I'm planning to format my computer tonight, and I need some sort of reference about this when I get back.

What is a virtual drive?
A virtual drive is a shortcut to a folder hidden deep inside Windows. Instead of having an icon for the shortcut (virtual drive), you will see a drive icon with a letter that you chose when you go to My Computer after you create the drive. After completing this tutorial, you will be able to turn a long path (C:\directory\directory\more\directory\oh\my\gosh\this\is\a\long\directory\) into a drive letter (L:).

Why should I have a virtual drive?
Virtual drives are not a necessity. It's only there to save you time. Besides, would you rather pay money for a program that creates a virtual drive, or would you do it for free? I thought so.

Let's get started

1. Open the command prompt: press CTRL+R -> type "cmd" (without quotes)
   
   
2. This is the command prompt...entry (I don't know the proper name) that you will be using: subst p: "C:\windows" (I chose this because everybody has this path on their computer, with the exception of Linux users). It should look somewhat like the following:
   [CONSOLE]Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
   © Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
   
   C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>
   [/CONSOLE]
   *Replace the bolded "p" in the command prompt entry with a drive letter of your choice.
   Important: Do NOT choose a letter that has already been chosen. You can check which ones Windows has already claimed by going to My Computer and noting all the drives you see. Generally, drives C, A, E, F, and Q are already taken.
   *You can replace the directory, c:\windows, with any existing directory on your hard drive
   *Copy the new command prompt entry (ctrl+c)
   
3. Once you have copied the entry, go to the command prompt (should already been opened), right click, and select "Paste".
   
   The thing you copied above should appear on the command prompt screen. If you're using an earlier version of Windows, you should see a little clipboard icon on the command prompt toolbar. Click on the clipboard. Your command prompt window should look somewhat like the following:
   [console]Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
   Đ Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
   
   C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>subst p: "C:\windows"
   [/console]
   
4. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
   
5. Go to your My Computer, and you should see a new drive, P (or whatever letter you chose)
   
6. Double click on that drive, and it should take you to c:\windows (or whatever directory you chose)
   You're done!
   

Now, you will be able to access files in c:\windows from the P drive (or any letter you chose) by typing P:\[filename]

Making it Permanent
The problem with virtual drives is that they are not permanent, meaning that if you restart your computer, they will not be there anymore. Of course, everything has a loophole, so there are ways to get around this. The first method is to buy a program...with money...that will do the job. The second method is to keep reading this tutorial.

1. Open Notepad
   
2. Copy and paste the following to Notepad:
   

   CODE

   subst p: "C:\windows"
   
   
   Of course, you can replace the drive, P:, and the directory, c:\windows, with anything you wish. Remember not to choose an existing drive and not to choose a non-existing directory.
   
3. File -> Save
   
4. In the "File name:" box, copy and paste the following:
   

   CODE

   c:\autoexec.bat
   
   
   
   If you get a dialog box that asks if you want to replace the existing file, click No and do the following:
   *Open another instance of Notepad (do not close the one already opened)
   *File -> Open
   *In "File name:", copy and paste the following:
   

   CODE

   c:\autoexec.bat
   
   
   *Press the Enter key on your keyboard
   *Follow steps 2 thru 3 in the "Making it Permanent" section
   
5. Press ctrl+R on your keyboard
   
6. Copy and paste the following:

   CODE

   regedit
   
   
7. On the left pane, go to:

   CODE

   My Computer -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Run
   
   Your Registry Editor should look somewhat like this:
   
   
   ^Note the status bar at the bottom
   
8. On the right pane of your Registry Editor, do the following: Right click -> New -> String Value
   *Name this new string "Autoexec" (without quotes)
   *Right click on Autoexec -> Modify -> Type "c:\autoexec.bat" (with quotes)
   *Close the Registry Editor
   
9. Restart your computer
   
10. Pat yourself on the back because you just saved yourself a couple of dollars
    

When your computer is turning on, you should see the command prompt for a few seconds. Ignore this because it will go away.

Enjoy!

this is funny, you're a mod, so you should be able to apporve the tut, oh well, what ever, lol.

Well, the rules said something along the lines of "Don't approve your own tutorials. We have to be fair", so I unapproved it. Thanks for not deleting it, though.

heeheh, anyways, I'm moving this oer to the staff section, y'know, it's off-topic discssion

That was really nice one. I have lots of folders that I access regularly and have to maintain shortcuts... now I can just use permanent virtual drives..

But does this work in Windows 98 because as u said we need to enter this in cmd, whereas Win 98 does not have cmd.exe but only command.com

Cheers.

I think entering cmd will work, but if not, "command" works for all versions of Windows

Great tutorial, thought you was going to talk about virtual drives like Daemon, learn something new every day here

Wow. This will be very helpful since I'm formatting my computer this Sunday. Nice tutorial Snildude.

If you ever want to check what your virtual drives are you can just type "subst" and it will give you a list of all the (virtual-only) drive letters and paths.

Just wanted to remind you to save your registry settings before you change them in case something goes wrong in the process you can revert back to the original settings.

And does this work for XP also?

You can also start the command prompt by..
Opening notepad and writing
command.com
in it, save it as bat.bat (The name doesnt matter, as long as it is a .bat)

Nice guide though I might try it.

Very nice, this has really helped me organise my files.

I now have a Work drive (W) and it's so much easier, it feels like a seperate hard drive.

I've also been interested in some Power Macs, which really do have 2 hard drives. But there rather expensive...

Ah, well.

Maybe one day..?

amazing! but umm.......i have a question. Does this work for files? (click on a drive and it opens a file instead of a folder, thats what i mean )

Thanks!
How To Create Virtual Drives

thanks so much I needed to create a virtual drive for a class and could not find anywhere how to do it, finally I found this site. Thanks

-reply by shannon

How To Delete Virtual Drive
How To Create Virtual Drives

How To Delete Virtual Drive?
I've created 'c:' as 'P:'

-question by anukumar

How to get rid of the drive?
How To Create Virtual Drives

How do you get rid of this drive if it is not needed?

-reply by Demha

This is a great tutorial. It is kind of old though, but still a great tutorial. You also can set up an icon system that can create a virtual drive, run a program, then delete the virtual drive through MS-DOS commands. I might post a tutorial on it.

i have managed to create a virtual drive ......easy procedure....but i have a problem...i am not able to rename the drive
i want to rename it as "downloads"...but it shows the name of the drive where the folder of the virtual drive exists...
The folder was present in games drive...and i have created a virtual drive with the folder. The problem is ..the name of the new virtual drive is also "Games"...even if i have renamed it many times to something else..........

Great tutorial, may come in handy for later use . Good work

Replying to snlildude87
Any idea how to do this with Windows Vista Home Premium? I want to be able to boot to either Windows Vista or XP Thanks

-reply by Steven

Little Help
How To Create Virtual Drives

Will this work on windows xp?
When I tried to save my text document as "c:autoexec.Bat" [without quotations] it said I couldn't have :'s or 's in my file name. Will this affect the working of this virtual drive???

Btw, nice tutorial. Easy to follow and quite explanatory. Thanks.

-question by Sir PooFace

Questions/suggestions
How To Create Virtual Drives

Replying to coolcat50

****The following are suggestions made by an unprofessional and should not be considered official.

--you can save the notepad as any file name as long as it has the .Bat

--If you find the registry thing to complicated you can out it in start up folder: C:Documents and SettingsJonMichaelStart MenuProgramsStartup

-feedback by Coolness

I did this, but I need to know how to use the virtual drive to read image files. How To Create Virtual Drives

Do I need to download software to use the virtual drive to read image files?

Answer: Yes, you need to install a software that will setup a Virtual Drive on your PC. Then your virtual CD-Images are inserted virtually in this virtual drive to give you the effect of an real CD inside a real drive.

The method is really great...
But there is a thing which is more nicer then the tut, n that is his desktop theme........

Can you please name the theme n location from where 2 download it.

This is an awesome tutorial. I did not even know that it was possible to create virtual drives without a special program. I've always used Daemon Tools for that.

Thanks for the insider's look. I will still be using D-Tools but regardless, this helps understand the process it goes through much better.

In terms of the folders, wouldn't it just be easier(if you just want easy access to said folders) to just add a shortcut to them on the desktop or something?

Partition on pen driveHow To Create Virtual Drives

hi please tell me how to create two or more partition on single pen drive...

Rajendra Singh

JECRC, Jaipur(INDIA)

Having Problem with a Virtual DriveHow To Create Virtual Drives

I've created a virtual drive D:, CD was changed earlier to drive E. If I insert a thumb drive, XP doesn't recognize the thumb drive.  On removing the thumb drive, the Virtual D: drive disappears.  Attaching the thumb drive a 2nd time, the D: drive shows back up, however the thumb drive is not availableAnyone have any ideas?

how can i get into regedit if my run box failsHow To Create Virtual DrivesHow can I get into regedit if my run box fails each time I do the computer tells me it cant find the file but I already created the drive..??-reply by phil

Oh well. Nowadays you can get Sun VirtualBox and install an OS in it to test! Can work as a virtual drive in a way

Well this question os for internet newbies. The best way to create virtual drives is using the Daemon Tools software where you can create virtual Cd-ROM drives and DVD-ROM drives like these really exist.

To download the Daemon Tools software I recommend you to go to Softonic and download the software from there. Then install the software and start to create virtual drives all that you want.

I dont know about another software or tool but donīt lose your time Daemon Tools is the best that you will find.

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