Ask a simple question, get a simple answer
- Thread starter HeffronCM
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Just a little correction: Journeymap do have the possibility of opening it up as a minimap, but it is not really its main function. It is mainly a large map menu that store all explored areas for later viewing(and allow you to export the map as .png files as well as other features). It works well in conjunction with either Zan's or Rei's. I am personally using it together with Zan's minimap with great pleasure.
Hmm seems alright, but amazing? Seems to be just mimicking some of Zan's features.
Late reply, hope nobody minds me advertising the server hosts I use:
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Honestly, that bugs me a lot, because it's literally *the right place* to install something user-specific, as far as Microsoft is concerned. It's very similar to /home/someone on Linux in that the space there is partitioned specifically for the use of the person whose Windows account that is -- potentially including being encrypted with keys that only that user has.
I'd love to know the reasoning here, as well.
Where does it say dangerous? It's not per-say dangerous. Windows users are another breed than Unix users, they need way more guidance. Image the c:\users being the default place, how many support topics we get from people who share their computer and only 1 user can see the save game?
I agree that it should be possible to install in c:\users if you want to, but it shouldn't be default. But.. is it currently not possible to install there? All I read was the launcher was keeping people from installing in the temp internet folder, which is logical. You don't want to remove FTB whenever you clear your temp internet files.
I agree that it should be possible to install in c:\users if you want to, but it shouldn't be default. But.. is it currently not possible to install there? All I read was the launcher was keeping people from installing in the temp internet folder, which is logical. You don't want to remove FTB whenever you clear your temp internet files.
I admit I didn't try it until just now, so I didn't have the exact wording. It looks like this:
So it doesn't say dangerous, it just says it "can cause problems". Incidentally, I didn't clip off any of the dialog box, it really does say "a new location such as Click OK to continue".
Ultimately, if I'm to believe you, the problem is that some people don't know how Windows works, so we should throw up a big scary dialog to frighten them away from it. That about right?
Of course, if the user in question is a limited user on a relatively locked-down machine (such as my kids would get, if I had any), they don't really have any choice and should click "Ignore" after bothering me about it. I... think that sounds okay, actually. Thanks for clearing that up.
I don't know how common a use case this is, but I imagine it competes with the shared-launcher scenario where "my brother logged into a server with my account and got me banned". I also imagine that different people would play different worlds in single-player, and in multi-player one expects they have a server they connect to. But, honestly, I don't even begin to have the data to say which of these is more common.
It still seems very dangerous to say that installing in userland "can cause problems" -- I can fully understand it being recommended against, for aforementioned reasons, but suggesting that just by putting stuff there, unspecified bad things will happen sounds like the kind of thing that makes my co-worker prefer to have the application we develop run with elevated privileges -- because he'd rather write log files to C:\some.log than figure out where the right place to put them would be.
It's not dangerous to have your installation in //users/[userfolder]/local data... In fact it's the standard installation location for Windows since Vista, IIRC.
It's easier to support games installed in "C:/Game" because all the software in //users/ are individually "owned" by the specific user and nobody else can access the data unless given specific permissions to the directory or the system actually has a password protected Administrator account to take ownership of the User directory. Following the "proper" installation procedures ensures that all of the data important to your applications is backed up, assuming you do things like regular back-ups. It also theoretically makes it harder for sensitive info (personal data, bank/credit account numbers, etc.) to be stolen.
My guess is the main reason 90% (if not more) of software ignores the convention is that if little Bobby has installed the latest fad game on daddy's computer the support people can actually do something to figure out what's going on and help. It also is a brain-dead simple method to allow one program to be shared among multiple users, ignoring the built in mechanism for that (a built in user named "default") In addition, in my opinion the vast majority of today's market suffers from a disinterest in actually knowing how their systems work.
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It depends on what kind of software you are. Most installers offer a choice of installing "for all users" or "just for me", which determines whether they go in the system-wide location (Program Files) or in userland. Some try to be clever and figure out if you even have the ability to escalate your privileges, and won't even offer the system-wide install if they don't think you can do it -- this is particularly fun when, like myself, you run as a limited user and have a separate administrator account with a stronger password. Most of the time, though, I just get a UAC prompt where I enter the admin user's credentials.
I'm not sure I follow. You've just explained that installing in userland helps both security and backups -- how does any of that hinder supporting games installed there?
The built-in mechanism is to install in Program Files, with shared data kept in C:\ProgramData and user-specific data in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\{Local,Roaming}. This is how 90% or more of software works, so I'm not sure what you're referring to in this paragraph.
If you check your user directory ("Users" in Win 7 & 8, "Home" in Vista, IIRC) there is an entire hierarchy of hidden folders where software is supposed to be installed called "AppData". Microsoft has hidden these directories, perhaps in fear of the unwashed masses, so you have to set your system to "show hidden files" to see them.
General shared software is usually stored in "Program Files" or "Program Files(x86)" to allow different users to run it from their own accounts, but software installed by the individual on their own account is stored in "AppData/Local" and runs entirely from there. If you run something like Office you will see directories for Word, Excel, etc. in that folder as well since this is where all your "configs" like screen color and font preferences are stored, as well as the datafiles (which are linked to dynamic "libraries" for easier access).
There is a second folder under "AppData" called "Roaming" which is used in networked environments to allow any computer you choose to log onto to display the characteristics you prefer to see on your own PC, if properly configured.
A third folder, "LocalLow" seems to contain low level system specific files from Microsoft, Oracle, Sun and a few others.
Long story short, having manually installed software on servers and workstations for 20+ years I follow the preferred procedure for installing software and run everything from my AppData directory. It makes for a cleaner directory structure.
Nothing ticks me off more than seeing my parent's computer, for example, suffer from a bloated root directory with
14 different directories for photo-management programs (Windows has a fine one) and all the stupid Win95 games they keep paying actual money for in the bargain bins at the Wally-world... And being asked to help make sense of it!
Personally I would never keep any data I would want to keep on the c: partition. Documents, games, etc. I always keep on sepperate partitions/disks so that eventual OS crashes/virus attacks wont (usually) affect them, and reinstalling my OS is made a hell of a lot easier(Don't have to spend a day finding all the tiny bits in obscure folders that I want to keep).
Why it has not become a standard in Windows to install the OS on a sepperate partition and then store anything valuable on another I cannot fathom. The number of times I have heard of people which OS have crashed and they have out of ignorance just formatted and reinstalled over everything again to "repair their computer" is horrifying...
Why it has not become a standard in Windows to install the OS on a sepperate partition and then store anything valuable on another I cannot fathom. The number of times I have heard of people which OS have crashed and they have out of ignorance just formatted and reinstalled over everything again to "repair their computer" is horrifying...
Because most people have a room temperature IQ and would find even the slightest complication in their home computer system to be utterly flummoxing? Literally half the population are below average intelligence, remember
Personally, I have different OS's on each partition and windows is really just used for games, so it doesn't really matter that much if everything shits its' pants and falls over.
Linux tends not to die so catastrophically unless you physically mangle the drive.
Well, I feel with JourneyMap 'borrowing' some of Zan's features (like an actual minimap) it's become the minimap most people should use. Have a look, extend your knowledge.
Zan's cave mode, mob radar etc. are still far far superior to that of JourneyMap. Also the vertical awareness is pretty much non existent with Journeymap IMO.
Don't get me wrong, JourneyMap is great, but I will most certainly be sticking to Zan's for my minimap and Journemap for my dynmap for the foreseeable future.