Originally included to support the POSIX subsystem in Windows NT[15], hard links are similar to directory junctions, but used for files instead of directories. Hard links can only be applied to files on the same volume since an additional filename record is added to the file's MFT record. Short (8.3) filenames are also implemented as additional filename records that don't have separate directory entries.
In computing, a hard link is a directory reference, or pointer, to a file on a storage volume. The name associated with the file is a label stored in a directory structure that refers the operating system to the file data.More than one name can be associated with the same file. When accessed through different names, any changes made will affect the same file data.