Questions tagged [junction]

Questions about working with NTFS junction points (somewhat similar to Linux symlinks).

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120 votes
5 answers
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How to Delete a Junction by Using Command Prompt in Windows 7

I believe in Windows Vista, we could use linkd command. However, I cannot find this command in Windows 7. I know I can use Windows Explorer and delete the junction, but I wonder if this can be done in ...
Nord's user avatar
  • 1,325
30 votes
2 answers
29k views

MKLINK vs. Junction.exe

SysInternals has a program junction.exe that creates Junctions (aka. reparse points, aka. symlinks) in Windows. However, Windows also comes with a mklink which seems to do the same thing. Is there a ...
abelenky's user avatar
  • 963
28 votes
5 answers
44k views

Moving Windows folders around with Junction links (mklink)

Space on my SSD is running pretty low, and there seems to be a 19GB folder in Windows that sticks out (%windir%\Installer) and cannot be safely deleted (as explained here: https://serverfault.com/q/...
veljkoz's user avatar
  • 825
24 votes
8 answers
37k views

How to create an NTFS junction?

How can I create an NTFS junction point in Windows XP?
user avatar
19 votes
5 answers
7k views

Scenario - NTFS Symbolic Link or Junction?

Differences ┌───────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────┬───────────┬─────┐ │ │ Absolute │ Relative │ File │ Directory │ UNC │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────┼───────────┼...
user avatar
17 votes
4 answers
99k views

Give access to a subdirectory without giving access to parent directories

I have a scenario involving a Windows file server where the "owner" wants to dole out permissions to a group of users of the following sort: \\server\dir1\dir2\dir3: read, write and execute \\server\...
allquixotic's user avatar
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15 votes
4 answers
9k views

What directories in a Windows 7 SSD install would you link/junction to an HDD?

I'm planning on installing an SSD/HDD combination with the SSD as my boot (Windows 7 x64) drive, and a spinning HDD as a storage drive. Are there any log files in particular best suited to a mklink ...
Tracker1's user avatar
  • 863
14 votes
2 answers
2k views

When would one prefer a Junction Point (Directory Hard Link) over a symbolic link?

Technically, I get the difference between the two; this is just a usage question. In particular, I want to move some folders off of a smaller hard drive and onto a larger one, but I need to use some ...
Clayton Hughes's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
14k views

What can I do about Windows 7 Backup error 0x81000037, apparently caused by reparse points?

I've been getting this error: 0x81000037: Windows Backup failed while trying to read from the shadow copy on one of the volumes being backed up trying to take a Windows backup of my workstation (...
Dylan Beattie's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is there a way to show junctions differently in windows explorer?

I've started using junctions to remap folders on my Windows XP box. It's great - I have two drives, so this simplifies my organization. I would like it if Windows Explorer visually differentiated ...
rocketmonkeys's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

NTFS Junction Point from HDD to SSD, will it cause performance bottleneck? (steam game relocation)

Can an NTFS Junction Point between HDDs cause a bottleneck? Or will the junction be cached in memory? Specifically, I want to install Steam on a magnetic HDD. This means all the games will be ...
ddtemplar's user avatar
  • 131
12 votes
2 answers
15k views

How can I create a right click menu item to manipulate a junction point?

As I am using a SSD but it is limited in size I want to be able to use junction points to remap files and directories to my HDD, this would work ideal if I could create a shell extension for it that ...
Tamara Wijsman's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

How to get directory sizes without junctions in Far Manager

By default Far Manager includes sizes junction into the directory size (F3). Is there a way to avoid counting them?
Antony Hatchkins's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
30k views

Using symbolic link in Windows XP

Junction is a good symbolic link tool in XP. However, it's not so easy to use at first moment, ie. only can use command line interface; move/rename target file/folder; got to use 'junction -d ' to ...
Stan's user avatar
  • 7,235
7 votes
10 answers
15k views

List all files and dirs without recursion with junctions

Is there a native|portable tool that can give me a unicode or a system local-compatible list of all files and directories under a path recursively, without recursing into junction points or links, in ...
n611x007's user avatar
  • 6,406
7 votes
3 answers
3k views

How to search for all junction links in a given directories and its subdirectories

I'd like to able to find all junction links on a whole drive or just given directory. Is it e.g. possible with the Total Commander search plugins? I just can't seem to find any decent solution for ...
Nux's user avatar
  • 464
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to safely recursively delete a directory in Windows?

NTFS supports all kinds of links including junctions, hard links, soft links, etc. so here's a problem. Let's say you're recursively deleting a directory which actually contains the above things. It's ...
Artem S. Tashkinov's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
18k views

How does Robocopy handle file system links (symbolic links, hard links and junctions)?

Is it safe to delete a Robocopy backup? I have read that some people accidentally deleted files outside of the backup because it contained links/junctions. Can I prevent this?
Marco Eckstein's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
8k views

Is it possible to make Windows 10 show symbolic links with a different icon in Explorer?

I would like to know when I am browsing a symbolic link folder as I have had issues with copying directories then missing the fact that symbolic links have been lost through the copy operation etc. Is ...
Josh Comley's user avatar
  • 4,102
6 votes
3 answers
12k views

How to properly delete a Directory Junction?

I am using multiple installations of the same game (on Windows 10 Home), in order to have easier access to various addon/user configurations. The subfolders of each installation are Directory ...
BearCode's user avatar
  • 1,501
6 votes
3 answers
6k views

Can you link an NTFS junction point to a directory on a Network Attached Storage?

I'm using Windows, and I want to use Dropbox to back up a folder outside my Dropbox directory. So I want to create a junction point from my target directory to my Dropbox folder. According to the ...
Zack Burt's user avatar
  • 321
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

7zip force ignore NTFS junctions

Windows 1803, 7z 18.05 Trying to archive and compress a folder structure with multiple NTFS junctions referencing parts of the said structure (i.e. no "outside" links) - any possibility to compress ...
kamikatze13's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
334 views

Windows 10 mklink to c:/originalDirectory which preserves original files if they are deleted from the linked directory

I'm on Windows 10. Imagine that I have a directory c:\originalDirectory and I create a link at c:\newDirectory by doing mklink /d c:\newDirectory c:\originalDirectory. My question is about the files ...
ninja star's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
5k views

Why doesn't XCOPY copy my junctions?

I'm trying to copy a Users Directory with XCOPY, but parts of it are not working. (I'm running as Administrator, in a command prompt which was started with Run As Administrator) The user directory ...
abelenky's user avatar
  • 963
4 votes
2 answers
822 views

Can mklink make portable links?

Is there any way to create portable links in NTFS using mklink? Or it there a better solution? I want to be able to distribute an application in a zip file or folder copy where there is one "real" ...
RoboJ1M's user avatar
  • 143
4 votes
1 answer
4k views

what is the difference between a symlink , junction , hard link and so on? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What is the difference between NTFS hard links and directory junctions? well just got a litlle confused about all of them. so any explanation?
Karim's user avatar
  • 1,202
4 votes
2 answers
502 views

using junctions and moving the Recycle Bin to the right partition

I have got two partitions on a PC running Windows XP: C: system partition D: data partition Usually every user has got his user profile on C:\Documents and Settings\<user> But I have moved ...
Duc's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
1 answer
783 views

Can someone make sense out of "Hard Links and Junctions" article from MSDN?

At Hard Links and Junctions MSDN article one can read the following: A hard link is the file system representation of a file by which more than one path references a single file in the same ...
Piotr Dobrogost's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can I create a shortcut which points to a specific drive regardless of its drive letter?

I noticed that I cannot use \\?\Volume{f993747a-5d7a-4de1-a97a-c20c1af1ba02}\path\to\target or \Device\HarddiskVolume5\path\to\target as shortcut targets—it won't work. It only works when I use drive ...
Wes's user avatar
  • 175
3 votes
2 answers
567 views

Proper upgrade path for Windows 7 to Windows 8 when the directory setup is non-standard

I have both a HDD and a SSD in my computer and after installing Windows I moved things around a little to ensure that the OS is on the SSD but my user profile resides on the SSD (with a few exceptions)...
Joey's user avatar
  • 40.4k
3 votes
3 answers
8k views

Can an NTFS junction point be followed over a network share?

OS: Windows Server 2016 If i have a folder X containing a junction point to another folder Y (on same machine and same volume). Then if i share X over the network, will a remote user that connects to ...
Scrontch's user avatar
  • 165
3 votes
1 answer
4k views

How is the "AppData\Local\Application Data\" directory linked?

I deleted "AppData\Local\Application Data\" from my profile and I want to create the link again. My problem is that if I create an mklink to %localappdata%, it behaves differently than the original: ...
hyperknot's user avatar
  • 892
3 votes
0 answers
2k views

How to delete a folder that may be a junction, and the destination using command line in Windows

I want to completely remove a 'folder' that may or may not be a junction to another folder. If the 'folder' isn't a junction rd /s /q 'folder' will do the job. But if the 'folder' is a junction to ...
liamZ's user avatar
  • 131
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Windows junction invalid on network share

I usually have this setup on my Windows machines: I share a single folder such as C:\share as network share. Then I use mklink /J somedir C:\somedir to create junction points to directories I want to ...
user579825's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
9k views

Windows 10 Upgrade and Junctions

I have a 465 GB SSD and a 4 TB HDD in my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 machine. I have a junction (not symlink) that points C:\Users to D:\Users. Does anyone know if the Windows 10 upgrade will still ...
BillDOe's user avatar
  • 1,721
2 votes
4 answers
11k views

How do I delete hardlinks, symbolic links, junction points, etc please?

I could be wrong, but I'm yet to hear a valid argument for the exploitability that these things deliver...outweighing their very dubious / debatable functionality. They seem to me to be marginally ...
jonny's user avatar
  • 27
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

make NTFS Junction system hidden on Windows

I'm trying to migrate my user profile to a separate partition, and I've got to the point of adding the compatibility system Junctions to the new profile. However I don't want to see them in my profile ...
0x539's user avatar
  • 217
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with NTFS Junctions: ERROR_NOT_SAME_DEVICE(0x80070011)

I have a quick question about installing Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with NTFS Junctions in place. I keep getting this error: ERROR_NOT_SAME_DEVICE(0x80070011). Now from what I researched online it is ...
spaceghost's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
439 views

Are junctions affected if the drive is formatted?

I was trying to relocate my user profiles, so that they are not affected by any problems occuring in the drive on which the operating system is stored. I've managed to move user profiles using ...
AJaM's user avatar
  • 105
2 votes
1 answer
4k views

Creating Junction from mapped NAS

I need to create a junction "test" on J:\ (which is a Windows partition) which should refer to K:\folder1\folder2\folder3 (mapped network drive). I cd into J:\ and ran the command mklink /J k:\...
user3232823's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Update junction in Windows 8.1

I'm doing this: net stop wuauserv then: rename c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old and then: mklink E:\windows\SoftwareDistribution \D I'm doing \d in the end because ...
Anonymous's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Relative junctions

I would like to create junctions that are based on the relative path? This way when I copy a folder all the junctions contained within are copied and point to valid data(Which is in the parent folder)...
user14448's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
5k views

remote symbolic link / junction

Might be a pretty obvious one but have had some trouble finding solid answers. I have a directory on a windows network share containing different versions of an application. I would like to have a ...
Blueberry's user avatar
  • 215
2 votes
1 answer
7k views

How do I mklink junction + move content from C:\Program Files to D:\Program Files?

I have a few applications that absolutely refuse to install into anything but C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files(x86). Changing the registry keys for default install folders doesn't seem to provide ...
user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
4k views

Moving folders to another drive under Win7 using junction

I plan to install an msata SSD drive on my notebook to hold windows and programs, while keeping data files, the users directory, etc. on the old HD. It would be easier if I could continue to refer to ...
foosion's user avatar
  • 471
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

Using external USB 3.0 SSD for improving performance on Windows 10

I recently got an all-in-one. Unfortunately it has a very slow 5400 RPM HDD and I can't really upgrade to internal SSD (the AiO is not really DIY upgradeable). I do have a external SSD connected via a ...
tinou's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
1 answer
225 views

Using junctions to get all my user files on the backup drive

I generally prefer to back up just my data files, and not my program files, since I can always reinstall the programs. This is easier if I put programs on one hard drive and data on another. But ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can I move Windows 7 C:\Users more easily using 2 installs of Windows 7? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Moving users folder on Windows Vista/Seven to another partition I am trying to move my Windows 7 C:\Users folder off of my 64GB SSD onto another drive (A partition on an hard ...
apathos's user avatar
  • 641
2 votes
1 answer
564 views

How to prevent symbolic directory links from getting deleted during Windows or Visual Studio updates?

I have created symbolic links using mklink /d for both C:\Windows\Installer and C:\ProgramData\Package Cache in order to save SSD space. From time to time, these folders get recreated locally (...
aviator's user avatar
  • 151
2 votes
0 answers
2k views

mklink directory junctions are inaccessible on Windows 10

I created a junction with the mklink command on Windows 7 and it worked great for the past 2 years. (EDIT: I have now verified that this exact scenario/problem still exists on a brand new laptop with ...
MasterHD's user avatar
  • 273