Map a Drive Letter to a Local Folder

(1) Using “subst” command
Under Windows, there is a legacy dos command named “subst”:

C:\>subst /?
Associates a path with a drive letter.

SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path]
SUBST drive1: /D


drive1: Specifies a virtual drive to which you want to assign a path.
[drive2:]path Specifies a physical drive and path you want to assign to
a virtual drive.
/D Deletes a substituted (virtual) drive.

Type SUBST with no parameters to display a list of current virtual drives.
C:\>

Creating A Map Drive

Goto Start > Run > cmd.exe

Use the command subst <virtual drive name:> <local folder path> to map a new drive to the local folder. Here I have mapped the drive with the name X to a folder in my external hard drive.

subst x: j:\movies\

Removing A Map Drive

Use the command subst /d <virtual drive name:. The /d switch will delete the virtual mapped drive

subst /d x:

(2) Visual Subst
Fortunately there is an easier way to utilize this command than having to remember the command line every time you want to use your files. The free windows program Visual Subst will manage these drives for you.