Glad you got to a working
22H2 install again — and yes, when Setup can’t do an in-place upgrade, it sometimes
forces the issue and you end up with the clean install +
Windows.old situation.
1) First: protect Windows.old (don’t let Windows delete it)
Windows can automatically remove
C:\Windows.old (Storage Sense/Disk Cleanup, or after some time). Before you do anything else:
- Turn off Storage Sense:
Settings → System → Storage → Storage Sense → Off
- Back it up (best): copy the whole
C:\Windows.old folder to an external drive if you have one.
2) Get your personal files back (safe method)
Your old files will usually be here:
C:\Windows.old\Users\<YourOldUsername>\
The main folders to restore:
- Desktop
- Documents
- Downloads
- Pictures
- Music
- Videos
Easiest manual copy
Open two File Explorer windows:
C:\Windows.old\Users\<OldName>\C:\Users\<NewName>\
Then copy the contents of each folder across.
Faster/safer copy with a command (recommended)
Open
Command Prompt (Admin) and run (edit names as needed):
Code:
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Documents" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Documents" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Desktop" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Desktop" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Downloads" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Downloads" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Music" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Music" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Pictures" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Pictures" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
robocopy "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME\Videos" "C:\Users\NEWNAME\Videos" /E /XJ /R:1 /W:1
/XJ prevents robocopy from getting stuck in junction loops.
3) If you get “Access denied” (permissions)
That’s common after a clean install. Fix it by taking ownership of the old profile folder:
Open
Command Prompt (Admin):
Code:
takeown /F "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME" /R /D Y
icacls "C:\Windows.old\Users\OLDNAME" /grant %username%:F /T
Then retry the copy.
4) Programs won’t “come back” automatically
A clean install means apps must be reinstalled.
Do not copy Program Files back and expect them to work.
If you tell me what you use for the music service (app name), I can tell you exactly what folders/settings are worth restoring (some apps store important config under
AppData).
5) After recovery: check stability / BSOD
Since you had a BSOD during the first attempt, if you see
any more blue screens now, grab:
C:\Windows\Minidump\ (zip the newest .dmp files)- The exact STOP code shown on the blue screen
…and attach them here, and we can pinpoint whether it’s a driver/storage issue.
Quick questions
1) What is your old username folder name under
C:\Windows.old\Users\?
2) What are the most important things to recover (Documents, music library folders, email, browser bookmarks, a specific app’s data)?
