The "Macintosh HD" name

[blindowl]

Hi,

anyone know when "Macintosh HD" started to be used as the default HD name on Macintoshes? Incorrectly, I remembered that it always was called so. But after browsing through my Macintosh Classic's manual, I was reminded that when it was new (System 6.0.7), the drive was actually called "Hard Disk" ("Hårddisk" on my Swedish Classic).

In this System 7 video, the disk is still called "Hard Disk": https://archive.org/details/System7PresentationsTrainingVideoAppleComputerInc1991

In this User's Guide from 1993, both "Hard Disk" and "Macintosh HD" are used: https://archive.org/details/mac_Macintosh_Users_Guide_for_desktop_Macintosh_computers_1993/page/n165/mode/2up

But the System 7.5 Upgrade Guide says "Macintosh HD" on all images.

Anyone knows?

 

[PB170]

Hej

Interesting question I only remember seeing the name Macintosh HD (Mac user since circa 1991)

Here's a photo of a product brochure from 1992 that I have. Apparently PowerBook HD was also an option

Unfortunately, I don't have anything older than that so I'm unable to answer your question, but at least one more clue to add to your research

 

[NJRoadfan]

The "System Software 6.0 User's Guide" just has a hard drive named "Macintosh".

 

[blindowl]

Thanks for your replies! It's very confusing...   

On the cover of The "System Software 6.0 User's Guide" the name is "Macintosh". Inside it's called "HD20" on all screenshots. Maybe they started using the name "Hard Disk" when internal disks became more common? The "Apple Macintosh Hard Disk 20" manual calls it "Hard Disk 20" on every image.

From what I can tell, "Macintosh HD" was not yet introduced in System 7.0, but it was there in Mac OS 7.5. So somewhere around 7.1-7.5 it seems.

To add to the confusion, I also have two Performa manuals, one that came with a Performa 460 (System 7.1), and one with a Performa 6400 (Mac OS 7.5.3), both stills calls the drive "Hårddisk" (Swedish) on every screenshot... But that might just be the translation, and not reflecting the real default name.

 

[blindowl]

Now that I'm thinking about it... did the computers back then come with the system software pre-installed? Maybe there really was no default name on the disk, you chose it yourself when you installed the system software. I got my first Classic in 1991, but I can't remember if it came pre-installed.

But somewhere along the road, the computers came with System Software/Mac OS pre-installed, and somewhere they started calling the disk "Macintosh HD". So the question remains.

 

[Crutch]

Well, here’s an interesting piece of evidence. This eBay listing claims to be an SE/30 that was never unwrapped or used except to test it for the listing. The screen shot appears to show some flavor of System 6 with an internal HD called “Macintosh HD”. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324147609620

 

[blindowl]

Yes, that's definitely interesting! And even more confusing, if legit.

Now I'm reading in the 1990 "Macintosh Reference" manual:

System software already installed: If you purchased a Macintosh model with an internal hard disk drive, the system - software was probably already installed at the factory. You'll recognize a ready-to-run Macintosh when you turn it on; after a few seconds you'll see a "happy Macintosh" icon, then the desktop will appear on the screen, with icons for the hard disk and the Trash.

So at least that clears the question if the system software could be pre-installed or not.

Maybe there was no definitive transition. Or maybe it was always called "Macintosh HD"... But then, why would they name it "Hard Disk" in manuals, instruction videos and System 7 Basics Demos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ScS4OYDfHE&t=2s)...

 

[cheesestraws]

So somewhere around 7.1-7.5 it seems.

Data point for you: when I was a kid, our new UK Colour Classic with 7.1 on it came from the factory with the HDD called Macintosh HD.  I remember distinctly thinking that it was an odd name.

 

[blindowl]

Data point for you: when I was a kid, our new UK Colour Classic with 7.1 on it came from the factory with the HDD called Macintosh HD.  I remember distinctly thinking that it was an odd name.

So then it's between 7.0-7.1 somewhere.

But maybe it's more down to a specific time period, not a specific OS version. I got my Classic in April '91, and I'm relatively sure the disk was called "Hard Disk" ("Hårddisk"). It came with 6.0.7. The SE/30 in @Crutch's post is assembled in August '91, with the drive called "Macintosh HD". And it's also running an older 6.0.x version. And @PB170 remembers only seeing "Macintosh HD", also from around 1991.

So maybe mid-1991. But I'm only guessing.

 

[Franklinstein]

Hard to say from my experience. I've only ever had one Mac new out of the box (iBook G4 1.42) and it was so long ago I don't remember what it had from new. Normally when I acquire a Mac with a hard drive, it's named one of three things: Untitled, a descriptive name (Duo Disk, Ken's, Media Lab, etc), or Macintosh HD. Very rarely will it be a variant of Macintosh HD (Mac HD, Mac Disk, etc). Sometimes it's PowerBook HD, and some clones will have a different name (PIONEER, or Starmax HD, etc), but it's hard to say if those were their original names or user modified.

Formatting a disk in System 6 asks you to "please name this disk" and all System 7 and later versions of Apple's Drive Setup generally default to Untitled so you'd have to manually set it to Macintosh HD after a format; it's not automatic by either a disk utility or System software installers. One outlier is that older versions of LaCie's SilverLining usually names a disk to whatever model it is (SE Internal 40, Cirrus 80, Pocket 120, etc) if you don't set it yourself.

Typically, my disk naming convention is Macintosh HD or sometimes PowerBook HD. If a machine has multiple partitions or disks, one is usually Macintosh HD and the others are semi-descriptive (most commonly it's just the one extra partition, called Stuff). If it's a late-model PPC with both OS 9 and X partitions, one is Drive 9 and the other is Drive X (and often there's a third called Stuff if the drive is >100GB, otherwise the OS X partition is bigger and all of the common files reside on it).

Anyway System 7 was the first version of Mac OS that was installed on a hard drive more often than not, so I'd say it started no later than 7.0's introduction and was fully entrenched by 7.1.2 when the first Power Macs shipped.

 

[cheesestraws]

But maybe it's more down to a specific time period, not a specific OS version

Geography/localisation may also play a part in it, as may model, since the disk name is presumably a property of the "vanilla image" for any given model sold in any given location.  For example, the CC I spoke of came with a System Enabler as part of its normal image, which would not have been there on other 7.1 machines.  I'll go and dig out my manuals later and see what they say...

 

[PB170]

To, well, further add to the research , I digged out and skimmed through all of my Mac related material, and here's the result:

Claris Works manual (Swedish, 1990):



Macromedia Director 3.0 manual (English, 1991):



Macintosh Performa manual (Swedish, 1992):



PC Exchange manual (Swedish, 1992):



Japanese Language Kit (English/Japanese, 1993):



PowerCD manual (Swedish, 1993):



System 7 Pro / PowerTalk / AppleScript manuals (Swedish, 1993)



LaserWriter 4/600 PS manual (English, 1995):

 

[dougg3]

Here's what a Performa 550 looks like after restored from its corresponding software restore CD (the "Hard Disk" name is assigned by the Restore All Software program):

 

[cheesestraws]

Here's what a Performa 550 looks like after restored from its corresponding software restore CD (the "Hard Disk" name is assigned by the Restore All Software program):

... in English, at least, it's not a Performa vs. anything else distinction is it?

 

[blindowl]

To, well, further add to the research , I digged out and skimmed through all of my Mac related material, and here's the result:

Bra grävt!  I wonder if they continued to use "Hårddisk" in Swedish, even after the switch to "Macintosh HD" in English? At least in the manuals. Maybe old habits.

Also, if you check the 1992 Performa manual, it looks like names have been cut and paste into place. The margins looks weird around all names. I guess they translated all screenshots by hand in that specific manual? So we don't know if "Hårddisk" was the actual name, or just made by the translator.

 

 

[blindowl]

Here's what a Performa 550 looks like after restored from its corresponding software restore CD (the "Hard Disk" name is assigned by the Restore All Software program):

Good find! What OS version is that, 7.1-something?

 

[dougg3]

Good find! What OS version is that, 7.1-something?

It's 7.1P6. I actually used the restore CD to set it up. If you dump an ISO of the restore CD and look at it in a hex editor, you can see all kinds of references to the "Hard Disk" name in file paths too.

 

[LaPorta]

Geography/localisation may also play a part in it, as may model, since the disk name is presumably a property of the "vanilla image" for any given model sold in any given location.  For example, the CC I spoke of came with a System Enabler as part of its normal image, which would not have been there on other 7.1 machines.  I'll go and dig out my manuals later and see what they say...

Indeed...just as "localization" may as well

 

[LaPorta]

Here's what a Performa 550 looks like after restored from its corresponding software restore CD (the "Hard Disk" name is assigned by the Restore All Software program):

While interesting as well, the restorer could have had a different name assigned. Different people made different things.