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jimmyp1975's avatar
jimmyp1975
Copper Contributor
Sep 27, 2019

Bypassing Windows 10 Features upgrade procedure's full system backup in Windows.old folder

Hello everyone.   This post concerns the Windows Development Team and must be considered as a new Feature Request.   How difficult would be to create two options for users that are about to perfo...
Eddie Leonard's avatar
Eddie Leonard
Iron Contributor
Oct 17, 2019

jimmyp1975 

 

Interesting suggestion.  Just for clarification the Windows.old folder is not simply a backup of files.  The upgrade process performs what is called and OS Swap.  To somewhat oversimplify it, the new OS is installed in a temp folder, then all the settings, user data, drivers, etc. are exported from the old and imported into the new.  The the Windows folder is renamed to Windows.old and replaced with the new OS one.  Again, this is an oversimplification of the process, but it is designed for easy rollback.

HotCakeX's avatar
HotCakeX
MVP
Oct 17, 2019
So it will be created either way, the only suggestion here is to whether delete it automatically or let the user first evaluate the new installation and if every thing is alright then delete that folder which is the safest and better option, logically speaking.
  • Eddie Leonard's avatar
    Eddie Leonard
    Iron Contributor
    Oct 17, 2019

    HotCakeX 

     

    It already automatically deletes after 10 days.

    • HotCakeX's avatar
      HotCakeX
      MVP
      Oct 17, 2019
      Yes I meant delete it automatically and immediately after Windows installation, so that the user won't ever see it on their C drive.
      • jimmyp1975's avatar
        jimmyp1975
        Copper Contributor
        Oct 19, 2019

        HotCakeX 

        Eddie Leonard 

         

        Hello everyone.

         

        Just to clarify things a little bit more from my initial post about this issue, what i mean with "bypassing" is to not create the Windows.old folder at all and directly update ( add new system files , remove old ones, update/patch existing ones ) and at the end with a batch script make all the necessary Windows Registry modifications reflecting all previous changes in system files.

        However, if Windows.old folder is created anyway and there is no way to avoid its creation then there is no reason to discuss this issue any further.

         

         

        Thank you very much.

         

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