whats the point of MOUNT POINTS?

I am at aloss to understand the use of "mount points"

I just created one and it shows me the contents of the drive it is located on. If i double click it then shows a new directory of the same contents of the root drive.???

I read that it allows you to overcome the drive letter limitations of A - Z but how can this be when you have to navigate to the folder before turning it into a mount point.

Anyone clarify this for me pleae, I am missing somthing.

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Comments

dynamik

Because instead of assigning the drive a letter, you can assign it to a mount point.

Say you have four HDs. One is C:\. Instead of assigning D, E, and F to the other drivers, you can mount them on c:\Data, c:\Media, and c:\Games. When you access those directories, you're really accessing the other drives, just like you would be if you were using drive letters.

keltak

dynamik wrote:

Because instead of assigning the drive a letter, you can assign it to a mount point.

Say you have four HDs. One is C:\. Instead of assigning D, E, and F to the other drivers, you can mount them on c:\Data, c:\Media, and c:\Games. When you access those directories, you're really accessing the other drives, just like you would be if you were using drive letters.

thanks for the fast reply.
how do you achive this without partitioning and assigning a drive letter?

dynamik

You can do this through computer management. Right-click on "My Computer" and choose "manage." On the left side, under "computer management," under "storage," there will be a "disk management" node. Select this, and it will bring up the disk configuration for your local machine. You can do things such as add and remove drive letters, format, etc.

You can find more information on disk management here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457110.aspx

keltak

Hi dynamik
I already created a mount point using computer managment console. but the folder i used was created on a drive d: and contained the contents of drive d:

I don't have any unformated unassigned drives in my system, but if i did, i dont understand how i could create a folder on them to turn into a mount point.

I followed your link, I had already typed mount points into the search on there earlier, but all the subjects are about unix or windows server etc. the link you gave me does not metion mount points.

thanks for your help so far.

maybe you could do me an idiot guide on how to setup a mount point on a drive that does not have a drive letter. and explain how this is useful.

dynamik

Here you go: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889

sprkymrk

keltak wrote:

I don't have any unformated unassigned drives in my system, but if i did, i dont understand how i could create a folder on them to turn into a mount point..

During the process of formatting the new drive, it asks you if you would like to assign a drive letter to the new drive or mount it from a folder on an existing NTFS partition. You would select to mount it and browse to the folder on an existing drive. Then your new drive would not be assigned a drive letter, but anythin you place in the folder you selected would actually reside on that new drive.

keltak

dynamik wrote:

Here you go: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889

thanks for the link

keltak

sprkymrk wrote:

keltak wrote:

I don't have any unformated unassigned drives in my system, but if i did, i dont understand how i could create a folder on them to turn into a mount point..

During the process of formatting the new drive, it asks you if you would like to assign a drive letter to the new drive or mount it from a folder on an existing NTFS partition. You would select to mount it and browse to the folder on an existing drive. Then your new drive would not be assigned a drive letter, but anythin you place in the folder you selected would actually reside on that new drive.

Ok, the penny is starting to drop now, thanks for the info.
I think i need to swap one of my drives and actually do this process for myself.

thanks once again for clarifying this for me

dynamik

You may want to start experimenting with Virtual PC 2007 (free) or VMWare Workstation 6 ($189, but has trial) and setup some virtual machines. You can do things like add network adapters, HDs, etc. to practice a lot of these things without having to screw around with a lot of physical equipment. This is the most practical way to work through a lot of the exercises, especially when you move on to more advanced topics, such as RRAS and DNS.

keltak

dynamik wrote:

You may want to start experimenting with Virtual PC 2007 (free) or VMWare Workstation 6 ($189, but has trial) and setup some virtual machines. You can do things like add network adapters, HDs, etc. to practice a lot of these things without having to screw around with a lot of physical equipment. This is the most practical way to work through a lot of the exercises, especially when you move on to more advanced topics, such as RRAS and DNS.

thanks dynamik
i had thought about Virtual PC 2007 but thought it might slow me down having to install and configure and learn how it works. is it complicated to set up?

keltak

thanks for your help guys...did this today in 5 mins.
makes perfect sense now and i can see how useful this feature is.

dynamik

I actually use VMWare; I've never used VPC. I believe that VMWare is a far superior product, but I recommend VPC to people new to virtualization because it's free and a great way to get started.

I can't imagine the basic setup being too different between them though. It should be fairly straight-forward. I'd download it now and start playing it. Virtual Machines are going to be of paramount importance for you down the road, so you might as well familiarize yourself with the technology now.

I'm glad you got the mount points figured out. Let us know if you need anything else.

keltak

thanks dynamik
I downloaded it yesterday, but i have a tight study schedule atm, so i will prob play with it at the weekend......wife and daughter permitting.