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soft and hard links in ntfs

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jgpaiva:
Just keeping this thread updated...
Curt mentioned (in this thread) HardlinkShellExtension which looks like a pretty darn good app for creating hardlinks and such. It's got lots of updates and it's freeware :D

Hirudin:
Whoa! This creates a whole new world of file management I'd never known about before!
I am still a little fuzzy as to what each of these links do and/or how they differ: Soft Link, Junction, Symbolic Link. I think I've got a pretty good grasp on shortcuts though!

As for *x: I'd say it should be written as: *n*x
Seems to work the best for

--- --- *n*x
Linux
 UnixI just don't like the fact that 1 of the asterisks must represent no characters if you use *u*x...

--- ---       * u* x
L  i  n  u  x
         Unix^ is not very elegant

Hirudin:
OK, here's a visual representation of what I think Shortcuts (duh), Symbolic Links, and Hard Links (AKA Junctions) are... If it's not clear, the large gold/orange filled circle represents the hard drive, the blue ring is to represent the actual file.
The circle segment around the icon is to show that the file appears to be exactly the same.

Links Visualization 1.3.rar (60.34 kB - downloaded 345 times.) < This is the Paint.net file (with layers) that I used to create the images in case anyone wants to show what a Soft Link is/does...
[edit]Oh I see, both traditional shortcuts and symlinks ARE soft links...[/edit]

[modified]
- Added limitations to Hard Link image, updated rar to new "version 1.1".
- Changed Hard Link image a lil', updated rar file to 1.2.
- 1.3 (didn't mean to make so many changes...), changed icon on link of H.L.
[/modified]

cthorpe:
I use links (junctions) extensively on my machine (probably 8-10 exist at this time).  I run FirstDefence-ISR and have my machine in a frozen state.  That means that when I reboot, everything reverts to that frozen state.  Installed programs disappear, registry settings vanish, and program configuration changes are undone.  Some programs, such as my broswer, have settings that I want to retain after rebooting.  Many times, I can tell the program to store its config info on a second partition that is not frozen.  Some programs, however, don't have that option.  I use links to get around that.

Let me illustrate with a made up program:

I have a program called Browser.  Browser does not let me change where it stores its bookmarks, cookies, history, saved passwords, etc.  It saves everything in Local Settings under Documents and Settings\My Username in a folder called Browserconfig.  Every time I reboot my computer, all of those things I just mentioned are gone.  What I can do, is exit Browser, move the entire Browserconfig folder to my D drive, and then create a ntfs link in Documents and Settings\My Username\Local Settings.  That link will look like Browserconfig to Browser, and all of my settings will be saved there, but they are actually being saved to my D drive.  I then freeze the system with that ntfs link in place, and my problem is solved.


Oh, and I use sysinternal's junction program to create links.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/Junction.mspx

umeca74:
the various link flavors are useful but each comes with its own problems and limitations


* shortcuts get in trouble if the real file is moved. Windows XP introduced the Distributed Link Tracking service that helps albeit introducing some extra overhead for all file operations
* hard links are limited to files in the same partition. Also some programs (eg visual studio) destroy hard links when they save, so you have to watch out!
* folder junctions can span partitions but only on the local hard disks, no networks. Be careful when you delete folder junctions, you may lose all the target folders. xplorer2 has a J attribute to identify junctions. Some people introduce a coloring rule on this attribute to make junctions stand out and prevent such accidents
* vista's symbolic links... well i don't know much about them yet :)
xplorer2 can do most link types with its Edit | Paste special submenu. Vista symbolic links in a future version :)

hth
nikos

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