous version.

How to restore previous versions of a file and folder

Right-click the file or folder and select .

A list of available previous versions of the file or folder appears. The list will contain files saved during backup (if Windows Backup is used to back up files) and recovery points.

Note: To restore a previous version of a file or folder that you added to a library, right-click the file or folder in the location where you saved it, not in the library. For example, to restore a previous version of an image added to the image library, but in the folder My drawings, right click on the folder My drawings and select Restore previous versions.

What is the difference between a recovery point and a backup?

If you restore the previous version from a restore point, the file is downloaded on your computer, so you don't need to do anything else.

To restore a previous version of a file or folder from a backup, after selecting the previous version and clicking Restore, Windows opens the File Restore Wizard, and then follow the steps in the wizard.

The disk or media on which the backup is stored must be accessible so that items from the backup can be restored.

Why are there no previous versions of some files?

Possible reasons:

The file has not been modified. Previous versions are only available for files that have been modified.
A restore point or backup was not created after the file was modified.
The drive on which these files are stored may not have system protection enabled. If system protection is not turned on, Windows cannot create previous versions.

You can recover a deleted file or folder

If you accidentally deleted or renamed a file or folder, you can restore a previous version of a file or folder, but you need to know the location where they are stored.

To recover a deleted or renamed file or folder, follow these steps:

Clue: If you don't remember the file or folder name or location, enter part of the name in the search box in the Computer folder.

Today we will look at: how to return the previous version of Windows if Windows 8/10 was installed, why the Windows.old folder is needed, why it takes up a lot of space and how it can be deleted.

The Windows.old folder is a special directory containing all the data from the previous version of the operating system. This folder appears if the user has updated his OS to a new version (for example, Windows 8 was updated to Windows 10).

The main purpose of Windows.old is the ability to quickly roll back the current operating system to the previous version that was installed before the update. This can be useful if the user is not satisfied with a newer Windows system in terms of system requirements, features, design, or any other parameters.

It is worth noting that in addition to returning the operating system to its previous state, the user will be able return all installed applications, settings and files. This will return your computer to the state it was in when you started installing the new version of Windows.

Because each computer runs a different set of software, the Windows.old folder may vary in size depending on the number of files stored, programs installed, and other information.

Important! The Windows.old folder is a temporary directory that will be automatically deleted after thirty days after installing the system.

How to restore the system to a previous version

If the user decides to return his old version of Windows after installing Windows 10, then this procedure can be quickly completed using the system interface:

Step 1. Click right click by button "Start" and in the menu that opens, select the item "Options".

Step 2. In the window that opens, select "Update and Security".

Step 3. In the update menu, go to the column "Recovery", find the item "Return to Windows" and press the button "Begin".

After this, the previous version of Windows will be automatically installed, the files of which were located in the Windows.old folder.

Recovering data from the Windows.old folder

In addition to performing a system rollback, the Windows.old folder can be used to manually restore files and data that were present on the old version of the OS. To do this, just follow the path "C:\Windows.old." and open the folder in Explorer "C:\Windows.old.\Users\Username", where the data from the old version will be located.

If you find that some important files are missing or they are not saved in the Windows.old folder, this may be the reason file transfer does not work correctly during the installation of new Windows.

This problem may occur in rare cases, so operating system developers always recommend create backup copies of important data, which may be lost during the transfer process.

The problem of deleting data and files cannot be solved using the built-in tools of the system, and the user must use third-party programs to recover files. For these purposes the company Recovery Software offers to use one of its utilities, which are designed to restore information after deletion, formatting, destruction due to changes in the logical structure of the drive or the action of malicious programs.

In the arsenal Recovery Software, there are the following utilities that can quickly recover lost data:

RS Partition Recovery is a specialized utility for comprehensive recovery of lost information. The functionality of the program allows you to recover data after formatting, changing the file system and redistributing disk partitions. RS Partition Recovery suitable for all file types.
RS Office Recovery – recovery program text files, office documents and files created in Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, Adobe etc. The utility's capabilities allow you to quickly find important documents using a selective search by file extensions, creation date and other characteristics.
RS Photo Recovery – emergency recovery program images, photographs, pictures and other graphic files any types. The utility will become an indispensable assistant for photographers who shoot in RAW or store processed photos in psd. RS Photo Recovery will easily restore an accidentally deleted photo session from a memory card, regardless of its format.

Each of the utilities will help you return deleted important data of the required type. The programs use complex algorithms to scan the surface of the disk and conduct a deep scan to find all possible information that can be recovered. Software Recovery Software has accessible system requirements, which allows use utilities on any laptop or office computer. In addition, the utilities have an intuitive interface and built-in assistants that will help you recover data in just a few clicks.

To restore files in the Windows.old directory, just scan the system disk with a deep or quick scan and go through the program interface to the folder where the data was stored.

You can recover deleted files using the corresponding button located in the upper left corner of the recovery program window.

How to delete the Windows.old folder?

If you are convinced that all important data has been transferred to the new operating system, then the Windows.old folder is no longer needed and can be deleted without waiting a month for automatic cleaning to occur.

It is worth noting that the folder size can reach more than 20 gigabytes, which can make up a significant part of the system partition, so to delete the folder we recommend following these steps:

Step 1. Go to the folder "My computer" or "This computer" and press right mouse button on the system partition (usually “Disk C”). In the menu that opens, select the item "Properties".

Step 2. In the window that opens, select the item "Disk Cleanup".

Step 3. In the next window, click on the button "Clean up system files".

Step 3. To clean the Windows.old folder, follow the "Delete the following data" check the box "Previous Windows Installations" and confirm the action with the button "OK".

In addition to the Windows.old folder, your computer may also store a large amount of unnecessary information that takes up disk space. How to deal with this can be found in the article “