All program files on my secondary hard drive have disappeared

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bethtownsend92

Commendable
Dec 14, 2017
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My windows 10 laptop came with a 125GB SSD and 1TB HDD so to save space when installing programs when I got it (about 2 years ago) I created a folder in the D:\ drive called 'Program Files'. When installing software I usually chose to install it there rather than on the SSD. Suddenly I am getting '.exe not found' errors when using shortcuts and looked inside my Program Files folder on my HDD and almost everything is gone. The only things that are there are a couple things I installed very recently and 4 or 5 seemingly arbitrary files from old programs. These 'leftover' files all have the same 'last modified' date.
Meanwhile, I noticed that my C:\ drive is a lot more full than I remember it being. Running a disk analysis shows that AppData/local/ takes up a lot of space and there are a lot of files there related to the programs that used to be installed in my HDD. Some shortcuts still work (eg. Atom, Github desktop) and link to executables in those folders.
Any ideas?? Nothing else in my HDD seems to have been touched. Is there any reason why creating a secondary 'Program Files' folder in D: drive is a bad idea?

Ps. I checked the recycle bin and there is nothing. Also checked for Windows Updates around the time that the Program Files were last modified and nothing on that date.
 
Solution
R
"....I can't run the program AND it can't be uninstalled...." -- oldsmith
Were you able to fix the drive letter / program mismatch? If not, I have found:
-- Revo Uninstaller; if not, then onto:
-- Auslogic and Wise registry cleaners
-- Replendence's Registrar Registry Manager
-- along with some real geeky explorer (folder/file manager) operations
...will often do the trick of removing un-wanted programs and utilities.
Of course, you are maintaining full image backups of your OS and Data partitions onto external media, correct?
If yes or even if no, I recommend making backups before such removals, and aftter such removals, after confirming all is well.
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RolandJS

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Mar 10, 2017
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In my experience, even though installs can go to a drive D, C:\ProgramData and c:\Users\[your acct]\... still gets a lot of material. Others here have found ways to move ProgramData and/or Users accounts from C to D -- I haven't.
 
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oldsmith

Reputable
Nov 12, 2014
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1
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I have a very similar problem. The Windows 10 Fall creator update did this. All programs now point to the C drive whether or not they are really there. The registry was rewritten to C including the uninstall sections. I can only assume that microsoft has decided that no programs are allowed to run on any drive other than the "windows" drive.!
In my case only the drive letter was changed letting the program install in default folders programs or programs x86. I can't run the program AND it can't be uninstalled.

Some programs within the add/remove service offer a repair option. That seems to help.



 
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RolandJS

Reputable
Mar 10, 2017
1,230
21
5,715
"....I can't run the program AND it can't be uninstalled...." -- oldsmith
Were you able to fix the drive letter / program mismatch? If not, I have found:
-- Revo Uninstaller; if not, then onto:
-- Auslogic and Wise registry cleaners
-- Replendence's Registrar Registry Manager
-- along with some real geeky explorer (folder/file manager) operations
...will often do the trick of removing un-wanted programs and utilities.
Of course, you are maintaining full image backups of your OS and Data partitions onto external media, correct?
If yes or even if no, I recommend making backups before such removals, and aftter such removals, after confirming all is well.
 
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