Remove Old / Second Windows from D: (Keep Your Data)

Generated: 2026-06-22 Goal: Delete the leftover Windows OS on the D: partition while keeping your ~200 GB of data (Downloads, Videos, Kidbea, Santosh).

⚠️ Read this first. These commands permanently delete files. There is no Recycle Bin for -Force deletes. Do not change the paths. Every path below was verified to be the old OS, not your data.

What gets DELETED vs KEPT

❌ DELETE (old Windows, ~17.5 GB)	✅ KEEP (do NOT touch)
`D:\Windows`	`D:\Downloads`
`D:\Program Files (x86)`	`D:\Videos`
`D:\Users` (only contains `Public`)	`D:\Kidbea`
`D:\Recovery`	`D:\Santosh`
`D:\Documents and Settings` (junction)	`D:\$Recycle.Bin` (live system manages)
`D:\hiberfil.sys`	`D:\System Volume Information` (system)
`D:\swapfile.sys`
`D:\DumpStack.log.tmp`

STEP 0 — Open PowerShell as Administrator (REQUIRED)

The old Windows files are owned by TrustedInstaller; a normal window gets "Access denied".

Press Start, type powershell
Right-click Windows PowerShell -> Run as administrator
Click Yes on the UAC prompt

STEP 1 — Safety check (confirms you won't break your PC)

Paste this. It must print C: as the system drive. If it says D:, STOP - do not continue.

"Running OS drive: $env:SystemDrive"   # must be C:
if ($env:SystemDrive -eq 'D:') { Write-Host 'STOP! D: is the live OS.' -ForegroundColor Red }

STEP 2 — Take ownership of the locked OS folders

S-1-5-32-544 is the built-in Administrators group (language-independent).

takeown /f "D:\Windows" /r /d y
icacls "D:\Windows" /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c

takeown /f "D:\Program Files (x86)" /r /d y
icacls "D:\Program Files (x86)" /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c

takeown /f "D:\Users" /r /d y
icacls "D:\Users" /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c

takeown /f "D:\Recovery" /r /d y
icacls "D:\Recovery" /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c

STEP 3 — Delete the old Windows folders

Run each line. -LiteralPath prevents any path misinterpretation.

Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\Windows"             -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\Program Files (x86)" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\Users"               -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\Recovery"            -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

If any folder stubbornly remains (in-use/locked file), use the classic command shell remover:

cmd /c rd /s /q "D:\Windows"
cmd /c rd /s /q "D:\Program Files (x86)"
cmd /c rd /s /q "D:\Users"
cmd /c rd /s /q "D:\Recovery"

STEP 4 — Remove the legacy junction and stale system files

# 'Documents and Settings' is a junction (a redirect, not real data) - safe to remove:
cmd /c rmdir "D:\Documents and Settings"

# Stale boot files left over from when D: was bootable:
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\DumpStack.log.tmp" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\hiberfil.sys"      -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -LiteralPath "D:\swapfile.sys"      -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

If hiberfil.sys or swapfile.sys refuse to delete ("being used by another process"), your live C: Windows is using D: for virtual memory. Fix via: Settings -> System -> About -> Advanced system settings -> Performance "Settings" -> Advanced -> Virtual memory "Change" -> select D: -> No paging file -> Set -> reboot, then delete them.

STEP 5 — Verify your data is intact and the OS is gone

Get-ChildItem -Force "D:\" | Select-Object Mode, Name | Format-Table -AutoSize

You should STILL see: Downloads, Videos, Kidbea, Santosh
You should NO LONGER see: Windows, Program Files (x86), Users, Recovery

Notes

$Recycle.Bin and System Volume Information will reappear/stay - they belong to your current C: system managing the D: drive. Leave them alone.
Nothing here touches the C: drive or your running Windows.

Remove an Old Windows Install from D: (Keep Your Data)