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. -----Original Message----- From: Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2026 9:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [GNC] Can't use GnuCash with Windows VHD (virtual hard drive)? On 2026-06-25 17:57, Mark Bole wrote: > Under Windows 10/11 (and maybe before, I don't remember) there is a > feature which lets you create a virtual hard drive (a large file on > disk), and then mount it as a disk volume in a subdirectory (folder). > (see below for more detailed description) > > Is it correct the GnuCash (5.14) does not recognize folders which are > actually mounted VHDs? Every time I open a file dialog in GnuCash, > the folder I'm looking for simply isn't shown. > > For comparison, I use dozens of other desktop programs, and all of > them have never had a problem finding these folders. Only one, a > version of the old school File Manager program from Windows XP or > thereabouts, had this same problem, but now the latest version of even > that program works with them correctly too. > > In case anyone wonders why this is important to me, I encrypt certain > of my VHDs with BitLocker, so when I unmount one of them, it > immediately becomes unreadable to anyone without the password (without > disrupting the rest of my system in any way). This is one of the key > ways I protect confidential info, both my own and that of others I interact > with. > > VHD description: "/Virtual hard disks (VHD and VHDX) are file-based > disk images that behave like real disks to Windows: you can format > them, assign drive letters, install software to them, and _mount or > detach them on demand._ /" (copied from windowsforum.com, they said it > better than I could). Mark, my situation is similar to yours. I have my GnuCash account books in drive M:, a virtual drive that is encrypted with VeraCrypt. When the drive is unmounted in VeraCrypt, Windows programs don't know about it any more. But I notice you said "you can format [virtual hard drives], assign drive letters, install software to them ..." Have you in fact assigned a drive letter to your virtual drive? If you omit doing that, a few specialty programs may still recognize the mounted drive, but ordinary user-level software like GnuCash will need a drive letter. If you have assigned a drive letter, with GC _not_ running please check that File Explorer shows that drive and lets you navigate to the folder that contains your GC account book. If you can, try double-clicking it your account book. Since you're running Windows the account book should open in GC. If that worked, look in the File menu of GC and you should see your account book as number 1 in the most recently used list, and in the future you should be able to open the file in GC as long as your VHD is mounted. If the above doesn't work, I don't know what's wrong. Some screen shots might help -- remember to make them attachments, not inline images. Stan Brown Tehachapi, CA, USA https://BrownMath.com _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list [email protected] To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
