Trev wrote:
> "relic" <relic211@cjb.net> wrote in message
> newsjtrjk.3i8.17.1@news.alt.net...
>>
>> "LSMFT" <boleyn7@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:mrUon.27362$ao7.11589@newsfe21.iad...
>>> On 03/19/2010 079 PM, LD55ZRA wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> LSMFT wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> How long do I need to keep this directory which was made after
>>>>> upgrading
>>>>> Vista to Windows 7.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As long as you want to keep it. There is no specific requirement
>>>> for it. It is there to enable you to revert back to Vista if you
>>>> decide Win7 isn't your type! I did a clean install so don't
>>>> have this folder on my system.
>>>>
>>>> hth
>>>
>>> I did a clean install also changing from 32 bit Vista to 64 bit
>>> WIndows 7 and it made Windows.old.
>>
>> What do you (and Trev) think a "Clean" install is?
>>
>> Had you, there's no way you'd have the Windows.Old folder.
>
> I let winds disc format my C drive and install Win 7 on it Part of
> that process is to create a Windows old folder if it find a Previous OS on
> the drive.
But that's the point - if it was a clean install it would not find a
previous OS and so would not create a windows.old folder.
When you go to the shop to buy a brand-new hard drive, you can't put it in
the computer and expect to start using it straight away because it won't
work. It has to be prepared first and that is done by formatting (and if you
so wish, partitioning) it. In effect what you're doing is laying out a
structure to it, telling it that this area here can be used for this, that
area over there can be used for that, etc., etc.
In order to keep track of what's going where, a table is created. Think of
it like the table of contents of a book - the list tells you something like:
Chapter 6, The songs of Led Zeppelin, Page 58, so you know that if you turn
to page 58 you'll find the songs of Led Zeppelin. If a previously used hard
drive (or partition) is formatted, what you're effectively doing is removing
the table of contents - the data (the songs of Led Zeppelin) is still there
but you don't know where it is and you don't know where to look for it so
you can't find it. Or to put it in the context of this topic, your new OS
would not see the old OS and therefore would not create a windows.old
folder.
Personally, I would delete the partition, create a new partition in the now
unpartitioned space, and format that - that is a clean install.