Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder

    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder

    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder

    How to Mount a Hard Drive or Partition as a Folder in Windows 7
    Published by
    Designer Media Ltd


    How to Mount a Hard Drive or Partition as a Folder in Windows 7

       Information
    This will show you how to mount an existing NTFS drive or partition as a VHD folder in Windows 7. By doing so, this will allow you to use a hard-drive as a normal folder on your main system drive.

    This method comes in handy if you made your original system drive too small for your growing software needs or if you just want to be able to access multiple drives via one single drive letter.




    Here's How:
    1. Create a new folder in 'Drive C' with an appropriate name.
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-newfolderdrivec.jpg
    2. Right click on Computer on Desktop or Start-Menu and click on Manage.


    3. Click on Disk Management in the left hand pane.


    4. Right click on the drive you wish to mount in the middle pane, and click on Change Drive Letter and Paths...
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-changedriveletters.jpg
    5. In the dialog that pops up click on the add... button.
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-addpathbutton.jpg
    6. In the new window that pops up click on Browse...

    7. In this new dialog navigate to the new folder you created earlier.
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-browsefordrivepath.jpg
    8. Click on OK on all of the windows that opened during this tutorial.


    This is how my drive space looked before...
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-before.jpg
    This is how my drives free space looks now after installing Test Drive Unlimited which is 6Gb big to the location C:\ProgramsEXT\TDU.
    NOTE: Notice how the 6Gb has been added to my drive M instead of drive C.
    Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-posttdu_6gb.jpg
       Information
    If you delete the newly created folder with stuff inside it, the 'virtual' folder is all you delete. any programs or data placed in seperate drives via this method remain in the other drives after deleting the folder.









  1. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #1

    Seems to work well here! In fact I just changed the attributes from read only in order to be allowed to copy to as well as from the main storage drive separated from the C drive entirely. It will be interesting to see how that works oiut as well. :)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-change-attributes-mounted-drive.jpg  
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 27
    Windows 7 64bit
       #2

    Very nice tutorial. Now if they would just let you mount ISO's and other disc image standard natively without 3rd party software, they will be fairly close to Linux functionality. They did give us native ISO burning and that is a huge step in the right direction, so if I nag and send enough feedback, they might even listen.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #3

    I just saw the 1tb storage mounted on Vista Home Premium 32bit as well. The difference seen in the total drive space used was only 1gb! It works for those still running both!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-vista-before.jpg   Mount Drives or Partitions as a Folder-vista-after.jpg  
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 1
    Windows 7
       #4

    Once attached XP Mode wouldn't start


    I found this very helpful and I was able to access the folders on the VHD in Windows File Manager. However, when I went to restart the Virtual Machine XP Mode it gave me an error. Detaching the VHD allowed me to run the VM again.

    Is there a way to "have my cake and eat it too?" I have one critical application that only runs under VM and would like to be able to access the files on the VHD in Windows 7 without having to attach & reattach.

    If this is not the correct place for this question, please advise.

    Many thanks!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 55
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #5

    Check drive space on drive


    How do you check the space usage and use disk tools on a drive that is *only* mounted as a folder? I don't see a way to do this, so I have to add drive letters to the partition as well to know when they are filling up.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #6

    jagooch said:
    How do you check the space usage and use disk tools on a drive that is *only* mounted as a folder? I don't see a way to do this, so I have to add drive letters to the partition as well to know when they are filling up.
    right click on the folder and open Properties. On the general tab next to Mounted Volume press the Properties button.
      My Computer


 

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