Developers, system administrators, and other users wanting easier access to information on a hard drive with deeply-nested subdirectories may know of the DOS SUBST command. This lets you take a long directory name such as "c:\graphics\photos\landmarks\New York City" and replaces it with a drive letter, such as "N:". When accessing files via the "Run" command, a DOS box, or an "Open" dialog, instead of navigating through the directory tree you can merely access "N:" as if it was another hard drive.

Some people may not wish to fool with DOS commands, or they frequently substitute and un-substitute drive letters and want something more convenient. With "Visual Subst" for Windows 2000 and up you can create these virtual drives via a GUI.

After running the application, click on the pull-down to choose a drive letter. Click the magnifying glass, and then navigate to a folder that will be represented by the drive letter. Click "OK", then the plus button, and you've created a Subst drive. If you want, check "Apply virtual drives on Windows startup" so your "drives" will appear when Windows boots.

The utility can be downloaded at the following address. Note that you can download either a ZIP archive or an executable with an installer. The program is portable, storing information in an .INI file. However, if you apply the drives on Windows startup it will make changes to your system configuration.

Visual Subst: http://www.ntwind.com/software/utilities/visual-subst.html

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