This tip works for anypartition of any NTFS formatted drive except thepartition with the Windows system files on it.
Windows XP, likeWindows 2000 before it,allows you to ‘mount’ drivesas folders in a pre-existinglogical drive. So if yourcomputer has a 20 GB diskformatted as a singlepartition and volume (driveC:), you could purchase asecond drive, partition andformat it through the DiskManager, and then instead ofgiving it its own drive letter,add it to your C: drive as adirectory.
Any files added to thatdirectory would, of course, bestored on the new disk.
This can come in handy—certain applications such asdatabases are extremelylarge, but may not supportstoring data on a logicallyseparate drive.
As far as Windows isconcerned, a drive mountedas a directory is just adirectory. This can also cutdown on storage confusionand it’s easy to do, though itcan only be done with NTFS-formatted partitions.
Also, obviously, the bootpartition cannot be used thisway, although otherpartitions can be added to the boot partition.
If you have installedsoftware on a partition youplan to mount as a directory,it is best to uninstall andreinstall it, since the movemay stop the software fromworking correctly. Windowswill warn you about this.To mount a partitionas a directory, go to
Control Panel >AdministrativeTools > ComputerManagement > Storage >Disk Management
Thenright-click on the partitionyou wish to mount as adirectory in the lowerpane of the graphicalpartition window.Select ‘Change driveletter and paths…’ Removethe current option (if any),then click ‘Add’. Choose‘Mount in the followingempty NTFS folder’, browseto the desired volume, andadd a directory for yourdrive. Click ‘OK’.
If you wish to returnthings to the way theywere, simply repeat the procedure, removing thedirectory location andchoosing a drive letterinstead. The data on thedrive will be unharmed.
