7Jul/108
Workaround
by Jeff
Image text: I once worked on a friend's dad's computer. He had the hard drive divided into eight partitions, C: through H:, with a 'Documents' directory tree on each one. Each new file appeared to be saved to a partition at random. I knew enough not to ask.
As long as they are not asking you for help... as far as you know their computer is working perfectly. Ignorance is bliss.
July 7th, 2010
Can someone explain what he’s talking about in the image text?
July 7th, 2010
Hard drive partitions are often used to install multiple operating systems – such as Windows and Linux – on the same hard drive. A set amount of disk space is allocated to each partition.
Randall (the author) says his friend’s dad divided the hard drive into 8 partitions and had the ‘Documents’ folder on each one. This is a very strange thing to do, as it is complicated and provides no real benefit.
The comic in general is about how there are lots of ways to do things on a computer, and some are more straight forward than others. The author learned not to ask how people solved their problems because the solution may work, but there may be better methods.
*Note: There are only 6 drive letters from C to H… that’s apparently a mistake.
July 8th, 2010
There can be other uses for partitions too. I generally hold all my stuff (including chat logs) on a separate partition from the operating system, so, in case something happens with the system and it’s not bootable anymore, I can just format the main partition and make a clean OS install without worrying about my important documents getting lost in the process. However with Ubuntu live CD being available for years now, recovering stuff from a PC with defunct OS isn’t such an issue anymore, but well… habits I guess.
Also under Windows, having your stuff on a separate partition leaves you with more control over your organising as some applications tend to create their own folders in My Documents. In Windows 2000, My Music and My Pictures folder kept reappearing no matter how many times they were deleted and even under Windows 7, GIMP setting files and many savegames are dropped straight into My Documents. All that hardly helps keeping oneself organised.
July 9th, 2010
The image text ACTUALLY reads “C: to J:” It’s a typo above.
July 12th, 2010
The image text *DID* read “C: to H:” at first. Randall must have corrected it later.
July 7th, 2010
Yet, if one’s first personal computer ran, say, CP/M-80 or 86 where the hard drives were routinely divided this way so as to provide different areas for different activities, it’s not really so silly.
July 8th, 2010
I worked with a woman who (on her personal computer) had partitioned her hard drive into 23 separate drives. Her question to me was. . .after “Z”, what do you do?
Years later, it still troubles me that she had all those 5 meg partitions on her hard drive.
So, I really laughed loudest at the line “I knew enopugh not to ask.” I wish I had elarned that lesson a few years earlier.
I partioned a 1.5 TB drive into 3 drives, and shared a section with each computer on my home network. That way each user has a private 1/2 TB for storage on the network.
July 10th, 2010
The comic’s image text NOW reads “hard drive divided into six partitions, C: through J:” rather than “hard drive divided into eight partitions, C: through H:” which implies that a) someone has been changing it to correct the number/letter inequality, and b) it was “corrected” twice, and is still wrong.