WindowsNuke safely remove Windows installations from secondary drives, helping you reclaim valuable storage space after system migrations.
When upgrading to a larger SSD and keeping your old drive as secondary storage, the old Windows installation becomes redundant and wastes significant disk space. This tool provides a safe, controlled way to:
- 🔍 Scan secondary drives for Windows installations
- 📊 Analyze space usage of Windows-related files and folders
- 🗑️ Remove system files while preserving user data (with careful handling)
- 💾 Reclaim gigabytes of storage space
🚨 CRITICAL WARNING: This tool performs irreversible file deletion operations. Always backup important data before use. The safest method for drive cleanup is manual backup followed by drive formatting.
- Dark Theme: Easy on the eyes with CustomTkinter styling
- Real-time Feedback: Live status updates during operations
- Detailed Results: Comprehensive scan results with size calculations
- Safety Prompts: Multiple confirmation dialogs before deletion
- Administrator Privilege Check: Ensures proper permissions for system file access
- Multi-Drive Support: Automatically detects non-system drives
- Intelligent Scanning: Identifies Windows installations via System32 detection
- Size Calculation: Accurate space usage analysis with GB conversion
- Permission Handling: Advanced file permission management using Windows tools
- System Drive Protection: Automatically excludes the current Windows drive
- Confirmation Dialogs: Multiple verification steps before deletion
- Error Handling: Graceful handling of permission and access errors
- Progress Tracking: Real-time deletion progress with detailed logging
# Required Python packages
pip install customtkinter psutil
- OS: Windows 10/11
- Python: 3.7 or higher
- Privileges: Administrator rights required
- Memory: Minimal (< 50MB RAM usage)
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/LMLK-seal/WindowsNuke.git cd WindowsNuke
-
Install dependencies:
pip install customtkinter psutil
-
Run as Administrator:
# Right-click Command Prompt -> "Run as administrator" python WindowsNuke.py
-
🔐 Launch with Admin Rights
- Right-click
WindowsNuke.py
→ "Run as administrator" - Or run Command Prompt as admin and execute the script
- Right-click
-
💿 Select Target Drive
- Choose your secondary drive from the dropdown menu
- System drive (C:) is automatically excluded for safety
-
🔍 Scan for Windows Installation
- Click "Scan for Windows Installation"
- Wait for the comprehensive analysis to complete
- Review the detailed results showing files and space usage
-
🗑️ Execute Deletion (Optional)
- Review the scan results carefully
- Click "DELETE Found Files & Folders" if satisfied
- Confirm through multiple safety prompts
- Monitor the real-time deletion progress
The tool targets these Windows-specific components:
Folders | Description | Typical Size |
---|---|---|
Windows |
Core system files | 15-25 GB |
Program Files |
Installed applications | 5-50 GB |
Program Files (x86) |
32-bit applications | 2-20 GB |
ProgramData |
Application data | 1-10 GB |
$Recycle.Bin |
Deleted files cache | 0.1-5 GB |
Users |
Variable |
System Files | Description |
---|---|
pagefile.sys |
Virtual memory file |
swapfile.sys |
Modern swap file |
hiberfil.sys |
Hibernation data |
WindowsRemoverApp (CustomTkinter)
├── Drive Detection (psutil)
├── Permission Management (Windows API)
├── Threading (GUI responsiveness)
├── File Operations (shutil, os)
└── System Integration (subprocess)
- 🎨 GUI Framework: CustomTkinter for modern interface
- 💽 System Access: psutil for drive enumeration
- 🔐 Permissions: Windows takeown/icacls commands
- ⚡ Threading: Non-blocking UI operations
- 📊 File Operations: Python standard library
We welcome contributions! Please follow these guidelines:
- Style: Follow PEP 8 guidelines
- Documentation: Comment complex operations
- Safety: Prioritize data safety in all modifications
- Testing: Test on non-production drives only
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Use at your own risk. This software is provided "as-is" without warranty. The authors are not responsible for data loss or system damage. Always backup important data before use.
- 📧 Issues: GitHub Issues
- 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- 📖 Wiki: Project Wiki
- CustomTkinter team for the modern GUI framework
- Python community for excellent libraries
- Windows system administrators for inspiration
⭐ Star this repository if it helped you reclaim storage space! ⭐
Made with ❤️ By LMLK-seal.