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removing drive letters or mount-points for a drive may break some programs, as some files may not be accessible under the known path. For example, if a program is installed at "D:\Program Files\Some
Program", it may expect to find its data files at "D:\Program Files\Some Program\Data". If the logical
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might be accessible as a volume, even though it does not contain a partition, as floppy disks cannot be partitioned with most modern computer software. Also, an OS can recognize a partition without recognizing any volume associated with it, as when the OS cannot interpret the filesystem stored there.
170:
world with the "Extended
Partition". While these are partitions, they cannot contain a filesystem directly. Instead, "logical drives" (also known as volumes) must be created within them. This is also the case with NetWare volumes residing inside of a single partition. In short, volumes exist at the
450:
operating systems, volumes other than the boot volume have a mount-point somewhere within the filesystem, represented by a path. Logically, the directory tree stored on the volume is grafted in at the mountpoint. By convention, mount-points will often be placed in a directory called '/mnt', though
725:
Partition A portion of the hard disk. In many cases, this is the entire hard disk space, but it needn't be. Volume A unit of disk space composed of one or more sections of one or more disks. Prior versions of
Windows Server used volume only when referring to dynamic disks, but Windows Server 2008
490:
In order to better visualize this concept, one might consider the example of a large library. If a non-fiction work is originally classified as having the subject "plants", but then has to be moved to the subject "flora", one does not need to refile the book, whose position on the shelf would be
486:
Files within a volume can generally be moved to any other place within that volume by manipulating the filesystem, without moving the actual data. However, if a file is to be moved outside the volume, the data itself must be relocated, which is a much more expensive operation.
750:
In
Windows Server 2008 the distinction between volumes and partitions is somewhat murky. When using Disk Management, a regular partition on a basic disk is called a simple volume, even though technically a simple volume requires that the disk be a dynamic
411:
privileges. This assignment will be remembered by the same OS on the same PC next time a removable volume is inserted, as long as there are no conflicts, and as long as the removable drive has not been reformatted on another computer (which changes its
419:
On
Windows XP, mount points may be managed through the Disk Management snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console. This can be most conveniently accessed through "Computer Management" in the "Administrative Tools" section of the
438:
disk previously called "D:" has its drive letter changed to "E:", "Some
Program" won't be able to find its data at "D:\Program Files\Some Program\Data", since the drive letter "D:" no longer represents that volume.
613:
line it is human-configurable, has a maximum length of six characters, is in uppercase, must start with a letter, and identifies a volume to the system in unique manner. For example, "SYSRES" is often used for a
600:
is generally unique and is not normally changed by the user, and thus acts as a more consistent and reliable identifier of when a volume has been changed (as when a disk is removed and another inserted).
507:
Command prompt of
Windows XP showing volume label and volume serial number of drive C:. In this example, if a volume label were not set, "has no label." would be shown in place of "is 0320NS 13".
683:. However, even at that time the volume label was not required to be unique and was optional. Therefore, many users had not given disks any meaningful name and the old method failed.
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that are also disallowed for regular filenames. In the NTFS filesystem, the length of its volume label is restricted to 32 characters, and can include lowercase characters and even
141:. Although a volume might be different from a physical disk drive, it can still be accessed with an operating system's logical interface. However, a volume differs from a partition.
197:
system with two physical hard disks. The first hard disk has two partitions, the second has only one. The first partition of the first hard disk contains the operating system.
177:
It isn't uncommon to see a volume packed into a single file. Examples include ISO9660 disc images (CD/DVD images, commonly called "ISOs"), and installer volumes for Mac OS X (
589:
directory, whose creation timestamp is set when
Windows creates the partition, or when it first recognizes a repartitioning (the creation of a new volume) by a separate
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that allows it to be renamed, either of which is the same process as for renaming a file. Changing the label in
Windows will also change the volume creation
171:
logical OS level, and partitions exist at the physical, media specific level. Sometimes there is a one-to-one correspondence, but this is not guaranteed.
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The volume serial number is a 32-bit number determined by the date and time on the real-time clock on the current computer at the time of a disk's
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Windows Server 2008 simplifies the Disk
Management user interface by using one set of dialog boxes and wizards for both partitions and volumes.
559:
filsystem, the length of its volume label is also restricted to 11 characters, but can include lowercase characters and Unicode. The
347:
In these two examples, a file called "Track 1.mp3" stored in the root directory of the mounted volume could be referred to as "
89:
407:
and other removable drives typically still start at "D:", letters A and B are available for manual assignment by a user with
61:
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is present in a drive or not, and to detect if it was exchanged with another one. This identification system was created by
495:. However, to move the book to another library, adjusting index cards alone is insufficient. The entire book must be moved.
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42:
174:
In Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and onward, the term "volume" is used as a superset that includes "partition" as well.
68:
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In order to assign a mount point for a volume as a path within another volume, the following criteria must be met:
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320:. As a result, Windows will assign at least one path to each mounted volume, which will take one of two forms:
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A directory must exist at the root path. (As of Windows Vista, it can be any subdirectory in a volume)
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679:. Previously, determination by the OS of whether a disk was swapped was done by reading the drive's
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Storage area with a single filesystem, typically resident on a single partition of a hard disk
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can be pressed while the volume is highlighted, or a right-click on the name will bring up a
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filesystem, the volume label was traditionally restricted to 11 characters (reflecting the
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To use a given path as a mount-point for another volume, a directory (sometimes called a "
8:
329:
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This situation occurs, for example, when Windows NT-based OSes encounter disks with non-
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For example, if a CD-ROM drive containing a text file called 'info.txt' was mounted at '
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drive is still most commonly assigned "C:", however this is not always the case. Since
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181:). As these volumes are files which reside within another volume, they certainly are
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changes the serial number, but relabeling does not. It originated in 1950s in
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to the current date and time for FAT filesystems. NTFS partitions have the
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More than one drive letter can refer to a single volume, as when using the
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304:, volumes are handled by the kernel and managed using the Disk Management
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618:. Operating systems may use the volume serial number as mountpoint name.
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By default, Windows will assign drive letters to all drives, as follows:
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restrictions, but not divided into name and extension fields) even when
764:"Use Built-In Tools to Create Partitions and Volumes in Windows Server"
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command is used to change the label in DOS, Windows, and OS/2. For
24:
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bit set, and also copied to an 11-byte field within the Extended
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is the name given to a specific volume in a filesystem. In the
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A volume is not the same thing as a partition. For example, a
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to display the current label and serial number of a volume.
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Removable disks, including optical media (e.g. CDs and DVDs)
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376:"A:" and "B:" to floppy disk drives, whether present or not
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of the disk's boot sector. The label is always stored as
133:, typically (though not necessarily) resident on a single
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
830:
491:static, but rather, one needs only to replace the
129:is a single accessible storage area with a single
873:
527:was enabled, stored as an entry within a disk's
467:command to manipulate mount points for volumes.
316:Windows NT-based OSes do not have a single root
328:, in the form of a single letter followed by a
268:Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2 are physical disks.
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451:'/media' and other terms are sometimes used.
362:The mounted-to volume must be formatted NTFS.
144:
498:
379:"C:" and subsequent letters, as needed, to:
284:systems, volumes are usually handled by the
474:', the text file would be accessible at '
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
789:"Changing a Disk's Volume Serial Number"
502:
481:
339:volume having a drive letter, such as "
874:
825:
819:
786:
271:Any of these can be called a "drive".
780:
652:is a feature used to determine if a
461:Unix-like operating systems use the
403:now no longer include floppies, and
47:adding citations to reliable sources
18:
766:. Microsoft Corporation. 2008-06-18
726:uses it to mean partitions as well.
308:or the Diskpart command line tool.
290:Enterprise Volume Management System
13:
312:Windows NT-based operating systems
14:
893:
859:
395:convention, the operating system
265:"C:", "D:", and "E:" are volumes.
714:"Understanding Disk Terminology"
547:filesystems, and cannot contain
166:. Another example occurs in the
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34:needs additional citations for
805:
756:
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706:
596:In contrast to the label, the
162:filesystem commonly used with
1:
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692:command can be used from the
368:That directory must be empty.
813:"Issue with .XPSF playlists"
664:during their development of
531:with a special volume-label
201:have been left at defaults.
121:In computer data storage, a
7:
787:Glass, Brett (1998-02-06).
442:Unix-like operating systems
158:OS partitions, such as the
10:
898:
188:
145:Differences from partition
793:Brett Glass To The Rescue
587:System Volume Information
499:Labels and serial numbers
220:
867:Hard Links and Junctions
739:"Partitions and Volumes"
193:This example concerns a
741:. Microsoft Corporation
716:. Microsoft Corporation
668:. It was introduced in
616:system residence volume
58:"Volume" computing
609:operating systems. In
508:
292:and manipulated using
286:Logical Volume Manager
506:
482:Data management speed
476:/mnt/iso9660/info.txt
458:") must exist there.
650:volume serial number
623:volume serial number
598:volume serial number
537:BIOS Parameter Block
414:volume serial number
353:C:\Music\Track 1.mp3
335:A mount-point on an
43:improve this article
300:-based versions of
865:MSDN's article on
607:mainframe computer
549:special characters
509:
401:personal computers
261:In this example,
882:Disk file systems
355:", respectively.
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603:Disk formatting
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827:Letwin, Gordon
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629:assigned to a
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529:root directory
525:long file name
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422:Control Panel
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60: –
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54:Find sources:
48:
44:
38:
37:
32:This article
30:
26:
21:
20:
832:
821:
807:
796:. Retrieved
792:
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768:. Retrieved
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749:
743:. Retrieved
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724:
718:. Retrieved
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694:command line
685:
681:volume label
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646:file systems
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591:disk utility
579:context menu
513:volume label
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472:/mnt/iso9660
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405:optical disc
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326:drive letter
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276:Nomenclature
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199:Mount points
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185:partitions.
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
833:Inside OS/2
670:MS-DOS 4.01
635:tape volume
631:disk volume
543:in FAT and
306:MMC snap-in
249:Partition 1
246:Hard Disk 2
235:Partition 2
224:Partition 1
221:Hard Disk 1
151:floppy disk
131:file system
798:2006-07-28
770:2014-06-10
745:2014-06-10
720:2014-06-10
700:References
677:formatting
555:. In the
493:index card
382:Hard disks
213:Filesystem
195:Windows XP
69:newspapers
672:in 1988.
658:Microsoft
583:timestamp
541:uppercase
533:attribute
448:Unix-like
431:command.
318:directory
210:Partition
156:Microsoft
139:hard disk
135:partition
876:Category
829:(1988).
435:Warning:
341:C:\Music
294:mount(8)
553:Unicode
397:startup
288:or the
189:Example
83:scholar
845:
637:. In
611:OS/360
456:folder
393:legacy
351:" or "
123:volume
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
751:disk.
625:is a
562:label
557:exFAT
464:mount
429:SUBST
330:colon
296:. In
282:Linux
252:FAT32
238:FAT32
168:Intel
164:Linux
137:of a
90:JSTOR
76:books
843:ISBN
686:The
666:OS/2
660:and
654:disk
648:, a
643:NTFS
641:and
545:VFAT
337:NTFS
227:NTFS
179:DMGs
160:ext4
62:news
689:vol
662:IBM
639:FAT
633:or
567:GUI
521:8.3
517:FAT
478:'.
446:In
280:In
255:E:
241:D:
230:C:
183:not
125:or
45:by
878::
841:.
837:.
791:.
773:.
748:.
723:.
621:A
593:.
575:F2
573:,
511:A
424:.
324:A
298:NT
851:.
815:.
801:.
343:"
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
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