As in the previous versions, the command is also available under Windows Vista subst.exe is available for storage, management and analysis.
With this command line program it is possible to mount any directories as virtual drives. In Explorer, the virtual drive, which is actually a normal folder, is displayed like an independent drive.
This gives you, for example, the possibility of simplifying access to deeply branched folder structures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are of course a few disadvantages, which should not be concealed here, since the on-board tool subst.exe
is quite simple.

 

1. Subst.exe creates a new drive with a changed drive letter.
   The drive designation, however, remains that of the drive on which the selected folder is located, which we want to include as a drive via subst.
   This means that we have, for example, two drives with the same name in the Explorer view, which only differ in the drive letter.
   
2. Incorrect assignments can occur when Windows Vista assigns the drive letters.
   If further drives are subsequently connected via USB or other network drives, as Vista does not necessarily recognize that this one letter is already occupied by the subst drive.

If you have a network or subst drive on the first free local letter,
a new USB drive under Vista / XP gets exactly this letter and it seems as if the drive has not got a letter.
But there is a very useful tool called USBDLM from Uwe SieberMorethat exactly solves this problem.

You can find this in our downloads.

 

After installation takes care of USBDLM without further configuration that newly connected USB drives are not on Network or subst drives land, this should normally be sufficient.

But now to the point

 

• How do I mount a directory as a drive using Subst.exe?

First of all, we decide at this point for a folder that we want to include as a drive.
In this example we take a directory on another partition (F) on the same hard drive, Q: DOWNLOADS

Now start the command prompt with Windows key + R, give under To run the command cmd and click on OK.
The command prompt opens.
By entering subst followed by Enter you can display any existing virtual drives.

substance /? shows the few available parameters.

 

Click for a representation of the parameters

 

To now the folder Q: DOWNLOADS set up as a virtual drive and give it eg the drive letter X: assign, enter the following command and confirm it with Enter.

subst x: F: DOWNLOADS

 

 

By entering subst > Enter we can now check whether the virtual drive has been set up.

 

Now let's see how the drive was mounted by clicking on Desktop . click

 

 

The backup drive (name of the partition in this example) is now available twice, but once with the newly created drive letter X:
This refers directly to Q: DOWNLOADS

 

To remove the virtual drive again enter in the command prompt

subst :/d .

In our example subst X: / d

After restarting the system, however, the subst drive has disappeared again.
If you want this virtual drive to be always available, write a small one bat file and puts it in the autostart.

 

• How do I create this batch file?
  

Open one Text editor and paste the command line to create the virtual drive.
For example: subst x: F: DOWNLOADS
Save this file e.g. as subst-downloads.txt or on the desktop.
Then rename it to subst downloads. Beat, this makes it executable and then move it with the mouse button pressed to the autostart folder via Start> All Programs> Autostart
Now this little one Batch file at every start and creates the virtual drive again. A shortcut to subst-downloads.txt in auto start is of course also sufficient.
In order to prevent the integration of the folder as a virtual drive, it is sufficient to delete this shortcut / file in the autostart and the drive is gone the next time it is started.

 

___________________________________________________
This tip comes from www.win-tipps-tweaks.de
© Copyright Michael Hille

Warning:
Using Registry Editor or its tips incorrectly can cause serious system problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Tampering with the registry files and using the tips is at your own risk.