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Does Windows still keeps old versions of files after each update or remove all old redundant files?

Aoi. T_015
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    You have your answer [here](https://www.howtogeek.com/266337/what-should-i-remove-in-disk-cleanup-on-windows/). – guest May 26 '18 at 11:55
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    Yes it keeps them in case you need to remove a particular update, you can however remove them using disk cleanup as suggested by "guest vm" above. – Moab May 26 '18 at 14:04
  • but disk cleanup freezes when cleaning – Aoi. T_015 May 28 '18 at 13:16

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When Windows Update replaces a file, the previous version is not saved in the Recycle Bin, so no redundant files.

When one installs a new Windows version, or if you do an In-place Upgrade, the old Windows files go into the folder Windows.old. However, most of them are deleted after 28 days.

harrymc
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  • What about system files (files of various system processes) like 7-8 version of lot of exe, like in Windows 7 for compatability, etc other purposes, do Windows 10 still do that? – Aoi. T_015 May 27 '18 at 05:05
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    For `Windows.old` you will find more information in [this answer](https://superuser.com/a/1210475/8672). – harrymc May 27 '18 at 06:54
  • The old files are saved somewhere or uninstalling them wouldn't be an option. Also disk cleanup wouldn't be offering to delete 1GB+ of windows update files. – cybernard May 27 '18 at 21:21
  • These are the files that will be used to undo the updates, same as Windows.old can be used for 28 days to roll back to a previous version of Windows. We don't know the rules of Microsoft about how long these files are kept, and if you clean these files out then you just cannot undo these updates, no other problem. In any case, the files are kept in a proprietary format of Microsoft, and that format may change after a major update of Windows and without explanation. – harrymc May 27 '18 at 21:55