diff --git a/kolibri/core/discovery/test/test_filesystem_utils.py b/kolibri/core/discovery/test/test_filesystem_utils.py
index 0d8187fbc47..11b2fe6137b 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/discovery/test/test_filesystem_utils.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/discovery/test/test_filesystem_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-import ntpath
 import os
 import posixpath
+import sys
 
+import pytest
 from django.test import TestCase
 from mock import patch
 
@@ -116,6 +117,10 @@ def mocked_wmic_output():
     return windows_data.wmic_csv
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.platform != "win32",
+    reason="This test is only for Windows platform",
+)
 class WindowsFilesystemTestCase(TestCase):
     """
     Test retrieval and parsing of disk info for Windows, using mocked command output.
@@ -123,8 +128,6 @@ class WindowsFilesystemTestCase(TestCase):
 
     @patch_os_access(windows_data.os_access_read, windows_data.os_access_write)
     @patch_os_path_exists_for_kolibri_folder(windows_data.has_kolibri_data_folder)
-    @patch("sys.platform", "win32")
-    @patch("os.path", ntpath)
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.discovery.utils.filesystem.windows._wmic_output",
         mocked_wmic_output,
@@ -154,9 +157,24 @@ def test_drive_space(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.d_drive.totalspace, 58388480)
 
     def test_drive_names(self):
-        self.assertEqual(self.c_drive.name, "Local Fixed Disk")
+        self.assertEqual(self.c_drive.name, "C: (Local Fixed Disk)")
         self.assertEqual(self.d_drive.name, "VBOXADDITIONS_4.")
 
+    @patch("kolibri.core.discovery.utils.filesystem.windows._wmic_output")
+    def test_powershell_fallback(self, mock_wmic):
+        # Force wmic to fail by raising an exception with the specific error message
+        # that would trigger the PowerShell fallback
+        mock_wmic.side_effect = Exception(
+            "Could not run command 'wmic logicaldisk list full /format:csv > ...'"
+        )
+
+        # Now call the function - it should use the PowerShell fallback
+        drives = enumerate_mounted_disk_partitions()
+        # Check that the result is a dictionary
+        # On Github Actions, this seems to produce no listed drives
+        # so the best we can hope for is that the function above doesn't error.
+        self.assertIsInstance(drives, dict)
+
 
 class LinuxFilesystemTestCase(TestCase):
     """
diff --git a/kolibri/core/discovery/utils/filesystem/windows.py b/kolibri/core/discovery/utils/filesystem/windows.py
index bffd91ceff4..592d90716c1 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/discovery/utils/filesystem/windows.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/discovery/utils/filesystem/windows.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import codecs
 import csv
+import json
 import logging
 import os
+import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import uuid
 
@@ -20,11 +22,31 @@
 ]
 
 
+def _get_drive_name(drive, path):
+    # More robustly name drives with multiple fallbacks
+    if drive.get("VolumeName"):
+        return drive.get("VolumeName")
+    caption = drive.get("Caption")
+    description = drive.get("Description")
+    if caption and description:
+        return "{} ({})".format(caption, description)
+    elif caption:
+        return caption
+    elif description:
+        return description
+    return path
+
+
 def get_drive_list():
 
     drives = []
 
-    drive_list = _parse_wmic_csv_output(_wmic_output())
+    try:
+        drive_list = _parse_wmic_csv_output(_wmic_output())
+    except Exception as e:
+        if "Could not run command" not in str(e):
+            raise
+        drive_list = _get_drive_list_powershell()
 
     for drive in drive_list:
 
@@ -53,11 +75,12 @@ def get_drive_list():
         if not os.access(path, os.R_OK):
             continue
 
+        name = _get_drive_name(drive, path)
         # combine the metadata, using backup fields for missing pieces, and return
         drives.append(
             {
                 "path": path,
-                "name": drive.get("VolumeName") or drive.get("Description"),
+                "name": name,
                 "filesystem": drive.get("FileSystem").lower(),
                 "freespace": int(drive.get("FreeSpace") or 0),
                 "totalspace": int(drive.get("Size") or 0),
@@ -137,3 +160,56 @@ def _parse_wmic_csv_output(text):
 
     # turn each row into a dict, mapping the header text of each column to the row's value for that column
     return [dict(zip(header, row)) for row in rows]
+
+
+def _get_drive_list_powershell():
+    """
+    Get the list of drives using PowerShell when wmic is unavailable.
+    Returns data in a format compatible with the wmic csv output parsing.
+    """
+
+    # Create a unique temp file
+    temp_file_path = os.path.join(
+        tempfile.gettempdir(), "kolibri_disks_ps-{}.json".format(uuid.uuid4())
+    )
+
+    # PowerShell command with explicit property selection
+    powershell_cmd = [
+        "powershell",
+        "-NoProfile",
+        "-ExecutionPolicy",
+        "Bypass",
+        "-Command",
+        "Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_LogicalDisk | "
+        "Select-Object @{Name='DeviceID';Expression={$_.DeviceID}}, "
+        "@{Name='DriveType';Expression={$_.DriveType}}, "
+        "@{Name='Caption';Expression={$_.Caption}}, "
+        "@{Name='Description';Expression={$_.Description}}, "
+        "@{Name='VolumeName';Expression={$_.VolumeName}}, "
+        "@{Name='Size';Expression={$_.Size}}, "
+        "@{Name='FreeSpace';Expression={$_.FreeSpace}}, "
+        "@{Name='FileSystem';Expression={$_.FileSystem}}, "
+        "@{Name='VolumeSerialNumber';Expression={$_.VolumeSerialNumber}} | "
+        f"ConvertTo-Json | Out-File -FilePath '{temp_file_path}' -Encoding utf8",
+    ]
+
+    # Run the command
+    subprocess.run(powershell_cmd, check=True, capture_output=True)
+
+    disks_data = []
+
+    # Read and parse the JSON file
+    if os.path.exists(temp_file_path) and os.path.getsize(temp_file_path) > 0:
+        # Open the file with utf-8-sig encoding to handle BOM
+        with open(temp_file_path, "r", encoding="utf-8-sig") as f:
+            content = f.read().strip()
+
+            disks_data = json.loads(content or "[]")
+
+            # Handle case where only one disk is returned (not in a list)
+            if not isinstance(disks_data, list):
+                disks_data = [disks_data]
+
+    os.remove(temp_file_path)
+
+    return disks_data