Transfer of old WindowsImageBackup Folder risks

Sorry, long preamble to what I hope is a fairly simple question.

I am in process of rationalising a very messy set of directories on a fairly new HP Laptop running on Windows 10. I took this over when my own desktop crashed a couple of months after my husband died so I am stuck with a lot of files belonging to him over quite a long period.He previously had an Acer Laptop which he replaced because it was less than satisfactory. One of my problems is not knowing what I can safely delete without repercussions later. Coping with resultant administration and using a new system with very confused records, has resulted in a lot of duplicate files spread all over the laptop. It did not occur to me for some time to create a User Administrator Account in my own name and reduce his User Account to a Standard but since doing that I am able to use the laptop a lot more successfully. However:

ACTUAL QUESTION
I have an old folder entitled OLD Laptop Files which contains a folder called WindowsImageBackup. I am wondering if it is worth keeping in case we can use it to revitalize the old Acer one and pass it on to someone else. But it requires 30 GB of space. I am still in process of getting rid of the duplications etc. so space is getting a bit tight. I have managed to copy the folder to a TOSHIBA Hard Drive with a lot of space on it and my question is, is it worth keeping this folder or should I just delete it ? I vaguely understand from what I have read on the web that ideally it should live on the root drive (Drive C ?) of the ACER laptop. Is that the only way it could be used ? I would prefer to keep the old ACER laptop if it is possible in case the hp gives up on me though it shouldnt as it is only about 1 year old.

Would be grateful for your suggestions even if you have to confirm it is useless.

Windymiller said:

I have an old folder entitled OLD Laptop Files which contains a folder called WindowsImageBackup. I am wondering if it is worth keeping in case we can use it to revitalize the old Acer one and pass it on to someone else..

What version of Windows is in that backup? In order to restore the image it contains you would need two thing...

First, the WindowsImageBackup folder must be moved to the root of the drive it will be restored from. That is the only place the rescue media looks to find images to restore.

Second, you need a bootable rescue disk that was made by the same type of Windows and the same bits (32 or 64) as the system contained in the image. eg: if the image is of a 32-bit Windows 7 system you need the 32-bit Windows 7 rescue disk, for 64-bit Windows 7 you can only use the 64-bit rescue media. And I keep saying 'disk' as the only rescue media that Microsoft's system imaging offers to make is a CD. It is possible to make a bootable USB from the CD if necessary, and if it is a Windows 10 image then a W10 usb recovery drive can also perform a restore of a Windows 10 image (still must be the same 'bits' as the image) .

If you don't have (or can't make) the necessary version of the recovery media, then you can't restore the image and might as well delete it.

If you want to pass on the old Acer, then a clean install is probably a simpler option.