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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>> 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?

does it have something to do with setting security permissions as in this
post

http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofivers...p/t389692.html

I have looked at security settings and it is baffling to say the least, can
anybody help?


"Mark Dietz" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:u6i8DnLlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >>> news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >>>> 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
<WielM@discussions.microsoft.com> 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" <imnuts@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> >>> news:%23hjVE2JlGHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> >>>> 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?
>>