Soft Links in Windows XP

[phantom713]

Does anyone know if Windows has a Unix like "soft link" feature? I have a configuration file on a bunch of computers that I would like to take off of the local computers and put centraly on the network then have each of the individual computers point to that config file. In Unix this would be easy, where the I had removed the file from I leave in its place a soft link that points to the new network location. If anyone knows if such an animal exists for windows, please fill me in!

However I'd prefer centralized management, I can always write a script to check each individual computer when I want to update the config file.

[Johnny Fist]

The Windows equivalent of Unix's soft links are simple shortcuts. Create a shortcut either across the network, or on a mapped network drive. I personally prefer the network drive method.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I think you might be talking about a hard link. Windows does have a hard link function. Look up "fsutil" in the Help Center in XP. It will be limited to only being applicable to the same volume as the file's location, much like they are in a Unix environment. I have seen some 3rd party apps that will allow you to span a hard link across multiple volumes, etc. You can also look into junction points to allow you to mount a remote directory on a mapped network drive in a local directory. That probably sounds more like what you're looking for. Then again, maybe its not.