Windows XP vs Vista: NTFS Junction points

Question

Problem: I relied heavily on NTFS Junction points in Windows XP, even though they apparently were not an \"official\" feature of the operating system. Now MSFT

Answer 1

Junctions and symbolic links are two different types of NTFS objects and are not exactly the same thing. Why your junctions are not recognized in Vista is a mystery, but the junction functionality still exists in Vista and it not purposefully broken.

You can use mklink (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753194.aspx) to create soft links (the default), hard links (/h), or junctions (/j). The biggest improvement of sym links over junctions is sym links can reference files OR directories (junctions are directory only) and the can reference network shares as well (junctions cannot).

But the bottom line is they are different. Can't tell you why your existing junctions are not recognized by Vista though. You can still create them as described above.

There freeware utility referenced in another post (LinkMagic) is your best bet to getting your junctions working again. Or recreate them with mklink.