How could settings survive several disk reformatings and installs?

I'm running Fedora Core 4 on an 80 gig hard drive. The initial install created a logical volume (which I can't get my head around, but I digress). I decided to experiment with not using a logical volume, but with run-of-the-mill partitions and shrink the whole thing down to 40 gig, leaving 40 gig unallocated space that could be later formatted to Vfat or whatever.

So I wipe the drive, clean install of FC4, manual partition of the hard drive (eliminating all partitions, not just Linux partitions), etc., and can't get it to work after 3 or 4 attempts (clean install, eliminating all partitions and formatting each time), so I reinstall the way I had it originally, with the single 80 gig logical volume.

Here's the kicker: I had a password-protected screensaver on my old set-up of Fedora Core 4. I did nothing to create or start a screensaver at any time. After I reinstalled (with a complete reformatting, again) and went back to my original set-up, however, my screensaver came on and I found it had my password protection from my old install.

How is that possible? How can data (settings) survive a reformatting of the hard disk?

Moxieman

Perhaps this behaviour is default in the Fedora installation. If you installed the same distribution twice, it would behave the same way twice. Debian and Ubuntu installs enable the password protection on the screensaver by default.

Eh, I don't think so. I had had Fedora Core 4 on my system for several months without a screensaver and then put one on, and then added the password after that. I think that screensavers, especially with a password, are not a default setting for installing FC4. I'll look into it some more though.

BTW, screensaver password is not the same as login password.

Moxieman