4 Jan
2010
4 Jan
'10
3:58 a.m.
Fred Cisin wrote:
Since the OS had been told that the write had been
completed, it declared
the file closed. "Go ahead and change disks now".
If the file write was the last thing that the application program wanted
to do (word processing often ends with file write, followed by human
turning off the computer and dashing out the door), then the OS would
return to the command prompt, before the sectors actually got written!
"All done, you can turn it off now"
In defense of Microsoft, disk caches had been deferring writes for years
before SMARTDRV. It only became a problem for Microsoft because they
deployed this as the default behavior without notifying the user.
I'd been using disk caches since the mid 1980s (anyone remember the 35K
"Lightening"?) and willingly turned that behavior on since it made
working with floppy-only systems tolerable. But the difference with me
is that I, an informed user, made that choice and was aware of the
behavior. I never lost data... but then again, I never suffered media
failure.
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/