[DATA LOSS] Deleting junctions resulted in deletion of junction target contents

[c0thirty]

Windows 10 still natively has bizarre behavior with junctions. Attempting to move or cut/paste a junction using Windows Explorer ends up creating a new non-junction folder, moving all the contents of the original source folder into it, and leaving behind both the original (now empty) folder and the junction linking to it. They're a weird grey area between symlinks and hard links and I'm not sure exactly what safety if any they offer over hard links. In my recent test just now, deleting the junction (whether via recycle bin or permanent delete) rather than moving it didn't delete the source folder's contents, but I'm sure it would have on earlier Windows versions.

[admin]

Yes, in XP deleting the junction meant deleting the original stuff. Horror show. And yes, it's generally a messy area. I never use junctions for my own stuff, I just have them here for testing.

[PeterH]

You know that hardlinks *must* refer to the same disk partition they are in?

[admin]

So?

[PeterH]

I think so. Will go to verify.

[admin]

I meant "So?" in the sense of "So what?" What's your point?

[PeterH]

c0thirty said: They're a weird grey area between symlinks and hard links and I'm not sure exactly what safety if any they offer over hard links.

I'd say you can't / shouldn't compare these, as hardlinks are different usage as symlinks.