Windows 10 claimed ~30GB of my SSD space. Is this normal?

Hello, Supra from 7 and 8 blog! I upgraded from Windows 8, and I haven't been able to figure out where this all came from, but a large chunk of it, is Windows.old. I searched how to free up that space, but that only offered me ~5GB. How would I remove Windows.old, or is it not advised?

I would suggest making a clean install. It takes up only 19 GB of my Hard Disk space (Pro version) and takes only 30 minutes to install via pen drive.

Here's the tutorial about how to delete the windows.old folder

Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 10 - Windows 10 blog

Here's the tutorial about how to delete the windows.old folder

Windows.old Folder - Delete in Windows 10 - Windows 10 blog

Thanks for sharing, but I only seem to be able to partially delete this folder with the second option; I will get 'access denied' with a lot of files, it seems. With option 3, it would just tell me the folder isn't empty...

Thanks for sharing, but I only seem to be able to partially delete this folder with the second option; I will get 'access denied' with a lot of files, it seems. With option 3, it would just tell me the folder isn't empty...

If you go to disk cleanup (select to clean C for now) then click "Clean up system files" you will be able to delete old versions of Windows and files from them that are stored in Windows.old

I did this prior to starting the thread. It removed 5GB, but 11GB still remains in Windows.old.

I did this prior to starting the thread. It removed 5GB, but 11GB still remains in Windows.old.

Hmm, when I did it the entire Windows.old and all articles online say that removing "Previous Windows versions" via disk cleanup should remove Windows.old completely.

Hi there

another solution if you have a second machine and have it on a LAN (Wifi connection is good too --doesn't have to be via cable) -- set "C" up as a shared device then from the SECOND machine delete the windows.old

If you don't have a spare machine but are knowledgeable with LINUX download a live distro on to a USB stick, boot it up and you can delete the windows.old from the Windows partition. If you use any Linux distro with a GUI then something like dolphin (approx. like windows explorer) will find and delete the file.

Cheers
jimbo

Why are people replying without reading the full thread.
He already said he tried the 'Cleanup System Files' method.

Yet people keep trying to help with same info.

Sorry, I don't know the answer, Supra.
MS does manage to make the simplest of things a mess at times by hiding means and tools.
Xfiles .

Well it seems the contents of the Windows.old folder have disappeared. I'm not sure what I did (I did try and just delete it from the file explorer) but while the folder isn't able to be deleted, it doesn't weight anything anymore! Thanks for the help.

Why are people replying without reading the full thread.
He already said he tried the 'Cleanup System Files' method. Yet people keep trying to help with same info.

I'm thankful that I have people willing to lend their own time helping me, but I (and likely others) would appreciate scanning the thread to see what progress OP has made. Also, please refrain from "reinstall windows" or "use something else" type answers unless fully justifying it, as most of the time it really doesn't help the original issue!