No need to hang on to old version of Windows

Q: I have a computer that I recently upgraded to Windows 10. Every couple of months I do a Disk Cleanup, which usually frees up a couple of gigs of space. The last time I ran it, a new entry popped up that said: Previous Windows Installation(s) with 30 gigs of data. I presume that is my old Windows 7 operating system from before I updated my system. To my mind this offers quite an increase in disk space on my little 256 gig SSD drive. Can you think of any reason why I need to save this file?

A: If you are happy with how Windows 10 is working since your update and if you are content to cut off any avenues to rolling back to your previous operating system, then, by all means, let Disk Cleanup do its thing and release that drive space.

Initially it’s a good thing because it give you a way to roll back changes if things don’t work out after an update. But over time, they just take up space and offer no real value to you.

It is also worth noting that if you are keeping your system backed up effectively, you have that as a resource should you ever need to revert back to a previous software configuration.

Q: The latest Windows update wiped the My Documents folder on my computer clean. I’m missing many of my files. Why did this happen?

A: There are reports that Windows Update 1809 is causing some computers to lose files as part of the update.

Microsoft pulled Windows 10 version 1809 after it officially acknowledged that the bug exists back in October. The newer version of the update seems to have fixed this bug.

Microsoft also recommends installing Cumulative Update KB4464455 Windows 10 v1809 Build 17763.107 if you have already installed the older 1809 update. This happens automatically through Windows Update, so make sure you are allowing those to run.