windows.old folder restored from external backup is not recognized for rollback in Windows 10 insider preview

Question

Would like to do a proper rollback with the windows.old folder of Windows 10 which was restored from external backup to it's original location; yet the system and startup dialog negates the option.

Any registry flags I need to reset?

Was asked before with same comment but no answer....http://superuser.com/questions/961180/how-to-restore-system-from-windows-old-manually-after-windows10-upgrade?rq=1 — Moab, May 14 '16 at 20:48

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 13:48

1

Evidently Windows 10 deletes the following 2 hidden folders after 30 days, and they are needed to roll it back while in Windows 10. You need more than the windows.old folder

$Windows.~WS

$Windows.~BT

Source

I am sure there is a manual way to do as there was with W7, but I have not experimented or found a HowTo article so far.

edited Jun 12 '20 at 13:48

Community

1

answered May 14 '16 at 20:58

Moab

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I'll try that next – mxfh May 14 '16 at 21:14
Basically a roll back is replacing folders and files from the Windows.old folder, then fix the bootloader to work with the old OS. – Moab May 14 '16 at 21:28
So it's impossible to roll back after more than 30 days? – A.L May 15 '16 at 01:19
Who said impossible? Everything is impossible until its not. – Moab May 15 '16 at 02:09
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My workaround was simply to restore from an entire backup dated before the upgrade.Ugly but functional. – Tetsujin May 15 '16 at 08:04
@Tetsujin resorted to that as well, just kept the current user profiles. – mxfh May 15 '16 at 14:16

windows.old folder restored from external backup is not recognized for rollback in Windows 10 insider preview

1 Answers1