Windows 7 Tip: Grab Forgotten Files From Your Windows.old Folder

On 01.12.09, In Tips/Tricks, Windows, by Matt Brian

In the rush to get their hands on a Windows 7 download and a product key, some people may have forgotten to backup all of the files that they wanted to port across to their new Windows installation. Many users have run into issues with failing to backup their Firefox profile’s and related sensitive information.

If you upgraded from Windows XP or Vista, chances are that Windows 7 will have archived all your old Windows information from these systems in a folder named “Windows.old”, located normally in C:/Windows.old. This isn’t a secret, as the installation program tells you as you go through the installation process, but it sure can be handy.

Inside this folder, you will be able to navigate back through your old install, grabbing your Firefox profile or FTP saved passwords, copying and pasting them into your current installation.

I was lucky and backed up all my information, so I deleted the folder the next day. It’s handy to keep for the first few weeks but it can take up a lot of hard drive space (mine weighed in at 40GB I think).

Any other tips? Shout them in the comments.

Matt Brian

I'm a tech writer, social networker and sports nut. Famed for being the first ever internet user and inventor of the toaster, I can be found on street corners peddling second hand top hats. You can visit my personal site and catch up with me on Twitter and Friendfeed.

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NongOff

It's very useful. Thanks

Deborah

Is there any way to restore the programs that windows stores in that folder?

Matt

@Deborah

I don' t think there is, maybe copying the data files associated with it might help?

Alberto

What about the microsoft outlook information. Where can I find it in that Windows Old folder?

Matt

@Alberto

I dont think you can, the settings for that would probably be in the Registry. You could look in the Windows.old folder and then the Program Files directory and see if you can find the Outlook folder that holds all the data.

Whitey

I can't move files from Windows.old because it keeps asking for admin ownership or something like that. Any help?

Thanks a lot. =]

Matt

@Whitey

You could possibly try right clicking on the folder and amending the security settings on the folder. This will allow you to take ownership of the files.

More info @ BlogsDNA: http://www.blogsdna.com/2159/how-to-take-owners...

mobilematradee

Thanks for the assistance, I was trying to figure out how to get my program file Mobile Matradee, a restaurant pager system I developed, from my old files. I thought I just erased my life's work!!
Now I was able to not only find it but launch it, check it out www.mobilematradee.com

Dom

Hey there!
..just to make it clear (for myself)..currently my pc is running on windows vista home premium but I wanna upgrade to Windows 7 pro which is only possible if I choose a customized installation. On the Windows Website it says "Custom. This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, but doesn't preserve your files, settings, and programs. It's sometimes referred to as a clean installation for that reason."

So my question is: are my files going to be preserved in this windows.old folder? What happens to my programs?

- I know some of the questions came up in the discussion earlier already, it would be nice if you could say it again though as I am not exactly sure how my case is different from that of other people..

Cheers.

Diana

I did an installation actually hoping to clear my drive, I had already backed up everything, but it did preserve everything in the Windows.old file which is taking up 80Gigs in my drive!

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