windows 7 - When would one prefer a Junction Point (Directory Hard Link) over a symbolic link?

26
2013-08
  • Clayton Hughes

    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 sort of link to do it--the application that uses these files only expects them to be where they currently are, and isn't configurable.

    I'm not sure which argument I should pass to mklink: /J or /D. In doing some research on the web, places seem to just pick one or the other without explaining why they made that choice.

    The data consists of many small files and folders, which are read and written to quite frequently, if that's something that would affect the decision.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks.

    • Answers
  • paradroid

    Because Symbolic Links have more functionality, they are preferred, but if the disk may need to be used with pre-Vista Windows operating systems (including boot discs), use Junctions instead.

  • surfasb

    They are essentially the same. Use a Symlink for Vista and up. Directory Junctions are there for compatibility with Windows 2000 and up.


    • Related Question

    itunes - Could I use directory junctions (symbolic link) to share music between 2 users in Windows 7
  • Sam Holder

    I want to have 2 users be able to use the same itunes library and be able to sync an ipod which ever user is logged in. I tried making both the My Music folders point to the same folder, but that didn't work. One itunes would not store its library info in that folder. I was wondering if I could create a junction directory so that I can have both My Music folders redirect to a common library folder. I've only read about directory junctions , I havn't tried them.


    • Related Answers
  • John T

    Yes you can, just make sure both users have adequate permissions to access the folder. You can use the command line tool mklink to create a directory junction:

    mklink /j "C:\Documents and Settings\Someuser\My Documents\My Music\" C:\Music

    replace their My Music folder location accordingly.

  • Keithius

    Alternatively, have iTunes use the "Public Music" folders instead, since all users already have access to these folders.

    In Windows 7, this is C:\Users\Public\Public Music

    I forget what it is in Vista, but it's probably similar. And in XP it's probably under C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents or something similar.