Map local Windows drive path to a drive letter from the command line

Contributed by qmchenry

May 5, 2004

Tagged: Windows

If a long path is frequently accessed, assigning it to a spare drive letter can save time. This recipe describes assigning a drive letter to a local drive path from the command line.

The subst command allows the substitution of a drive letter for a local drive path. For example, to map the drive C:\Documents and Settings\Quinn\My Documents to the drive Q: use the following command:

subst Q: "C:\Documents and Settings\Quinn\My Documents"

Once run, Q: should appear in the My Computer listing as a drive. Referencing a file in Q:\ will actually reference the file in the full path substituted above.

To review the existing drive substitutions, just run the command without any options:

subst

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CPrU 4 years ago 1 point
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Thanks guys, so easy once you know how I can't believe it, I'm going to set up a whole lof of these now. Windows help doesn't help, surprise. This should be a menu feature in Windows. Run>Cmd>subst M: "M:My Files". Sweet.

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Anonymous 4 years ago 1 point
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Har!

Shouldn't this be in a category called "MSDOS"?

Heck, subst may have been around since the days of CP/M.

Not bashing, though; it's still a handy thing to know.

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AlexTheBeast 4 years ago 1 point
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True. And in fact, many of the windows recipes are actually command line commands. They are organized under windows because most people don't run MS-DOS alone anymore.

Ahhh... the old days when I would put F-10 Flight simulator in the A-Drive and boot-up into the game. Or using a boot disk to get my system as lean as possible for a great game of Doom.

At least we now have the best of both worlds....

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