How do I restore a Windows.old file

A few days ago I clean-installed Window 10 on my laptop. Works fine, except the laptop now cannot be reached by my desktop PC on my network, and I've exhausted all my options to get it to work. One option was to try again by clean reinstalling Windows 10 AGAIN. So I did that twice. I clean-installed both times from the Windows 10 iso file, downloaded from MS. I see that I have several Windows.old files. I'd like to revert back to Windows 10 before both clean reinstalls, which apparently is one of the .old files. I initially upgraded from Windows 7 for free a few years ago--that's where Windows 10 came from initially.

First, can I reinstall from a Windows.old Windows 10 file? I'd use the Windows.old.000 file. And second, if I can, how do I do that?

Thanks.

Hi there's something very strange about what you're saying.

If you had done a clean install, you would have deleted all existing Windows related partitions before installing Windows.
That Windows.old exists at all implies you haven't done a clean install. Note too that Windows (EFI) uses 4 partitions, not just one.

Here's a tutorial on that.
Clean Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

If you had done a clean install, there would be no previous version to go back to. That's why it's 'clean'. Nothing left from before, nothing added.

That said, assuming you have actually done an in-place upgrade repair install (booted normally, then run Setup.exe) then if you had done that once (but you haven't)
Go Back to the Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials


Clean installing Windows always means using a bootable medium created from an iso file.

Thanks, dalchina. My aim was to put Windows 10 back to the state it was in when I first downloaded it for my Windows 7 free upgrade. My initial aim was to remove a lot of garbage from the laptop over the years that cause its startup to take more than 1 minute, 43 seconds. I downloaded the latest Windows 10 .iso file, mounted it to a USB drive, and installed from there. Since that reinstallation, startup time is much faster--43 seconds--so I succeeded in that endeavor. However, as I mentioned, I created what to me is an insurmountable network sharing problem. I can share just fine from the laptop to my desktop PC over my network, but I cannot share folders and files from the laptop. So to solve that, I tried again with the reinstallation, again to no avail.

My goal remains to put Windows back to its initial state when I downloaded it for the Window 7 free upgrade. The fresh installation showed me three partitions on my hard drive: Partition 1, OEM (reserved), Partition 2, Recovery, and Partition 3, OS. I selected OS for the reinstall--that was the correct choice, right?

I think I did this correctly--unless I missed something. If I did this correctly, I'm now wondering, as you suggest, why the installations created Windows.old files.

. I downloaded the latest Windows 10 .iso file, mounted it to a USB drive, and installed from there.

I'm now wondering, as you suggest, why the installations created Windows.old files

As I explained above - or hoped I had:
1. If you booted up and logged in and then installed Windows from setup.exe you did not do a clean install.
Instead, if the iso was the same build as your existing Windows, you did an in-place upgrade repair install which creates Windows.old, gives you a new copy of the base build system files (in effect removes updates- but that's just to try to get the idea across, not what it does).

If the iso was the next major build - e.g. you had 1703 installed (CU) and the iso was 1709 (FCU) then you UPGRADED. Repeating that would be an in-place upgrade repair install.

2. A clean install means:
You have a bootable Win 10 medium (DVD or USB disk inserted/plugged in).
You restart or cold boot your PC, and make it boot from that medium.
You follow the install process, deleting all existing Windows partitions.

A clean install does not create Windows.old.

That you have Windows.old means you have not done a clean install.

OK. Got it. Thanks. I did an in-place upgrade repair install. Nevertheless, Recovery in Settings doesn't offer me "Go back to the previous version of Windows 10," and the iso file doesn't, either.

Beware to what you might be recovering - see suggestions above about handling versions of Windows.old.
- did you actually proceed to Advanced Recovery Options? (See tutorial, my #2)

Bear in mind that if you want to do a clean install and thus remove accumulated items as you said, you will need to do a clean install by booting from your USB and following the Clean Install tutorial. (See tutorial, my #2)

Make sure what your goal is, and then how you're going to achieve it.