Just a small application I made to simplify the process of creating symbolic and hard links in Windows 7 and Windows 8 (likely Vista too).

It is a GUI for the MKLINK command in Windows, which makes creating the links much easier.

The program requires administrator permissions due to use of the command prompt, so you should run it as an administrator if you experience any problems.

Note: It is not possible to create a hard link from a network share. You must use a symbolic link instead.

Warning:

If you incorrectly specify the destination path, such as having the destination and source paths backwards,

it will delete the file/folder you are presumably trying to create a symlink from.

You will be presented with a confirmation prompt that shows you which folder will be replaced/deleted.

It is always a good idea to test this app on empty files or folders.

Features

Can create symbolic link or a hard link automatically.
Provides the CMD command if manual execution is desired.

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/symlink-creator/Symlink%20Creator%201.3/SymlinkCreator.exe

Windows Symbolic Link Maker

Description

This is a GUI interface to make symbolic link for windows vista(or up)

Does exactly what it states. Supports both file links (with hard links) and directory links.

No fuss, no .net required, no install needed.

I used to use DirLinker but it does not work anymore, this does. Just what I needed.

NTFS Link Ext

Description

This is a spin-off from Michael Elsdoerfer's original NTFS Link (hosted at Novell Forge) to incorporate some fixes and extended features.

NTFS Links

Features

Alax.Info NTFS Links extends Microsoft Windows XP operating system shell by adding additional features related to soft and hard links supported by NTFS file system. The description of the features is provided below.

Shell Extensions

The shell is extended with the following new interface items:

Additional user interface commands:
- new item to directory context menus to accept dropped directories as soft links
- new item to directory context menus to paste copied to clipboard directories as soft links
- new item to directory context menus to accept dropped files as hard links
- new item to directory context menus to paste copied to clipboard files as hard links
- new directory column to display soft linked directory’s link target directory
- new directory column to display file’s number of hard links
- new info tip item to soft linked directories to display link target
- new info tip item to display file’s number of hard links
- icon overlay to display soft linked directories with a shortcut image
Shell operation changes:
- an option to create move a soft link when a soft linked directory is being moved
- an option to create a soft link when a directory is being copied
- an option to copy a soft link when a soft linked directory is being copied
- an option to delete link when a soft linked directory is being deleted

Download

Current version of Alax.Info NTFS Links can be downloaded from:

AlaxInfoNtfsLinksSetup.msi – Version 1.1.5, 32-bit
AlaxInfoNtfsLinksSetup-x64.msi – Version 1.1.5, 64-bit (x64)

Alax.Info NTFS Links is free to use.

NTFS links 的使用是這樣的，安裝后，右鍵拖動任何文件/文件夾，在右鍵菜單中有 Creat Soft Link Here 選項，

選中后就會出現一個名為 Soft Link to XXX 的文件，查看屬性，大小也與原文件相同。

但這個 Soft Link to XXX 是個虛擬文件，你在這里的所有操作都會被繼承到原文件中，

包括改名，刪除。而在原文件中的操作也同樣會繼承到虛擬文件中。

你說的這個鏈接，NTFS5 有類似的實現，但是要比 Linux 下面的 soft link/hard link 要差一些

把一個目錄指向另一個目錄，可以使用 NTFS 的 directory junction point 功能，

這個功能微軟只提供了 API 但在explorer.exe/cmd.exe 里面沒有提供直接支持，

你可以下載sysinternals 寫的命令行工具 junction.exe，注意 rmdir junction point 時會刪除實際的目錄！

如果只想刪除 junction point 的話，要用junction -d

如果是 Vista 的話，微軟提供了一個命令 mklink，使用方法可見這里

如果喜歡圖形界面的話，可以考慮開源的 ntfslinkext，或者免費的NTFS links。(NTFS links 網頁有個 Similar Tools，下面還有幾個)

WinLink

Description

A software that support creating (directory) symlink, hardlink, and NTFS junctions.

Very simple, all you need is administrative rights.

I am sure everyone knows how to use it. 2.x is developed with Delphi (faster than VB.NET).

HardlinkGUI

Description

If you don't know how command line works or too lazy to open command prompt and want to create a hard link, use this tool.

This only work on Windows 2000 and later with NTFS file system

[Vista] 符號連結(Symbolic/Soft Link)、永久連結(Hard Link)與連接點(Junction Point)

Vista強化了類似Unix的符號連結(Symbolic Link，又稱Soft Link)與永久連結(Hard Link)的概念，

由於我參考的網路資源大都語焉不詳，讓人越看越糊塗，因此試着以我的理解呈現出來，若有謬誤還請讀者們指正。

我們由圖形來對照不同連結的觀念。在作業系統里要開啟任何檔案都必須先由檔案配置表

(File Allocation Table，FAT，Vista里不清楚有無別的名詞來表示)里找到檔案項目(Entry)，

再由該項目查出相關屬性后，再連結到實體的內容磁區，就能讀取其檔案內容。

如果我們建立一個永久連結，在FAT里新建的連結檔名同樣會連結到內容磁區(紅線)。

如果OldFileName被刪除，但因為NewHardLink仍然存在，因此其內容仍會保留在系統里。
如果修改OldFileName的內容，則因為NewHardLink也指向同一個內容磁區，因此其內容也同步變動了
OldFileName與NewHardLink都刪除，內容磁區才會被清除

而符號連結則只是存在於FAT里的一個項目而已，亦即NewSoftLink是一個指向OldFileName項目的指標(藍線)，
如果OldFileName被改名或刪除，則NewSoftLink就找不到內容了。
觀念清楚后，再來看Vista里建立連結的指令。
Vista里用來建立連結的指令是mklink.exe(Make Link)，使用語法如下：

：要建立的連結名稱(圖形里的NewHardLink與NewSoftLink)
：被連結的目標，可以是實體目錄或檔案的完整或部份路徑(圖形里的OldFileName)

范例：

上列指令執行后的結果：永久連結和檔案符號連結建立了兩個檔案(紅框)，目錄符號連結和連接點是兩個目錄，再加上目前目錄的點( . )和代表上層目錄的兩個點( .. )總共四個目錄(淺藍框)。

由檔案總管理無法很清楚的看出各種連結的類型，在DOS視窗使用dir /aL命令才能很清楚的看到、等類型。以下是使用dir /s /aL c: 列出Vista輸出的內容。由其內容可以看出幾個重點：

為了和Windows以前版本相容，C:\Documents and Settings是新建的連接點，連接目標是C:\Users
連接點大量用來建立指向同一個目錄的多個名稱

Mklink is a MS Windows command line utility that you can use to create symbolic links or symlinks and hard links in MS Windows. Mklink is a nice tool for troubleshooting file system problems. Mklink requires administrative privileges.

This page relates to explaining the difference between symbolic links and hard links on the Difference between symbolic link and hard link page.

First, let's introduce the mklink command. You can see it in the following print screen:

Mklink

It is pretty self-explanatory. Now, let's take a look at an example.

Mklink example

The print screen shown below demonstrates creating symbolic links, hard links, and shortcuts in MS Windows and how they differ.

Symbolic link:

Created as mklink link_name target_name
The icon next to the link is the same like that of a shortcut
Occupies zero space in the system
It is not a separate file in the file system
Interpreted at the operating system level
If the original file is deleted, the link is useless
Removing the original file does not remove the symbolic link
Removing the symbolic link does not remove the original file

Hard link:

Created as mklink /H link_name target_name
The space it occupies equals the size of the original file, but refers to the same object in the system (not a copy)
Interpreted at the operating system level
The icon next to the hard link is different from the other objects
Removing the original file does not remove the hard link
Removing the hard link does not remove the original file
If the original file is deleted, its content is still available through the hard link
Making a change to the hard link propagates all changes to the original file

Shortcut:

Created by right clicking the original file and selecting action from the drop down menu
A file in the system that is completely separate from the original file
Only those programs that know the concept of shortcuts understand them
If the original file is deleted, the link is useless
Removing the original file does not remove the shortcut
Removing the shortcut does not remove the original file

The print screen below shows these concepts.

Mklink to create hard links and symbolic links

Linux uses a similar command called ln.

Mklink in Windows versus Ln in Linux

Note, the mklink syntax is a bit different from the Linux ln syntax (ln is used in Linux to create links).

Mklink: The name of the link is followed by the name of the target in the mklink command syntax. If you do not specify any flag, the mklink utility creates a symbolic link by default.

Ln: The name of the target is followed by the name of the link. If you want to create a symlink, you have to specifically include the -s flag.

Difference between symbolic link and hard link

What is the difference between symbolic link and hard link? Explaining the difference between a symbolic link or asymlink and a hard link is easy and vital to knowing about how Linux/Unix environments work.

Understanding the difference between a symbolic link and a hard link is also important for web server maintenance and understanding how modern websites work.

What is symbolic link or symlink?

Symbolic link, often called symlink or softlink, is very similar to what we know from Windows - a shortcut. They are kind of shortcuts in the Linux/Unix world. Well, symbolic link can exist in the Windows world too, but for the simplicity of our explanation, let's just work with the comparison that symlink is kind of a shortcut for now. We will get into more details later. Symbolic link contains information about the destination of the target file.

What is hard link?

Hard link (often also called hardlink) is a bit different object when compared to a symlink. Hard link is a directory reference or pointer to a file. Hardlink is a label stored in a directory structure that refers the operating system to the file data when it is accessed. The important part is that hard link is closely tied together with its originating file. If you make changes to a hard link, you automatically make changes to the underlying file that the hardlink is attached to.

Hard link can only refer to data that exists on the same file system.

Many of us are used to Windows where files live in folders. Files in Linux/Unix are not stored in directories. Files in Linux are assigned an inode number which Linux uses to locate files. Each file can have multiple hard links which are located in various directories. A file does not get deleted until there are no remaining hard links to it.

Differences between symbolic link and hard link

Let's summarize our findings. The list bellow summarizes some differences between symlink and hard link:

Hardlink or hardlinks cannot be created for directories (folders). Hard link can only be created for a file.
Symbolic links or symlinks can link to a directory (folder).
Removing the original file that your hard link points to does not remove the hardlink itself; the hardlink still provides the content of the underlying file.
If you remove the hard link or the symlink itself, the original file will stay intact.
Removing the original file does not remove the attached symbolic link or symlink, but without the original file, the symlink is useless (the same concept like Windows shortcut).

In case you are interested getting to know even more details, this list is expanded more on the the Mklink page. The concept is simply that hard links are tied to their sources more rigidly.

What is the difference between symlink and shortcut?

We mentioned that symlinks are like shortcuts. They are like shortcuts but with some small differences. Symbolic links are automatically resolved by the file system. Any software programs, upon accessing a symbolic link, will see the target instead, whether the program is aware of symbolic links or not. On the other hand, shortcuts are treated like ordinary files by the files system and by software programs that are not aware of them. Only software programs that understand shortcuts (such as Windows) treat shortcuts as references to other files. Shortcuts can point to files or directories that exist in another file system or on the network. The difference between symbolic link and shortcut is clearer from the example mentioned at the bottom of this article, respectively as shown in the big print screen on theMklink page.

How to create a hard link or hardlink?

In Linux, you would use the ln command to create a hard link.

$ ln fileA fileB

where fileA is the original file and fileB is the name you want to give to the hardlink. Let's do some research now. You have the original file and one hard link that is attached to it. Now, you look at these two objects with the ls command:

$ ls -il fileA fileB

You can see in the output of this command that both files fileA and fileB have the same inode number (the first number on the line). In addition to having the same inode, both files have the same file permissions and the samesize. Because that size is reported for the same inode, we can see that a hard link does not occupy any extra space on your space.

If you now remove the original file and open the hard link, you will still be able to see the content of the original file.

Note, hard link cannot be created to a folder. If you try creating a hard link to a folder, you will get "Access denied."

How to create a symlink?

Let's demonstrate this with an example. When talking about Linux, you would use the ln command with the -sparameter. You would do something like:

$ ln -s fileA fileB

where fileA is the original file and fileB is the name you want to give to the symbolic link. Now, let's take a look at these two objects with the ls command again:

$ ls -il fileA fileB

You can see that you get different result as compared to when we displayed the hard link. The first difference between symlink and the original file is the inode number. The inode is different for the original file and for the symbolic link. Next, you can also notice that there is the pipe symbol "l" before the permissions on the symlink line. Also, the symbolic link has different permissions than the original file (because it is just a symbolic link). The content of the symlink is just a string pointing to the original file. The size of the symlink is not the same as the size of the original file. The symbolic link is a separate entity and as such occupies some space on your hard drive. You can see at the end of the line where the symlink points to.

You can access the content of the original file directly by calling the original file or by calling the symbolic link. You will see the same result.

Now if you remove the original file, the symlink will still be there. If you try to access the content of the original file through the symbolic link after removing the original file, you will get a message saying there is no such file or directory.

Can I make a symlink to a hard link?

Yes. The hard link functions the same way like the original file; therefore, you can make symlinks to it. You would use in our example the following command:

$ ln -s fileB fileC

where fileB would be the name of the hard link, and fileC would be the name of your new symlink.

Difference between symlink and hard link in Windows?

There are not many differences between symbolic link and hard link in the concept; the concept is the same whether we are working with Linux or Windows; the difference between symlink and hardlink is in how you create them. When talking about MS Windows, you can create three things:

shortcut
hard link / hardlink
symbolic link / symlink

See the following example. The example shown on the next page (click the thumbnail) explains how you can create shortcut, hard link, and symbolic link in Windows and how they differ.

How to Create and Use Links with MKLINK in Windows

Information

As so many other things in computing, Windows Links seem more complicated to understand and use than what they really are in reality.

This tutorial will tell you how to create and use links using MKLINK to redirect system queries made to a local or network storage location to another location.

In this tutorial we will concentrate on the most important link type, a Directory Junction. A junction is a very practical way to customize your file handling and procedures.

A Link is basically nothing more than a shortcut. Its purpose is to get Windows to think that a file or folder which is physically located in folder Real on drive A is in fact in folder Fake on drive B by creating a link betweenB:\Fake (a link or junction) and A:\Real (a target folder). Opening the link for instance in Explorer shows contents of target, saving a document to link actually saves it on target.

As Windows now gets a query from user to open B:\Fake this query is sent to A:\Real. In reality the location B:\Fake does not exist but system answers this query as it was a real folder instead of just a symbolic link and presents user the contents of A:\Real as if it was contents of B:\Fake. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, it’s quite easy in fact.

Part 1: What is a Link?

Note

A Link in Windows is a virtual object that points to a real physical location. It can be compared to Windows desktop shortcut, doing essentially the same thing in redirecting user to a physical storage location.

A Link can be so called Hard Link linking one file to a target file, or a Soft Link linking a folder to a target folder. Soft Links are also called Symbolic Links. Third link type is Junction, basically a hard link but as hard links can only link files we need to use junctions to link folders.

If you are using Windows Vista or later you have most probably used links without ever noticing it. In Windows XP all user data was saved in a folder called C:\Documents and Settings (default name and location). Windows Vista changed this; instead of Documents and Settings the data was divided between two system folders, C:\Users for user specific application data and personal files and folders, andC:\ProgramData for all users shared application data. To allow backwards compatibility all Windows versions since Vista have a linkC:\Documents and Settings with two target folders, ProgramData and Users.

You can check this by yourself by allowing protected system files and folders to be shown and opening C: drive on Explorer:

(Please notice, screenshots from Windows 8 but links work the same way on Windows 7. Highlighted with yellow = visible system folders created by Windows installation, red = hidden or protected system folders.)

If you try to open Documents and Settings you get an "Access Denied" message. It does not exist, there is no such folder on your C: drive but it is needed for legacy software.

An example: You want to install Microsoft Office XP on your Windows 7. As Office XP was published for Windows XP long before Vista it uses the XP system folder Documents and Settings to store user data. Vista and later Windows do no longer have this folder so a link is needed. Office XP setup thinks it is creating files and folders normally in Documents and Settings but actually your Windows 7 is lying to Office XP setup, not telling it those files and folders are in fact created in Users and ProgramData. Office XP setup does not notice this deception, installation works and later when user works with Office XP it still thinks the Documents and Settings folder is there, never learning the fact that all queries to that folder are sent further and returned as if they really came from Documents and Settings.

Part 2: Working with Directory Junctions

(1.) Command Syntax

Links are created wit command mklink, short from Make Link. Typing mklink /? on Command Prompt you get the command syntax and options:

Code:

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target
 
        /D      Creates a directory symbolic link.  Default is a file symbolic link.
       /H      Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
        /J   Creates a Directory Junction.
        Link    specifies the new symbolic link name.
        Target  specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link refers to.

(2.) Use an Elevated Command Prompt

You must use elevated command prompt to work with links.

(3.) Create a Link or a Junction

Creating a directory junction D:\Docs with target E:\Users\Kari\Documents:

Code:

mklink /j D:\Docs E:\Users\Kari\Documents

Windows tells you clearly if the creating of junction has succeeded:

(4.) Main principles when creating a link or a junction

A file or a folder with the name of the intended Link name may not exist. The link file or folder name must be free to use, not reserved by an existing file or folder. If the name is reserved you get an error message. My D: drive already has a folder Test, this is what happens when trying to create a junction with D:\Test (already an existing folder) as link and E:\Users as target:

Notice that command prompt is telling about a file already existing instead of a folder. This is because the system sees links as shortcuts (files) and not as folders.
Target folder may but must not exist. If it does not exist at the time when a link is created it must be created before you can use the link:
Target can be another Link. Above in (3.) we created a junction D:\Docs with target E:\Users\Kari\Documents. Following command would now create a link C:\Docs with target D:\Docs:
Code:
```
mklink /j C:\Docs D:\Docs
```
In fact Windows sees no difference if the target is a real physical folder location or just another link. In this case all queries toC:\Docs would be sent to D:\Docs which would send them further to E:\Users\Kari\Documents. If a user now opens C:\Docsin Explorer, it shows the contents of E:\Users\Kari\Documents:

Noticed something interesting in screenshot above? The target folder is called Documents but Explorer shows it as My Documents. This is because those "My ..." folders in your user profile folder are actually not real folders. They are directory links:My Videos is simply a link with target Videos and so on.

(5.) Remove or rename a link

Links and junctions can be renamed and removed as any real folders. System automatically modifies registry and sets the target to be the same for a renamed link as it was on the original link.

This is because even not really existing, the system handles links as if they were real existing folders. This is what Explorer shows when asked for Properties for our example junction D:\Docs:

Only way to really see it is in fact a junction is to get directory listing in command prompt:

The listing not only shows it is a junction but also its target folder.

Part 3: Practical Examples

A typical situation: You have bought a game that must be installed on root level folder C:\Games. Your C: drive is becoming full, so you decide to move the whole C:\Games folder to D:, delete now empty C:\Games (remember, link folder may not exist) and create a junction:

Code:

mklink /j C:\Games D:\Games

When launching the game it still assumes it is located on C: although you, me and Windows know better : it's "secretly" residing on D: but still using the old address on C:.

Another situation: You want to work with some pics from last Christmas, to edit them to be ready to be published on that website of yours. Pics are currently located in X:\Backups\Pictures\My Pictures\Holidays\Christmas 2012.

You can create a junction X:\Pics, and now whenever you want to work with those pics you just type X:\Pics to Run dialog to open the correct folder:

Code:

mklink /j X:\Pics "X:\Backups\Pictures\My Pictures\Holidays\Christmas 2012"

Notice that if a path contains spaces it must be set in between quotation marks as in above target path.

That's about it. Any feedback welcome.

Kari

WINDOWS 的 MKLINK : 硬鏈接，符號鏈接 : 文件符號鏈接, 目錄符號鏈接 : 目錄聯接

玩轉WIN7的MKLINK

引言：

symlinker

Symlink Creator

Program to create symlinks. Provides the CMD command as well.

Description

Features

Windows Symbolic Link Maker

Description

NTFS Link Ext

Description

NTFS Links

WinLink

Description

HardlinkGUI

Description

[Vista] 符號連結(Symbolic/Soft Link)、永久連結(Hard Link)與連接點(Junction Point)

Mklink example

Mklink in Windows versus Ln in Linux

Difference between symbolic link and hard link

What is symbolic link or symlink?

What is hard link?

Differences between symbolic link and hard link

What is the difference between symlink and shortcut?

How to create a hard link or hardlink?

How to create a symlink?

Can I make a symlink to a hard link?

Difference between symlink and hard link in Windows?

免責聲明！