We have just converted all of our office computers to Windows 7.0 and were able to delete the Windows.old directory on all but one. We followed the directions given here but the Windows 7.0 does not recognize that the owner is the ID that is logged on when we try to delete a folder. It only works if we do it on each individual file! That is so Microsoft, isn't? We cannot for the life of us determine why three computers let us delete windows.old but this one won't. Apparently the commands outlined on the Windows Live site under this question heading are not able to pass the information down through the folders and subfolders. Hence, when you try to delete the entire directory it fails. If anyone knows of a work around, we would appreciate knowing about it.

Use Process Monitor (Sysinternals) to pinpoint the critical spot. The is a bit dirty path via Scheduled Task that uses SYSTEM and elevated rights. Regards Milos

Hi, You can refer to How to use the Disk Cleanup feature to delete the Windows.old folder after you install Windows Vista using the disk cleanup tool or the command to remove Windows.old to test the issue Note: this article also applies for Windows 7. Hope this helps Vincent Wang TechNet Community Support

Hi, You can refer to How to use the Disk Cleanup feature to delete the Windows.old folder after you install Windows Vista using the disk cleanup tool or the command to remove Windows.old to test the issue Note: this article also applies for Windows 7. Hope this helps Vincent Wang TechNet Community Support

Thank you. This finally took care of the Windows.old directory.Mark E Manly