Windows.old folder question

jack wells · 26 Nov 2009

Well basically, I had that folder on my computer, but I didn't know, and I was having problems the moment I downloaded w7 so I re-installed it. The windows.old folder got updated with my windows 7 OS and the prevents contents of the folder (from my old OS Vista) was deleted. Is there any way for me to get that windows.old folder containing my Vista OS information in it? Or is it long gone?

edit: I am asking this because I want to revert back to vista

SIW2 · 26 Nov 2009

I haven't done that - do you not get two Windows.old folders in that situation?

Have a look inside the Windows.old folder you can see now on your drive.

You may find the Vista one inside it.

jack wells · 26 Nov 2009

Well I do have the windows.old folder, but as I was reading the tuturials here, they can be different names. I do have 2 folders that are the same as windows.old: $WINDOWS.~Q and $INPLACE.~TR

$WINDOWS.~Q is the w7 infomation folder
$INPLACE.~TR

I guess I should've posted that in main post, but I was wondering, would it be safe to revert back to vista from $INPLACE.~TR even though it said that it was last modified like 1 hour before the $WINDOWS.~Q was created (so during the installation of w7 the 2nd time, the $INPLACE.~TR got modified)?

SIW2 · 26 Nov 2009

Did you look inside the yellow Windows.old folder you currently have?

If the contents of the partition are saved into Windows.old during install - then surely as the VistaWindows.old folder was on the partition - it must be in there too.

jack wells · 27 Nov 2009

There is no VistaWindows.old folder

Brink · 27 Nov 2009

Hello Jack,

Sorry, but you can only use the C:\Windows.old folder to revert back to the previous OS.

How to restore a Windows 7-based computer to a previous Windows installation by using the Windows.old folder

Unfortunately, if the Windows.old folder was changed or deleted and no longer contains the files from your previous Vista installation in it, then you will not be able restore the previous Vista from this.

jack wells · 27 Nov 2009

Awesome..thanks for the help...I guess I have to live with the 20 BSOD everyday now

Brink · 27 Nov 2009

or you could just do a clean (format) reinstall.....

Was this a store bought computer that came with Vista preinstalled? If so, then you may be able to do a factory recovery to have Vista back like it was the day you first turned it on.

gregrocker · 27 Nov 2009

If you did a Custom install over Vista, and then did another one over Windows 7, then as SIW2 said there should be a set of your files inside the last Windows.old folder.

Do you have a windows.old folder? Not some-other-name-windows.old folder. One that is named "windows.old"?

Search inside the windows.old folder for another folder named windows.old and, if you are lucky, there will be a set of your original Vista files in there with your documents, etc.

After you salvage your files, then back them up externally (as should always be done anyway) and boot from your Windows 7 DVD and use Custom>Advanced drive tools to delete the partition, create a new one, and format before doing a real clean install.