Three Windows
Last year I planned to get a MacBook Pro this year to replace my desktop machine. However, the old desktop is still working fine and there’s sufficient hardware to cater to my current computing needs, so I couldn’t really justify the MacBook Pro yet. The only problem I had was the harddisk, it was slow and noisy and starting to get a bit full as well. So instead of a 23K Mac I got a sub-1K HD and after carefully backing up all my files, replaced the disk.
The new disk was recognised instantly so off I went installing Windows, no problems whatsoever, in with the drivers and now I hit a snag. It started complaining about some missing files… insert disc? No idea what it meant, so in with SP3, reboot and try again. Same error. Hmm. Check disk manager – WTF?! Windows was set up on … partition J? I mean, what happened with C?! Reboot and check again… sure enough, J. Hmm.
Then I had a great idea, create another partition and install Windows on that one. Said and done. Now I had Windows on partition I. Except the really funny thing was while I was logged in Windows #2, I could see my original Windows installation on C! What is going on?? Ok check Google, there must be a way to swap the letters for the system drive. Indeed there is, so I did as instructed and… Windows #1 won’t start. Hmm. Maybe I did it wrong, so I tried it on the second Windows and… Windows #2 won’t start. Hmm.
But now I realised that my internal multi-card reader was probably messing up with the drive letters, so I disconnected everything and launched Windows setup again. Deleted the existing partitions, did a rain dance and crossed my fingers and… voilá, I had Windows on drive C. Perfect. The drivers all installed without errors as well, although I did check the drive letters rather nervously after every reboot!
The new disk is superfast and superquiet with a 750 GB capacity, so disk space will certainly not be an issue for the next 5 years or so (it will outlive the rest of the computer by far). I still have one of the old 120 GB drives as a backup and it’s interesting to compare these two disks, they are like night and day. When I copied my files from the backup to the new disk, I could hear the old disk crunching away while the new one was barely audible at all. Lovely!
Now that my desktop computer has a new lease of life, I can save up for a MacBook Pro 17″ with extra RAM, maybe next year then…
2 commentsSnowing
Yesterday was a windy day, so although we got a little bit of new snow the windblown debris was spoiling the landscape. Today however, it was snowing even more and the wind had quieted down enough so the landscape was looking a whole lot better. I did a snowshoe hike to the Älgsjön lake which is one of my favourite routes, there’s always something interesting along the way and then the marshland leading to the lake itself is sure to look nice. That is, unless the snowmobiles have left the trail and driven loops around the marsh, so I was a bit disappointed to hear that familiar roar of engine behind me, thinking that it’s one of these morons with no respect for the law or good manners. Or common sense, for that matter. Well, he did drive irresponsibly but at least he stayed on the trail, so I got my unspoiled marsh but no pictures because the wind had kept the trees free of snow in these open places.
Every time the trail crosses a lake, there’s a sign warning the snowmobilers about the risk of weak ice. I’ve been meaning to take a picture of one of these signs for ages now, but never gotten around to it until now. So there I was, trying to figure out the best way of including the trail and the signs in the frame, when I heard another snowmobile closing in. The timing couldn’t have been better – I didn’t even have to change my composition to get the approaching snowmobile in a perfect position. Sometimes it’s more luck than skill… I think I saw only four snowmobiles in total, so having one of them arrive right at that moment was a bit of fluke. Oh and I’m happy to say that he was one of the responsible drivers as well, not tearing up the engine or the trail!
