How to Increase RAM Drive Size Beyond 32 MB

Print this articleRAM drives, or RAMDISK drives, allow you to run compatible applications completely within memory used to simulate a physical hard drive. This usually results in much faster application performance as read/write requests and data execution inside the RAMDISK drive does not suffer from speed bottlenecks introduced by a mechanical hard disk. Ramdrive.sys is a DOS system file that allowed users to run applications in a virtual memory device so they ran faster. However, Ramdrive.sys is not compatible with Windows, and has a 32MB memory usage limit, which limits its usefulness with many modern applications. Therefore, if you want to create a RAMDISK drive larger than 32MB, you must install a Windows-based RAM drive application.

Related Searches:Difficulty:ModerateInstructions 1

Download a Windows-based application that allows you to use physical system memory to create virtual RAMDisk drives on your computer. Programs such as AR Ram Disk, DataRam RamDisk Freeware Version and VSuite RamDisk Free Edition all allow you to create virtual memory hard drives larger than 32MB. Save the setup file to your computer.

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Click "Start," then "Computer." Open the folder in which you saved the RamDIsk application setup file. Double-click the setup file, and then follow the prompts to install the RAMDisk program on your PC. Restart the computer if prompted.

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Launch the RamDisk application on your PC. Click the "Settings" or "Drive Settings" tab. Enter the desired size of the RamDisk drive in megabytes in the "Disk Size" or "RAMDisk Size" box. Select the "FAT32 Partition" type unless you want to run older DOS-based application on the virtual drive; then, select the "FAT16 Partition" option. If the RAMDisk application has a "Boot Sector Settings" option, choose "Windows boot sector" for FAT32 partitions and "DOS boot sector" for FAT16 partitions.

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Click the "Load Options" or "Preferences" tab. Enable the "Load Image at Startup" or "Start RAMDisk at Startup" option if you want the program to create the virtual drive automatically when Windows starts.

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Enable the "Save RAMDisk Image on Close" or "Save Disk Image on Shutdown" option to save the contents of the RAMDisk drive to disk when you exit Windows. This is important if you plan to install an application on the RAMDisk drive. If you do not enable the option, then you must install the program to the RAMDisk drive every time you want to use it. If the RAMDisk drive application has an "Auto Save" function, enable it as well.

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Enter a label for the virtual drive in the "Disk Label" or "Disk Nickname" field. Click the "Start RAMDisk" or "Launch RAMDrive" button. The application creates a virtual hard drive in system RAM and adds a drive letter for the device in Windows Explorer. Use the drive as you would any other physical hard drive or USB storage device.

ReferencesJames O'Brien: MS DOS Commands -- Ramdrive.sysTechRepublic; How Do I Use a RAM Disk to Help Speed Up Disk-Intensive Applications?; Jack Wallen; Dec. 2010DataRAM: RAMDiskResourcesDataRAM: Download RAMDisk Freeware VersionCNET Downloads: VSuite Ramdisk Free EditionAR Soft: AR RAM Disk DownloadRead Next:

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