PSS ID Number: 323424
Article Last Modified on 4/5/2004
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition
This article was previously published under Q323424
SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes how to mount and unmount a volume at an NTFS file system folder.
Overview
A mounted drive is a drive that is mapped to an empty folder on a volume that uses the NTFS file system. Mounted drives function as any other drives, but they are assigned drive paths instead of drive letters. When you view a mounted drive in Windows Explorer, it appears as a drive icon in the path in which it is mounted. Because mounted drives are not subject to the 26-drive-letter limit for local drives and mapped network connections, use mounted drives when you want to gain access to more than 26 drives on your computer. For example, if you have a CD-ROM drive with the drive letter E, and an NTFS volume with the drive letter F, mount the CD-ROM drive as F:\CD-ROM. You can then free the drive letter E, and gain access to your CD-ROM drive directly by using F:\CD-ROM.
You can also use mounted drives when you need additional storage space on a volume. If you map a folder on that volume to another volume with available disk space (for example, 2 gigabytes [GB]), you extend the storage space of the volume by 2 GB. With mounted drives, you are not limited by the size of the volume in which the folder is created.
Mounted drives make your data more accessible and give you the flexibility to manage data storage based on your work environment and system usage. The following are additional examples in which you can use mounted drives:
- To provide additional disk space for your temporary files, you can make the C:\Temp folder a mounted drive.
- When disk space starts to run low on drive C, you can move the My Documents folder to another drive with more available disk space, and then mount it as C:\My Documents.
You can use the Disk Management snap-in or the mountvol command to mount a drive at a folder on a local volume. The folder on which you mount the drive must be empty, and it must be located on a basic or dynamic NTFS volume.
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Requirements
- You must be logged on as an Administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.
- At least one available NTFS-formatted disk volume must be available on your computer.
How to Mount a Volume
To mount a volume at an NTFS folder by using Disk Management, follow these steps:
- Create an empty folder on an NTFS-formatted drive (for example, C:\MyFolder).
- Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
- Expand Storage (if it is not already expanded), and then click Disk Management.
- In the details pane on the right, right-click the volume that you want to mount, and then click Change Drive Letter and Path.
- In the Change Drive Letter and Paths for dialog box, click Add.
- Click Mount in this NTFS folder (if it is not already selected), and then do one of the following, as appropriate to your situation:
- Type the path to an empty folder on an NTFS volume, and then click OK.
- Click Browse, locate the empty NTFS folder, and then click OK two times.
- If you have not yet created an empty folder, click Browse, click New Folder to create an empty folder on an NTFS volume, type a name for the new folder, and then click OK two times.
To mount a volume from the command line by using the mountvol command, follow these steps:
- Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
- At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER (where [
drive:]path is the NTFS folder where the mount point will reside, and Volume{GUID} is the name of the volume that is the target of the mount point in \\?\VolumeGUID\ format):mountvol [
drive:]pathVolume{GUID}For example, type mountvol c:\ntfs_dir \\?\Volume{053db088-b6fb-11d4-b080-806d6172696f}\, where C:\Ntfs_dir is an empty folder on an NTFS volume, and \\?\Volume{053db088-b6fb-11d4-b080-806d6172696f}\ is the VolumeGUID of the volume that you want to mount.
How to Unmount a Volume
When you unmount a volume from an NTFS folder, Windows Server 2003 removes the mounted volume, but leaves the folder in the same location.
To remove a mount point from a volume by using Disk Management, follow these steps:
- Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
- Expand Storage (if it is not already expanded), and then click Disk Management.
- In the details pane on the right, right-click the NTFS volume that you want to unmount, and then click Change Drive Letter and Path.
- In the Change Drive Letter and Paths for dialog box, click the mount point that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
- Click Yes when you are prompted to remove the drive path.
To unmount the volume from the command line by using the mountvol command, follow these steps:
- Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
- At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER, where [drive:]path is the NTFS folder where the mount point resides:
mountvol [drive:]path /d
REFERENCES
For more information about the mountvol command, type mountvol help at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
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