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I have a directory on another drive that I want to show as a new virtual drive. How can I do that?

Breakthrough
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user11955
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3 Answers3

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Use the subst command:

subst X: F:\some\folder

There is also a great freeware paid utility called Visual Subst to make things even easier:

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2021 Update: that software is no longer freeware, and now costs 20$. The last free version is 1.0.6, which is still available on download websites such as Softonic and Uptodown.

gronostaj
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    yes I tried this before, but it doesnt auto-mount the dir on boot. – user11955 Feb 16 '10 at 04:20
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    At the bottom of the application there is a checkbox Apply virtual drives on Windows startup if that's what you're after. You could also use a batch script with subst commands and place it in your startup folder. –  Feb 16 '10 at 04:24
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    I realize that the option is there, it just doesn't work.

    probably because I have a space in the folder name (that I cant remove)

     – user11955 Feb 16 '10 at 04:30
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    Possibly. There is also the startup folder in your start menu you can use. Make a batch script with subst commands in it and quote the paths with spaces. An example of 1 line would be subst X: "C:\Program Files" –  Feb 16 '10 at 04:31
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    Or add it as a run entry in the registry. It gets processed and the subst drive gets added quite early in the boot process then. – Fiasco Labs Oct 01 '12 at 15:31
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    This utility indeed lets me mount a folder as a drive and it (or windows) assigns this new drive the same name as the drive where the source folder resides. When i try to rename that new drive, windows gives me an error about improper volume name. Is there any way i can fix this and have this new drive named the way i want? – ruslaniv Oct 31 '14 at 04:14
  • Same question as Rusl: can we change the virtual drive volume label? – Konerak Jul 05 '17 at 09:54
  • Use subst X: /d to unmount it. – john c. j. Mar 10 '20 at 21:40
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I used the registry edit on wikipedia so Windows would automaticaly create the drive when starting (tested on Windows 8.1):

  1. Run regedit.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\DOS Devices
  3. Add a new String Value with the drive letter as the name
    • example: X:
  4. Set the value using one of the following formats (Replace C:\some\directory with the folder path):
    • \??\C:\some\directory
    • \DosDevices\C:\some\directory
    • \Device\Mup\127.0.0.1\C$\some\directory
  5. Restart the computer.

Another option is to use a VHD (or use a USB and skip steps 2 - 4):

  1. Open Disk Management.
  2. Open the Action menu and select Create VHD and follow the prompts.
  3. Right click the new VHD (bottom half, right click on the gray section on the left) and click Initialize Disk and press OK.
  4. Right click the data section of the VHD (bottom half, white and black rectangle with the text "Unallocated"), select New Simple Volume... and follow the prompts.
  5. Right click the data section of the VHD and select Change Drive Letter and Paths..., click Add..., indicate the folder you want to mount the drive to, and click OK for the two boxes.

See also:

Trisped
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  • Thanks; tested on Windows 7 and it works. Only way I could find to mount a directory that has a path beginning with \Device\Mup\ – petehern Feb 23 '17 at 21:39
  • @petehern Which method was the one that worked for you, the regedit method, or the VHD method? – Glenn Slayden Dec 17 '17 at 00:37
  • I used the regedit method. – petehern Dec 18 '17 at 03:06
  • is there a way to change the volume label for the registry option? It is confusing that the label of the source drive is used, – vlad_tepesch Mar 11 '19 at 12:21
  • @vlad_tepesch The volume label can be changed from X to what ever label you want in step 3. Step 4 you specify where the VHD is, so it has to be the source drive. – Trisped Mar 14 '19 at 22:06
  • @Trisped you misunderstood 'volume label'. I did not meant the drive-Letter but the label that is shown in the explorer – vlad_tepesch Mar 18 '19 at 12:18
  • @vlad_tepesch I don't know. There is a mention of SUBST in the Wikipedia link, but that indicates that the source drive/volume must not have a label. If I was you, I would ask it as a new question. – Trisped Mar 18 '19 at 20:48
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Apart from the suggested ways, you could do one more thing. Share the folder and Map as network drive. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Share the required folder. (You can just share with yourself or Admin group)

a.Right Click on the Folder and select Share with specific people

enter image description here

b.Click Share button on the share with dialog.

enter image description here

c.Copy the share path that is generated.

enter image description here

Step 2: Map the network drive

a.Click on Map Network drive in windows explorer enter image description here

b.Once it launches, use the previously copied path as the network location.

enter image description here

c.Click on finish and you are done. Make sure to click on Reconnect on logon.

Benefit is that you get to see the drive grouped separate from other physical drives.

Code Name Jack
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    Note that this requires Network Discovery to be turned on which you may or may not want depending on which network you're connected to. – Daryn Nov 25 '19 at 15:22
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    This solutions has a few drawbacks, but I am grateful you mentioned it since it is a completely different approach. – Kar.ma May 25 '21 at 12:51