SUBST is frustrating the hell outta me

[Mr_Miyagi]

got my new system and windows 7 pro is quite nice to use but frustrates the hell outta me for lots of reasons, one happened yesterday when i found i could not delete a folder that i had just copied over! anyway, long story short, involved creating a 2nd user account to go into command line typing some settings to get rid of it. ggggrrrr!

anyway my query is about subst. aside the persistent factor, sorted by adding to the registry, the issue is a little strange:


subst I: relates to D:\I_DRIVE for legacy reasons !

in explorer I: is fine to see and use and can be selected and files seen and used. On I: is a download folder called erm "download" to which i erm download files.

THE PROBLEM is that once downloaded if I then (for example) run them (with/without admin rights) windows 7 says: "Windows cannot find "i:\downloads\filename" make sure you have typed the right name"

WHY?

if i go to D:\I_Drive\downloads\filename , it is fine and dandy... ggggrrrr !!!

HELP, before i go insane




ps HAVE just checked computer management and the I drive does not appear there. have also tried running an app using explorer I: and it too objects the location does not exist.