What Is System Z On My Computer?

After upgrading your OS to Windows 10, you probably noticed a mysterious Z drive suddenly appeared in your File Explorer. 

But, what is system Z on my computer and how to remove it (and should you)? 

Read on.

What Does System Z Mean?

The system Z drive appears after upgrading to Windows 10. If you try to double-click on it, Windows will show a prompt that reads: “You don’t currently have permission to access this folder.”

According to Microsoft, the system Z drive on my computer is actually a restore partition that simply lets you revert back to the previous version of Windows in case you’re not a fan of the updated version. So you don’t need to worry about a virus potentially infecting your system.

Microsoft says that there is no need to delete the Z drive, but it doesn’t prevent users from removing it.

How To Remove System Z Drive?

If you still want to remove the Z drive from your computer, there are two ways to go about it. 

Option 1

1. Go to Control Panel

2. Select Network and Internet 

3. Click on Internet Options under See Also and then Delete browsing history and cookies.
   

4. Under Browsing history, open Settings, select Automatically and set the disk space to 1024 MB.
   

5. Click OK, restart your computer, and the system Z will be removed from your Windows 10.

Option 2

1. Open the Run application on your computer by pressing Win + R and then type in ‘regedit’ on the box, click enter. This will open up the Registry Editor.

2. Type in or copy + paste this path on the registry editor window. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

3. Right-click on the blank area, select New and choose between 32-bit or 64-bit, either QWORD (64-bit) Value for 64-bit or DWORD (32-bit) Value.

4. Type in “NoDrives” as Value name, then click Open.

5. Select the “Decimal” on the radio button. 

6. Enter “33554432” in the value data bar and click OK.

7. Go back to the Registry Editor window and copy + paste this: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

8. Right-click on “Explorer.”

9. Double-Click on the NoDrives DWORD or QWORD.

10.  Select “Decimal” in the Edit Window.

11. Enter “33554432” in the text box and click on “OK”.

11. Finally, close the Registry Editor window and restart your computer. This should successfully remove the Z drive on Windows.

Bottom line

If you see a system Z partition in your File Explorer, don’t be alarmed. Microsoft says it’s only a partition drive that contains the necessary data to restore your OS to the previous version. What’s more, there are a couple of ways to remove the drive from your computer, including updating your Windows 10 (if applicable).