Share via

Create a mounted drive

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To create a mounted drive

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

Using the Windows interface

  1. Open Computer Management (Local).

  2. In the console tree, click Computer Management (Local), click Storage, and then click Disk Management.

  3. Right-click the partition or volume you want to mount, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

  4. Do one of the following:

    • To mount a volume, click Add. Click Mount in the following empty NTFS folder, type the path to an empty folder on an NTFS volume, or click Browse to locate it.

    • To unmount a volume, click it and then click Remove.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. To perform this procedure remotely, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the remote computer. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

  • To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

  • When you mount a local drive at an empty folder on an NTFS volume, Disk Management assigns a drive path to the drive rather than a drive letter. Drive paths are available only on empty folders on basic or dynamic NTFS volumes.

  • If you are administering a local or remote computer, you can browse NTFS folders on that computer.

  • When using server clusters, make sure that you create unique mounted drives so that they do not conflict with existing local drives on any node in the cluster.

  • When using server clusters, do not create mounted drives between disks on the cluster storage device (cluster disks) and local disks.

  • When using server clusters, do not create mounted drives from the cluster disk that contains the quorum resource (the quorum disk). You can, however, create a mounted drive from the quorum disk to a clustered disk.

  • When using server clusters, mounted drives from one cluster disk to another must be in the same cluster resource group, and must be dependent on the root disk.

    For more information on server clusters, see Server clusters overview.

  • When creating mounted drives, use Event Viewer to check the system log for any Cluster service errors or warnings indicating mount point failures. These errors would be listed as ClusSvc in the Source column and Physical Disk Resource in the Category column.

    For more information on how to use Event Viewer to check the system log, see Event Viewer.

    For more information on how to resolve errors with mounted drives on server clusters, see Cluster disk and drive connection problems.

Using a command line

  1. Open Command Prompt.

  2. From the NTFS drive\folder that you want to mount elsewhere, type:

    diskpart.

  3. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

    list volume

    Make note of the number of the simple volume that you want to mount elsewhere.

  4. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

    select volume n

    Select the simple volume, n, that you want to mount elsewhere.

  5. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

    assign [**mount=**path]

Value Description

list volume

Displays a list of basic and dynamic volumes on all disks.

select volume

Selects the specified volume, where n is the volume number, and gives it focus. If no volume is specified, the select command lists the current volume with focus. You can specify the volume by number, drive letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, selecting a volume also gives the corresponding partition focus.

assign

Assigns a drive letter or mount point to the volume with focus. If no drive letter or mount point is specified, then the next available drive letter is assigned. If the drive letter or mount point is already in use, an error is generated.

Using the assign command, you can change the drive letter associated with a removable drive.

You cannot assign drive letters to system volumes, boot volumes, or volumes that contain the paging file. In addition, you cannot assign a drive letter to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partition, EFI system partition, or any GPT partition other than a basic data partition.

mount=path

Specifies an empty, existing NTFS folder where the mounted drive will reside.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group, Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

  • To open a command prompt, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command prompt.

  • Drive paths are available only on empty folders on basic or dynamic NTFS volumes.

  • To modify a drive path, remove it and then create a new drive path using the new location. You cannot modify the drive path directly.

  • When using server clusters, make sure that you create unique mounted drives so that they do not conflict with existing local drives on any node in the cluster.

  • When using server clusters, do not create mounted drives between disks on the cluster storage device (cluster disks) and local disks.

  • When using server clusters, do not create mounted drives from the cluster disk that contains the quorum resource (the quorum disk). You can, however, create a mounted drive from the quorum disk to a clustered disk.

  • When using server clusters, mounted drives from one cluster disk to another must be in the same cluster resource group, and must be dependent on the root disk.

    For more information on server clusters, see Server clusters overview.

  • When creating mounted drives, use Event Viewer to check the system log for any Cluster service errors or warnings indicating mount point failures. These errors would be listed as ClusSvc in the Source column and Physical Disk Resource in the Category column.

    For more information on how to use Event Viewer to check the system log, see Event Viewer.

    For more information on how to resolve errors with mounted drives on server clusters, see Cluster disk and drive connection problems.

  • For more information about DiskPart, see Related Topics.

  • You can also create a mounted drive using the mountvol command. For more information about mountvol, see Related Topics.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Assign, change, or remove a drive letter
Using NTFS mounted drives
Working with MMC console files
DiskPart
Mountvol
Using the Event Viewer snap-in
Event Viewer overview
View an event log