Unable to remove windows.old as it is linked to the boot process.
Unable to remove windows.old as it is linked to the boot process.
You're experiencing a puzzling problem where deleting old Windows installations from your hard drive isn't working, even through disk cleanup or settings. Your system needs the old HDD connected to boot, which is unusual since you've been using an SSD for nearly a year. The issue causes slow restarts but normal operation otherwise—shutting down and plugging in the HDD works quickly, yet restarting again takes 5+ minutes. When you reinsert it, it boots in under 30 seconds. This inconsistency suggests a possible hardware or boot configuration problem. Reinstalling Windows might help temporarily, but you should also check for disk errors or BIOS settings that affect startup behavior. Cloning your 2TB HDD could be a good backup option if needed.
Ensure your user folder is saved on the boot drive, clear all other storage devices, launch the installer, remove partitions from the boot drive, choose the available space as the installation area, and allow Windows to create partitions automatically, then proceed with the setup.