Two spaces where there should be one
I once worked, under contract, to help a company set up an IT department. Like a lot of other companies that existed before computers did, each department bought its own computers, and some set up LANs, while others set up peer-to-peer stuff, and others used sneakernet. This company brought in consultants to tell them they needed an integrated IT department & network, and the company hired a CIO who was a damn good one except for when he hired his idiot son because his demon seed couldn't hold down a job, not even as a used car salesman. (I met his other sons. Nice guys--they ran a pretty successful plumbing business.)
The CIO started building his IT department and when our contract expired, he let everyone from my company go except for me, because (humblebrag) I'm damn good at fixing hardware. I was still under contract through my old company, though. Important to this story: This was back in the DOS & Windows 3.1 / Netware days. Also, even though the CIO's numbskull son could barely breathe and walk at the same time, this dumbass treated me like a second-rate citizen. Honestly, a dirty dinner plate would have done a better job than this jackass.
The CIO was the only person with a laptop, and one day he gave it to his meathead son to fix because Windows stopped launching. This ignoramus had no clue what to do, so he gave it to me.
Hardware checked out. SCANDISK didn't show anything alarming. A few other tests told me nothing. I started scrolling through configuration files, just to see if I could get another idea.
Now, DOS and WIN 3.1 used a lot of configuration files. You might have heard of the DOS config.sys and autoexec.bat files; they set up the computer by loading drivers and any programs that might be needed down the road. 760
After that you launched Windows--either manually by a command-line command or by putting that command in your autoexec.
Windows also had a bunch of enormous text-based configuration files that loaded stuff for Windows and made it work, and for the life of me I canNOT remember what those files were called, or even their extensions. But I was scrolling through one of them just to buy time while hoping another idea would come up.
So I'm scrolling and scrolling, and I'm not sure my eyes were really focused on what was going past them but suddenly . . . whoa. Scroll back, and I put my cursor just . . . there.
There, where there were two spaces where there should only be one. I removed one of the spaces, saved the file, and damned if Windows didn't launch and purr like a kitten. It must have shown on my face, because <PERSON> said something to me, no doubt with a sneer. I turned the laptop toward him, with Windows up and running
"I'll take it to my dad," dipshit told me.
"No, you won't," I answered and I took it to the CIO. He asked me, first, why I brought it to him, and I told him. He shook his head ruefully, then asked me how I fixed it. I told him that, too.
"You're kidding me," he replied, reasonably, IMO.
I just answered, "Nope," and asked if he had anything else before I left.
I'd love to know how that second space got there.
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