Cache

On my computers I try to keep my data on its own partition, well away from program files and other stuff that gets (re-) created anyway when I install a new OS. Separation of data from all the other stuff is an old principle and makes it possible to just delete the OS partition whenever you feel like it without giving the safety of your precious data too much thought.

I just had the “pleasure” of having to copy the contents of a terabyte USB disk to another similar USB drive. At first, I did not give this simple task much thought. I plugged the USB cables in and made my faithful Total Commander do the work. It did not take me long, though, to notice a strange phenomenon: the copy speed would oscillate between 8 and 24 MB/s.