On Fri, 23 Jul 1999, Andy Goth wrote:
> I've spent long sleepless nights before fixing the system.ini file after
> moving programs from C:\Program Files to D:\Prog. Luckily, I had a
> utility to rename most references that went to my CD-ROM drive after it
> changed letters. In Linux, such a thing isn't necessary since drives
> are referred to by their real names, not by arbitrary letters.
I think that the problem is not the "arbitrary letters", but the fact that
these letter designations get "bumped" when new hardware is added.
<rant>
There is a user interface analysis website (ask me for the link, if
interested) that strongly suggests Microsoft has used graphic designers to
create their interfaces so that they look pretty, even when this renders
them semi- or non-functional. Shouldn't be any surprise.
If your CDROM could just stay as your D: drive, and your next hard drive
could become E:, the upgrade problems would be fewer. Of course then
installation software would have to query each storage device, "are you a
hard drive or CDROM?" I think this identification process is common sense
now, but when the drive scheme was set up, Microsoft's simplification of
the Windows installation procedure was probably more important to them
than any provision for upgrading. "What, have a CDROM in between
non-consecutive hard drive letters? That's not pretty enough for our
customers!" </rant>
best wishes,
richard myers
