version 1511 update adds 10 GB hard drive space used...

I just upgraded my Win 10 machine to "Threshold-2" version 1511. All went smoothly! But it added 10GB to the hard drive storage used.

I presume this is due to the ability to "roll back" to the prior version (I have no Restore Points because that feature is disabled).

If I'm willing to commit to version 1511 and do not need to preserve the ability to roll back, is there a way to reclaim this space? I know one way is to do a "reset," but that wipes all my apps, requiring a reinstall, which is a pain. Is there a better/easier way?

camner said:

I just upgraded my Win 10 machine to "Threshold-2" version 1511. All went smoothly! But it added 10GB to the hard drive storage used.

I presume this is due to the ability to "roll back" to the prior version (I have no Restore Points because that feature is disabled).

If I'm willing to commit to version 1511 and do not need to preserve the ability to roll back, is there a way to reclaim this space? I know one way is to do a "reset," but that wipes all my apps, requiring a reinstall, which is a pain. Is there a better/easier way?

As I understand it Win10 1511 10586 is more or less an upgrade over 10240 and as such there may be a Windows.old Folder on your HDD. Four of my computers had that after the same Folder left over from Win7 and Win8.1 were deleted. Might try disk cleanup, may get rid of it. Or simply wait 32 days to see if it automatically deleted.

Re : If I'm willing to commit to version 1511 and do not need to preserve the ability to roll back, is there a way to reclaim this space?

Use this tutorial. It consists of 3 methods.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

Worked like a charm! Thanks!

camner said:

Worked like a charm! Thanks!

Wonderful.
Just for personal interest.............
Which of the 3 methods did you use ?

I used method number 1. But before doing so, I looked to see if there was a Windows.old folder at the C: drive root and found that there was, so if method 1 failed, I was prepared....

Thank you for the follow-up.

Happy computing.

I know this has been marked Solved but thought I'd add an updated experience. I just set up a new computer and after doing updates overnight see it is now at 10586.36 and shows the Windows.old Folder on the HDD. This computer came with Win10, never had an older version, so the process does do somewhat of an Upgrade which created that Folder.