How to mount a disk in an operating system?

Disks in operating systems are mounted by linking the storage device to a specific point in the file system hierarchy.

On Linux/Unix-like systems, this is done using the mount command.

Steps:

1. Identify the disk:

   # View all block devices
   lsblk
   
   # Or use dmesg for recent connection messages
   dmesg | grep 'sd[a-z]'
   

2. Create a mount point:

   # Create a directory where the disk will be mounted
   sudo mkdir /mnt/mydisk
   

3. Mount the disk:

   # Mount the partition (/dev/sdb1) to the created mount point (/mnt/mydisk)
   sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mydisk
   
   # If the filesystem is specified explicitly (e.g., ext4)
   sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mydisk
   

4. Check:

   # Check mounted filesystems
   df -h
   
   # Or
   mount | grep /mnt/mydisk
   

5. Automatic mounting at boot: Edit the /etc/fstab file:

   # Device  Mount point  Filesystem type  Options      Dump  Pass
   /dev/sdb1     /mnt/mydisk         ext4    defaults   0     0
   

   It is better to use the device's UUID for reliability:

   # Get the device's UUID
   blkid /dev/sdb1
   
   # Example fstab entry using UUID
   UUID=<your_disk_uuid> /mnt/mydisk ext4 defaults 0 0
   

   After editing /etc/fstab, you can check the syntax and try to remount everything:

   sudo mount -a
   

On Windows, mounting occurs automatically when a new disk is connected and assigned a drive letter. Disk management is done through "Disk Management".

1. Open "Disk Management": Press Win+R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
2. Identify the disk: Find the disk in the list. An unallocated disk will be marked as "Unallocated".
3. Initialize (if necessary): Right-click the disk -> "Initialize Disk". Choose partition style (MBR or GPT).
4. Create a partition and format: Right-click on the "Unallocated" space -> "New Simple Volume". Follow the wizard: specify volume size, assign a drive letter or mount in an empty folder (similar to Linux), choose filesystem (NTFS, FAT32).
5. Check: The disk will appear in "File Explorer" under the assigned letter or in the mounted folder.

Mounting in a folder on Windows:

1. Create an empty folder (e.g., C:\MountPoint).
2. In "Disk Management", when assigning a drive letter or later (right-click the created volume -> "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."), select "Add" -> "Mount in the empty NTFS folder:". Specify the path to the created folder.

The method choice (drive letter or folder) depends on the usage scenario. Mounting in a folder is convenient for structuring large data volumes or if drive letters are insufficient.