Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Hard Links

Hard links allow one file (set of streams and attributes) to have multiple names. The classic example of the usefulness of hard links is in programming projects. Imagine a set of standard header files that you copy into each new project's directory. You essentially have many copies of the same thing, all with different locations in the file system (different names).

Not only is this a waste of space, but changes are not automatically propagated; if you want to make a change to all the files, you'll have to do so automatically because each file has its own data stream.

Enter hard links. A hard link allows a file to have multiple names within a single volume. To solve the problem I illustrated previously, the common header would be placed ...