What is the difference between creating a junction point and going to folder properties and changing the location?

Question

I was reading up on how to maximize the lifespan of an SSD and they mention creating a junction point for the directories most written to on the SSD. I found that junction points just creates a second location where files are written to and not the expected effect of moving the write location to a different place.

For example, I created a junction point D:/Temp for C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data but after checking, I see that files are being written to both directories instead of the expected D:/Temp. I tried both junction.exe and Junction Link Magic. Is something wrong here or is this just what junction points are.

I'm also using windows 8.

Answer 1

I found that junction points just creates a second location where files are written to and not the expected effect of moving the write location to a different place.

They do move the writes. Which means, they move reads as well. So when Chromium tries to write to the old location, it actually writes to the old one – likewise, when you look in the old location, you're actually seeing the contents of the new one.