Windows 7: What's difference between online/offline mounting/unmounting a disk?

codekiddy · 21 Feb 2012

can someone explain the difference between:
online and mount
offline and unmount

I know mount and unmount are not commands btw, I just wanna know the difference.
is mounting/dismounting a drive same as putting it into online/offline and why not if so.

thanks alot

Dwarf · 21 Feb 2012

Quote:

In order for a hard disk or disk partition to be accessible by a computer, it must first be mounted. This is a software process that "activates" the disk, which makes the folders and files on the disk readable by the computer. If a hard drive is physically connected, but not mounted, the computer will not recognize it.

Mount Definition

Quote:

Unmounting a disk makes it inaccessible by the computer. Of course, in order for a disk to be unmounted, it must first be mounted. When a disk is mounted, it is active and the computer can access its contents. Since unmounting a disk prevents the computer from accessing it, there is no risk of the disk being disconnected in the middle of a data transfer. Therefore, before removing an external data storage device, such as a USB flash drive, the disk should be unmounted to avoid possible data corruption.

Unmount Definition

Quote:

In general, when a machine is "online," it is turned on and connected to other devices. For example, when a network printer is online, computers connected to that network can print from it. Other devices, such as scanners, video cameras, audio interfaces, and others are said to be online when they are running and connected to a computer system.

Online Definition

Quote:

When a computer or other device is not turned on or connected to other devices, it is said to be "offline." This is the opposite of being "online," when a device can readily communicate with other devices. For example, if you try to print to your printer and you get one of those frustrating errors saying, "The specified printer could not be found," the printer is probably offline. You should check to see if the printer is connected properly and, yes, turned on as well.

Offline Definition

codekiddy · 23 Feb 2012

thanks alot for explanaions and those links too.
useful

Windows 7: What's difference between online/offline mounting/unmounting a disk?

What's difference between online/offline mounting/unmounting a disk? problems?