Windows Hardlinks.  Awesome.  Free!

HardLinkMaker is a Windows shell extension application that allows you to create an NTFS hardlink for a given file.

What the heck are hardlinks?

You’re probably familiar with shortcuts, which are simply pointers to a file.  If the file gets deleted, the shortcut lives on, though it doesn’t work anymore.

A hardlink is more than that.  It is multiple pointers to the exact same file data that can exist in multiple locations on the drive.  More than one name can point to the exact same data.  Any changes to the data made through one of those filenames affects all of the others.  The data only exists ONCE on the drive.  The various hardlinks all point to it.

A hardlink is equivalent to the file itself, along with all of its attributes & properties, without impacting storage space.

Consider this pretty illustration & slightly modified description from Wikipedia:

In the figure above, two hard links, named “LINK A.TXT” and “LINK B.TXT”, point to the same physical data.

If the filename “LINK A.TXT” is opened in an editor, modified and saved, then those changes will be visible when the filename “LINK B.TXT” is opened for viewing since both filenames point to the same data.  The same is true if the file were opened as “LINK B.TXT” – or any other name associated with the data.

In Windows, up to 1023 hard links to the physical data may be created. To access the data, a user only needs to specify the name of any existing link; the operating system will resolve the location of the actual data.

If one of the files is removed, the data is still accessible through any other link that remains. If all of the links are removed and no process has the file open, then the space occupied by the data is freed, allowing it to be reused in the future. This semantic allows for deleting open files without affecting the process that uses them.

Why would I need hardlinks?

Good question.  One way I use them is to organize my music collection.  Now I can have folders organized by anything you can imagine and have what appears to be the real MP3′s in each.  I really only have one copy of each of those MP3′s on my drive.  If I want to copy all of my “classic rock” and only that to another of my computers, I can go to one folder to do it.

How do I use HardLinkMaker?

Simple.  Just right-click on a file and there’s a new option that shows up called “Create Hardlink”.  Click that and you’ve just created another file.  Now you can move that anywhere else on the drive.  Change either file and it is reflected in all hardlinked copies.

Things you should know.

Deleting a hardlinked file does not affect any of the other hardlinks to that file, or the original.
Renaming a hardlink or the original file does not break the links.
Hardlinks exist even when a file is in the recycle bin (until you empty it).
If you like HardLinkMaker, you need HardLinkOverlay too!

Praise for HardLinkMaker:

You have to be kidding me, this is GREAT stuff. – TimC

Supported Platforms:

• Windows NT 5.0 and up (as far as I know, all modern flavors, though it has not been tested on Vista or Windows 7.)

How to install HardLinkMaker:

• Download the HardLinkMaker zip file.
• unzip it into a safe place that won’t get deleted.
• Navigate to that place, find and run Register.bat
• Open Windows Explorer, right click on a file, Enjoy!
• If you don’t understand any of this, don’t even attempt to install it.

Downloads:

Changelog:

• HardLinkMaker Version 1.0 (2009-09-11)

Legal:

HardLinkMaker is copyright (c)2009, poweredbycode.  All rights reserved.  While every effort has been made to ensure that this utility is error-free, it is a free application and I’m only human.  As such, it carries no warranty, suitability for a particular purpose, or guarantee of any kind.  Use at your own risk.  If you don’t like it,  use UnRegister.bat, then delete it.  Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, who has nothing to do with this.