Restore windows 10 computer with 2 drives

Question

I have an HP laptop that came with a C drive for the operating system and a D rive for data. The C drive has about 118gbs of storage and the D drive has 920gbs. I just tried to restore this to factory settings and then installed one program I'll be using on it. The program installed on the C drive. If everything I do installs on the C drive, I'm going to run out of useable space. How can I restore my computer and tell it to use the D drive for programs, etc? Also, when checking the D drive, there's still a lot of files that I thought I wiped out when I opted to completely wipe out the computer. Did that not happen because there's 2 drives and if so, how do I wipe everything out?

Answer 1

Hello,

This laptop model has a relatively small C drive by design, so for software that allows custom installation (especially third‑party applications), please install them on the D drive.

Save photos, music, and videos to the D drive as well.

For software that can only be installed on the C drive and is used frequently, it is fine to keep it installed. However, for applications that you rarely use, it is better to install them only when needed and uninstall them when not in use.

In Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps, some applications can be moved to another drive using the “Move” button. If the “Move” button does not appear, that application cannot be moved to another drive.

If the PC has only one physical drive, the Windows reset feature will reset only the C drive. However, if the PC has two or more physical drives (SSD/HDD), or if the physical drive containing Windows is partitioned, the option “All drives” will also be available.

To delete everything on the D drive, right‑click the Start button and open Disk Management. Right‑click “Volume (D:)” and select “Delete Volume” from the menu.

Answer 2

Windows is designed to keep the system files and installed programs on the system drive (the drive that contains the Windows folder). Relocating Program Files or ProgramData to another drive is not supported and causes issues, especially with upgrades and resets.

Key points for this scenario:

1. Programs must stay on the system drive
   • Windows requires that the Program Files, Program Files (x86), and ProgramData folders remain on the system drive (the drive that contains the Windows directory).
   • Moving or redirecting these folders to D: is unsupported and leads to problems with apps and upgrades.
   • To avoid running out of space on C:, only user data (documents, pictures, videos, etc.) should be moved to D:, not the system folders themselves.
2. Why the D: drive still has files after a reset
   • A Windows reset or factory restore typically targets the system disk/partition layout used for Windows and recovery.
   • Bare metal recovery and reset operations remove and recreate partitions on the system disk only. A second data drive (like D:) is not automatically wiped if it is a separate physical disk or separate non-system partition.
   • This is why files remain on D: after the reset.
3. How to truly wipe everything
   • To completely wipe all data, including D:, a bare metal–style recovery must remove all partitions on the system disk and recreate the factory layout. If D: is a separate physical drive, that drive must be cleaned separately.
   • Bare metal recovery behavior:
     • Identifies the system disk.
     • Removes all partitions from that disk.
     • Optionally performs data erasure on that disk.
     • Recreates the factory/default partition layout and reinstalls Windows and OEM customizations.
   • If D: is a separate physical disk, it will not be affected by a reset of the system disk. In that case, D: must be manually reformatted or cleaned from Disk Management if all data on it should be removed.
4. Practical approach for this laptop
   • Keep Windows and installed applications on C:.
   • Move personal files (Documents, Pictures, Videos, Downloads, etc.) to D: and configure libraries or app settings to save data there.
   • If a complete wipe of both drives is desired:
     • Use the OEM’s factory recovery or Windows recovery media to perform a full reset that removes all partitions on the system disk.
     • Then, in Disk Management, delete and recreate (or format) the partition on the second drive (D:) if it is a separate disk and all data on it can be lost.

This keeps the system supported and stable while using D: primarily for data, not for the core program folders.

---

References:

• Hard drives and partitions
• Bare metal recovery
• Bare metal reset/recovery: enable your users to create recovery media
• Recovery Drive
• Backup, restore, and recovery in Windows
• No programs or apps after upgrading to Windows 10