[GNC] Can't use GnuCash with Windows VHD (virtual hard drive)?

[Patrick James]

Adding that my Gemini AI search suggested to go one step further:

"Pin the True Folder to GnuCash Shortcuts

Once you manually force-navigate to the actual folder, you can save it in your sidebar: In the GnuCash file explorer dialog, look at the left sidebar (where "Home" and "Documents" are listed).Click the "+" (Add) button at the bottom of that sidebar to bookmark your current location. This creates a direct shortcut to the resolved physical folder, bypassing the junction loop entirely."

After the directory is pinned, just click on it.


> On 07/01/2026 8:55 PM PDT John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
> 
>  
> Gemini suggests that you try typing ctrl-L to get a text entry at the top of the File>Open dialog and typing the full path to your gnucash file. It claims that Glib has a problem navigating through NTFS junction points, but if it’s given a full path it doesn’t have to and it will open the file.
> 
> Regards,
> John Ralls
> 
> 
> > On Jul 1, 2026, at 18:15, Mark Bole <mark at bincomputing.com> wrote:
> > 
> > Hi, sorry for the late reply.  I did not see an email reply to my original post, so this is the latest I found at the archive. I must have something mis-configured on my end that I don't get replies.
> > 
> > To the topic, as mentioned below, yes that is exactly what I'm referring to, a junction point, which can be created with the standard "*mountvol*" command under Windows. It doesn't work with GnuCash.
> > 
> > https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mountvol
> > 
> > In other words, my VHD does not get a drive letter, rather it is mounted under a directory (folder), which exists on a regular NTFS volume with a drive letter.
> > 
> > One of the two helpful replies mentioned an image, so attached is the Windows properties screen for my VHD mounted in a folder named "custom".
> > 
> > Again, my problem is that GnuCash seems to not know how to view this pathname.  All my other software does (dozens of programs), but at least one ( the File Manager that I mentioned previously) does have an option on whether or not to show "Junction" in the display of files & folders.
> > 
> > 
> >> Have you tried making a junction point ( mklnk /j ) from an actual hard drive (like c:\) to a folder within the VHD file to see if that works? I think gnucash's file IO libraries are limited to type of disks it can see. I had a problem with earlier versions of Google Drive where it wouldn't see contents in those folders.
> >> 
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