<s>
In	O
computer	O
data	O
storage	O
,	O
a	O
volume	O
or	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
is	O
a	O
single	O
accessible	O
storage	O
area	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
typically	O
(	O
though	O
not	O
necessarily	O
)	O
resident	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
partition	B-Application
of	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
a	O
volume	O
might	O
be	O
different	O
from	O
a	O
physical	O
disk	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
it	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
accessed	O
with	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
's	O
logical	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
a	O
volume	O
differs	O
from	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
volume	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
same	O
thing	O
as	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
might	O
be	O
accessible	O
as	O
a	O
volume	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
contain	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
,	O
as	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
cannot	O
be	O
partitioned	O
with	O
most	O
modern	O
computer	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
an	O
OS	O
can	O
recognize	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
without	O
recognizing	O
any	O
volume	O
associated	O
with	O
it	O
,	O
as	O
when	O
the	O
OS	O
cannot	O
interpret	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
stored	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
situation	O
occurs	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
when	O
Windows	O
NT-based	O
OSes	O
encounter	O
disks	B-Device
with	O
non-Microsoft	O
OS	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
ext3	B-Application
filesystem	I-Application
commonly	O
used	O
with	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
example	O
occurs	O
in	O
the	O
Intel	O
world	O
with	O
the	O
"	O
Extended	O
Partition	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
these	O
are	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
they	O
cannot	O
contain	O
a	O
filesystem	B-Application
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
"	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
"	O
(	O
aka	O
volumes	O
)	O
must	O
be	O
created	O
within	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
also	O
the	O
case	O
with	O
NetWare	O
volumes	O
residing	O
inside	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
partition	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
short	O
,	O
volumes	O
exist	O
at	O
the	O
logical	O
OS	O
level	O
,	O
and	O
partitions	B-Application
exist	O
at	O
the	O
physical	O
,	O
media	O
specific	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
Server	O
2008	O
and	O
onward	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
volume	O
"	O
is	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
superset	O
that	O
includes	O
"	O
partition	B-Application
"	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
include	O
ISO9660	O
disc	O
images	O
(	O
CD/DVD	O
images	O
,	O
commonly	O
called	O
"	O
ISOs	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
installer	O
volumes	O
for	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	O
(	O
DMGs	B-Operating_System
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
these	O
volumes	O
are	O
files	O
which	O
reside	O
within	O
another	O
volume	O
,	O
they	O
certainly	O
are	O
not	O
partitions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
example	O
concerns	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
system	O
with	O
two	O
physical	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
has	O
two	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
the	O
second	O
has	O
only	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
partition	B-Application
of	O
the	O
first	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
contains	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mount	B-Application
points	O
have	O
been	O
left	O
at	O
defaults	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Physical	O
disk	B-Device
Partition	B-Application
Filesystem	B-Application
Drive	O
letter	O
Hard	B-Device
Disk	I-Device
1	O
Partition	B-Application
1	O
NTFS	B-Application
C	O
:	O
Partition	B-Application
2	O
FAT32	O
D	O
:	O
Hard	B-Device
Disk	I-Device
2	O
Partition	B-Application
1	O
FAT32	O
E	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Hard	B-Device
Disk	I-Device
1	O
and	O
Hard	B-Device
Disk	I-Device
2	O
are	O
physical	O
disks	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
,	O
volumes	O
are	O
usually	O
handled	O
by	O
the	O
Logical	B-Application
Volume	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
or	O
the	O
Enterprise	B-Application
Volume	I-Application
Management	I-Application
System	I-Application
and	O
manipulated	O
using	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
NT-based	B-Device
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
volumes	O
are	O
handled	O
by	O
the	O
kernel	O
and	O
managed	O
using	O
the	O
Disk	B-Device
Management	O
MMC	B-Application
snap-in	I-Application
or	O
the	O
Diskpart	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
tool	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
important	O
to	O
note	O
that	O
Windows	O
NT-based	O
OSes	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
single	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
these	O
two	O
examples	O
,	O
a	O
file	O
called	O
"	O
Track	O
1.mp3	O
"	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
of	O
the	O
mounted	O
volume	O
could	O
be	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
F:\Track	O
1.mp3	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
C:\Music\Track	O
1.mp3	O
"	O
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
assign	O
a	O
mount	B-Application
point	O
for	O
a	O
volume	O
as	O
a	O
path	O
within	O
another	O
volume	O
,	O
the	O
following	O
criteria	O
must	O
be	O
met	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mounted-to	O
volume	O
must	O
be	O
formatted	O
NTFS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
directory	B-Application
must	O
exist	O
at	O
the	O
root	O
path	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
directory	B-Application
must	O
be	O
empty	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Removable	O
disks	B-Device
,	O
including	O
optical	B-Device
media	I-Device
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
legacy	B-Device
convention	O
,	O
the	O
operating	O
system	B-Operating_System
startup	I-Operating_System
drive	O
is	O
still	O
most	O
commonly	O
assigned	O
"	O
C	O
:	O
"	O
,	O
however	O
this	O
is	O
not	O
always	O
the	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
now	O
no	O
longer	O
include	O
floppies	B-Device
,	O
and	O
optical	B-Device
disc	I-Device
and	O
other	O
removable	O
drives	O
typically	O
still	O
start	O
at	O
"	O
D	O
:	O
"	O
,	O
letters	O
A	O
and	O
B	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
manual	O
assignment	O
by	O
a	O
user	O
with	O
administrative	B-Application
privileges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
assignment	O
will	O
be	O
remembered	O
by	O
the	O
same	O
OS	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
PC	O
next	O
time	O
a	O
removable	O
volume	O
is	O
inserted	O
,	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
there	O
are	O
no	O
conflicts	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
the	O
removable	O
drive	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
reformatted	O
on	O
another	O
computer	O
(	O
which	O
changes	O
its	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
the	O
OS	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
reinstalled	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
mount	B-Application
points	O
may	O
be	O
managed	O
through	O
the	O
Disk	B-Device
Management	O
snap-in	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Management	I-Application
Console	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
be	O
most	O
conveniently	O
accessed	O
through	O
"	O
Computer	B-Application
Management	I-Application
"	O
in	O
the	O
"	O
Administrative	B-Application
Tools	O
"	O
section	O
of	O
the	O
Control	O
Panel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Warning	O
:	O
removing	O
drive	O
letters	O
or	O
mount-points	O
for	O
a	O
drive	O
may	O
break	O
some	O
programs	O
,	O
as	O
some	O
files	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
accessible	O
under	O
the	O
known	O
path	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
logical	O
disk	B-Device
previously	O
called	O
"	O
D	O
:	O
"	O
has	O
its	O
drive	O
letter	O
changed	O
to	O
"	O
E	O
:	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Some	O
Program	O
"	O
wo	O
n't	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
find	O
its	O
data	O
at	O
"	O
D:\Program	O
Files	O
\Some	O
Program	O
\Data	O
 "	O
,	O
since	O
the	O
drive	O
letter	O
"	O
D	O
:	O
"	O
no	O
longer	O
represents	O
that	O
volume	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
volumes	O
other	O
than	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
volume	O
have	O
a	O
mount-point	O
somewhere	O
within	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
,	O
represented	O
by	O
a	O
path	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Logically	O
,	O
the	O
directory	B-Application
tree	I-Application
stored	O
on	O
the	O
volume	O
is	O
grafted	O
in	O
at	O
the	O
mountpoint	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
convention	O
,	O
mount-points	O
will	O
often	O
be	O
placed	O
in	O
a	O
directory	B-Application
called	O
'	O
/mnt	O
'	O
,	O
though	O
'	O
/media	O
'	O
and	O
other	O
terms	O
are	O
sometimes	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
a	O
given	O
path	O
as	O
a	O
mount-point	O
for	O
another	O
volume	O
,	O
a	O
directory	B-Application
(	O
sometimes	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
folder	O
"	O
)	O
must	O
exist	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
use	O
the	O
command	O
to	O
manipulate	O
mount	B-Application
points	O
for	O
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Files	O
within	O
a	O
volume	O
can	O
generally	O
be	O
moved	O
to	O
any	O
other	O
place	O
within	O
that	O
volume	O
by	O
manipulating	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
,	O
without	O
moving	O
the	O
actual	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
is	O
the	O
name	O
given	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
volume	O
in	O
a	O
filesystem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
FAT	B-Application
filesystem	I-Application
,	O
the	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
was	O
traditionally	O
restricted	O
to	O
11	O
characters	O
(	O
reflecting	O
the	O
8.3	O
restrictions	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
divided	O
into	O
name	O
and	O
extension	O
fields	O
)	O
even	O
when	O
long	O
file	O
name	O
was	O
enabled	O
,	O
stored	O
as	O
an	O
entry	O
within	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
's	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
with	O
a	O
special	O
volume-label	O
attribute	B-Application
bit	O
set	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
copied	O
to	O
an	O
11-byte	O
field	O
within	O
the	O
Extended	B-Device
BIOS	I-Device
Parameter	I-Device
Block	I-Device
of	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
's	O
boot	B-Operating_System
sector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
label	B-Device
is	O
always	O
stored	O
as	O
uppercase	O
in	O
FAT	B-Application
and	O
VFAT	B-Application
filesystems	B-Application
,	O
and	O
cannot	O
contain	O
special	O
characters	O
that	O
are	O
also	O
disallowed	O
for	O
regular	O
filenames	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
NTFS	B-Application
filesystem	B-Application
,	O
the	O
length	O
of	O
its	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
is	O
restricted	O
to	O
32	O
characters	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
include	O
lowercase	O
characters	O
and	O
even	O
Unicode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
exFAT	B-Application
filsystem	O
,	O
the	O
length	O
of	O
its	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
is	O
also	O
restricted	O
to	O
11	O
characters	O
,	O
but	O
can	O
include	O
lowercase	O
characters	O
and	O
Unicode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
command	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
change	O
the	O
label	B-Device
in	O
DOS	O
,	O
Windows	O
,	O
and	O
OS/2	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
GUI	B-Application
systems	O
like	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
,	O
can	O
be	O
pressed	O
while	O
the	O
volume	O
is	O
highlighted	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
right-click	O
on	O
the	O
name	O
will	O
bring	O
up	O
a	O
context	O
menu	O
that	O
allows	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
renamed	O
,	O
either	O
of	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
process	O
as	O
for	O
renaming	O
a	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Changing	O
the	O
label	B-Device
in	O
Windows	O
will	O
also	O
change	O
the	O
volume	O
creation	O
timestamp	O
to	O
the	O
current	O
date	O
and	O
time	O
for	O
FAT	B-Application
filesystems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
NTFS	B-Application
partitions	B-Application
have	O
the	O
System	B-Application
Volume	I-Application
Information	I-Application
directory	B-Application
,	O
whose	O
creation	O
timestamp	O
is	O
set	O
when	O
Windows	O
creates	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
,	O
or	O
when	O
it	O
first	O
recognizes	O
a	O
repartitioning	O
(	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
volume	O
)	O
by	O
a	O
separate	O
disk	B-Application
utility	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
label	B-Device
,	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
is	O
generally	O
unique	O
and	O
is	O
not	O
normally	O
changed	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
more	O
consistent	O
and	O
reliable	O
identifier	O
of	O
when	O
a	O
volume	O
has	O
been	O
changed	O
(	O
as	O
when	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
is	O
removed	O
and	O
another	O
inserted	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Disk	B-Application
formatting	I-Application
changes	O
the	O
serial	O
number	O
,	O
but	O
relabeling	O
does	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
originated	O
in	O
1950s	O
in	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
OS/360	B-Application
line	O
it	O
is	O
human-configurable	O
,	O
has	O
a	O
maximum	O
length	O
of	O
six	O
characters	O
,	O
is	O
in	O
uppercase	O
,	O
must	O
start	O
with	O
a	O
letter	O
,	O
and	O
identifies	O
a	O
volume	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
in	O
unique	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Operating	O
systems	O
may	O
use	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
as	O
mountpoint	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
is	O
a	O
serial	O
number	O
assigned	O
to	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
volume	I-Device
or	O
tape	B-Architecture
volume	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
FAT	B-Application
and	O
NTFS	B-Application
file	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
a	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
is	O
a	O
feature	O
used	O
to	O
determine	O
if	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
is	O
present	O
in	O
a	O
drive	O
or	O
not	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
detect	O
if	O
it	O
was	O
exchanged	O
with	O
another	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
by	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
IBM	O
during	O
their	O
development	O
of	O
OS/2	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
volume	B-Application
serial	I-Application
number	I-Application
is	O
a	O
32-bit	O
number	O
determined	O
by	O
the	O
date	O
and	O
time	O
on	O
the	O
real-time	O
clock	O
on	O
the	O
current	O
computer	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
's	O
formatting	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
,	O
determination	O
by	O
the	O
OS	O
of	O
whether	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
was	O
swapped	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
reading	O
the	O
drive	O
's	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
even	O
at	O
that	O
time	O
the	O
volume	O
label	B-Device
was	O
not	O
required	O
to	O
be	O
unique	O
and	O
was	O
optional	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
many	O
users	O
had	O
not	O
given	O
disks	B-Device
any	O
meaningful	O
name	O
and	O
the	O
old	O
method	O
failed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
command	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
from	O
the	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
to	O
display	O
the	O
current	O
label	B-Device
and	O
serial	O
number	O
of	O
a	O
volume	O
.	O
</s>
