Windows 7 Cannot delete Windows.old files

[ALemaniak]

I have 2 sets of these from repeated failed Windows 7 installs now and while it says I should go ahead and delete them, I cannot get them to go away for the life of me! I have tried doing the disk cleanup, but I don't have the option to clean up the previous Windows installation files.

Any help would be MUCH appreciated as my hard drive is now totally full!

 

[pbcopter]

Take ownership of them and set permission to allow you full control.

See this tutorial (Vista is the same as Windows 7)

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/112795-context-menu-take-ownership.html

 

[SIW2]

In start search, Type

cleanmgr /sageset:1

When it pops up, you can tick all the boxes ( except setup log files). Click Ok.

Then type:

cleanmgr /sagerun:1

and run it

Hope it helps

 

[RAK]

You can also do it with the built in App.
In the Start menu open Accessories and System tools. Run Disk Cleanup.
If you have Windows configured correctly, you can simplify it even further by just typing cleanmgr.exe in the Start box. When the program has finished scanning, examine the boxes in the drop down list, and select all of them.

 

[iroken22]

Personally i just right click on the windows.old and set security properties so that i can access the file and do what i want with them. This way i can just highlight the folder and delete it. All the other ideas mentioned above have also worked for me.