Delete windows folder on HDD after installing windows OS on SSD

[qtballbstr]

I had win10 reinstalled on new SSD, but the tech left the old C partition on HDD. I need to clean up that partition, but I guess the system folders fall under the read & execute only permissions. Is there an easy, 'newbie' way to do it? Are there registry entries that still have that 'locked'? If so, how can the registry get cleaned up - or can it? Can a third party software erase data on that partition instead?
Thanks.
Cris

 

[Grizzly]

If you disconnect the old drive, can you still boot into Windows or does it show an error message? if you can boot the SSD drive and everything works as suppose to, you can delete that partition, but only then.
I assume that old partition now has a different letter assigned??

 

[qtballbstr]

I am not the expert, just the user. I have both hard drives working, the old HDD had two partitions. The C became E. Not sure how the tech did the OS on the new drive, but from the dates in the new win directory, it looks like old and new dates - like a combination??? I had some issues with the old setup and used a 2020 system image. I figured getting the SSD right after that and its windows directory has 2020 and 2021 dates...Since the upgrade I had a blue screen, I upgraded drivers for network and haven't had issues since. But I also noticed that any app install updates directories in both C and E.
After thinking about it on my own, my uneducated guess is the best approach would have been to get the SSD, install clean Windows while retaining current data on the HDD and go from there.....Now I probably have a registry pointing in two directions., because on the boot screen I have both...as in the attached picture.

 

[Grizzly]

That is what I was afraid of seeing. The Windows 10 install on the SSD uses the boot sector on the old one to start up. What your "technician" should have done is to disconnect the old one, install on the SSD and THEN reconnect the old one to be able to access all your data.
If you only wanted to change your HDD to a SSD, why did the tech not simply clone the drive??

I am afraid you have to start over with the install on the SSD but this time keep the HDD disconnected during install.

 

[Bighorn]

Agreed. Once Win10 is working on the SSD only you could reattach the HDD and use Disk Management to delete all partitions on the HDD, reboot and back in Disk Management create and format a single partition to use for storage. Or use DiskPart.

And it's not only the Windows folder on the HDD that needs deleting, there are files used for booting that removal of the partition will get rid of.

 

[qtballbstr]

That is what I was afraid of seeing. The Windows 10 install on the SSD uses the boot sector on the old one to start up. What your "technician" should have done is to disconnect the old one, install on the SSD and THEN reconnect the old one to be able to access all your data.
If you only wanted to change your HDD to a SSD, why did the tech not simply clone the drive??

I am afraid you have to start over with the install on the SSD but this time keep the HDD disconnected during install.

As I managed to understand the process a bit, that became my conclusion too. I live in Romania now and I don't know if this is specific here, or it's just the young generation...but they are rather 'lazy' and superficial..don't think past what they see as the fastest rather than the best approach, with no in depth logic..not even when I ask a pertinent question that should give them an Aha moment...

 

[qtballbstr]

That is what I was afraid of seeing. The Windows 10 install on the SSD uses the boot sector on the old one to start up. What your "technician" should have done is to disconnect the old one, install on the SSD and THEN reconnect the old one to be able to access all your data.
If you only wanted to change your HDD to a SSD, why did the tech not simply clone the drive??

I am afraid you have to start over with the install on the SSD but this time keep the HDD disconnected during install.

I don't know why. I was a Cobol programmer in my day..so I have some tools, but not enough to venture alone in the deeper desktop world of software/hardware. As I managed to understand the process a bit, doing it again with the HDD disconnected became my conclusion too. I live in Romania now and I don't know if this is specific here, or it's just the young generation...but they are rather 'lazy' and superficial..don't think past what they see as the fastest rather than the best approach, with no in depth logic..not even when I ask a pertinent question that should give them an Aha moment...
Thanks for validating that I am not 100% ignorant !

 

[Bighorn]

An experience: I had a computer [rehabbed] that I put 2 HDDs in then installed the Win10 IP Dev version on. Worked fine but later needed to remove the second or D: drive, broke the boot process which required reinstalling with only the one drive remaining. In checking the BIOS seems Win10 picked up the AHCI/RAID setting instead of the Legacy setting and set up both drives as required by that setting.

 

[Grizzly]

I don't know why. I was a Cobol programmer in my day..so I have some tools, but not enough to venture alone in the deeper desktop world of software/hardware. As I managed to understand the process a bit, doing it again with the HDD disconnected became my conclusion too. I live in Romania now and I don't know if this is specific here, or it's just the young generation...but they are rather 'lazy' and superficial..don't think past what they see as the fastest rather than the best approach, with no in depth logic..not even when I ask a pertinent question that should give them an Aha moment...

And I thought this 'lazy' behavior is only limited to the USA. Thank you for opening my eyes that this seem to be a worldwide issue....

 

[Bighorn]

Having worked in a computer store/shop and building computers in the days of DOS and Windows 3.x I have to say the usual 'quick' way was driven by getting products out as soon as possible to get the payments for them in quickly so as to stay in business. After that ended and I moved away I found I did better as a free-lance tech having more time in helping people with their computers