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Ram disk size. Speeding up Windows using a RAM disk

Optimizing Windows as a method of improving computer performance is usually inferior to hardware upgrades. A rare exception to this rule may be the use of a RAM disk - a virtual disk created by special software using RAM resources - and the transfer of certain system and program operations to this disk. Why are there rare exceptions? This method of improving computer performance has quite a lot of conventions and nuances. We'll talk about them in more detail below, but first a few words about the performance of the RAM disk.

1. RAM disk performance

One of the reasons for a slow computer is the limited reading and writing speed of HDD hard drives. Even the most productive hard drive, which impressed with test results for sequential reading and writing data, is unlikely to surprise with serious numbers when working selectively with small files. Namely, small files for the most part make up the system cache, the cache of browsers and other programs. A new format of drives – SSDs – is designed to solve the problem of low HDD performance. But not every user can handle their cost yet. SSD is today the only possible compromise between low-performance HDDs and ultra-fast RAM, but unable to permanently store data. A RAM disk created using the RAM resource can provide a speed of 400-600 MB/s, which only SSDs from good manufacturers are capable of under conditions of sequential reading and writing of data, when selectively working with small files. And the speed of sequential data reading and writing of a RAM disk is determined by thousands of MB/s.

Let's compare these results with the HDD.

As you can see, the read and write speed of the HDD is many times slower. The speed of sequential reading and writing of HDD data will be 150-170 MB/s at best. And based on the results of measuring the speed of selective reading and writing of small files, alas, we get a catastrophic figure - 0.5-1 MB/s.

2. Conventions and nuances of optimizing Windows using a RAM disk

The inability of RAM to store information is a nuance that limits the use of a RAM disk only for storing temporary data. Fortunately, this problem is solved through the functionality of separate programs for implementing RAM disks. Such programs provide periodic recording of RAM disk data to a file on the hard disk. But with other nuances it’s not so simple.

A RAM disk can only be created if there is excess RAM. If, when performing normal operations, the RAM load is 70-80%, there can be no talk of any extra space. The remaining 20-30% of RAM can be used for some one-time operations. You can work with a RAM disk with at least 40% of RAM free - a resource that is regularly idle and does not participate in the operation of the system. It is advisable to consider the possibility of working with a RAM disk provided that the system has at least 8 GB of RAM. If this volume is not designed to operate special software - hypervisors, complex professional software for working with video or 3D graphics, resource-intensive games, etc., the system can be left with 6 GB of RAM for its tasks, and the rest can be used for RAM -disk. In any case, excess RAM will be determined by the specifics of the tasks performed on the computer.

If both the hard drive and the processor are the weak point in the system, optimization using the RAM disk will not be of much use. RAM does not solve the problem of a low-power processor.

A RAM disk is a virtual device implemented by third-party software. Accordingly, in order to avoid problems in the operation of Windows, such software must be supported by developers and adapt to updates of operating system versions for which support is declared. Before testing programs that implement RAM disks, creating a rollback point or Windows backup, as well as preparing emergency media for system recovery are mandatory precautions.

Free programs for implementing a RAM disk usually do not support the function of saving data to the hard drive. If the implementation of a RAM disk requires both an increase in RAM and the purchase of a licensed program, it is advisable to compare these expenses with the cost of a 120 GB SSD.

Another important nuance is the red tape associated with creating a RAM disk and transferring data to it. In this regard, of course, the SSD will win - I bought the drive, connected it and forgot about the problems. Modern versions of Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 themselves know which operations they should disable when an SSD appears on board the computer. By the way, creating a RAM disk and transferring to it individual system and program folders in which data is being actively rewritten is considered by some not only as an optimizing operation, but also as a way to extend the life of the SSD. This method may be relevant in conditions of production-scale data rewriting or as a result of unsatisfactory results of assessing the remaining SSD resource. When using a computer at home, the SSD resource can last for many years. So, before diving into the red tape of setting up processes for the sake of extending the life of the SSD, it would not be superfluous to find out the approximate time remaining until the drive is exhausted. Such analysis can be carried out by special programs for testing the health of hard drives, in particular, Hard Disk Sentinel and SSD Life.

3. What data can be transferred to a RAM disk?

The easiest way to benefit from a RAM disk is to work with portable programs transferred to it. But based on the performance of the system as a whole and when working with installed programs, you will have to tinker with the settings.

Typically, RAM disks created without using the function of saving information to a file on the hard drive are used to store temporary data. By editing the values ​​of Windows environment variables, the RAM disk can be specified as the new location for the “Temp” system folders. A RAM disk can be a storage place for the cache of browsers and other programs that provide for its placement not only on the system drive C, but also in another location on the computer. To a RAM disk, implemented using programs that support the function of saving data to a file on the hard drive, for greater performance when surfing the web, you can transfer not only the browser cache, but also its entire profile. This is done using symbolic links. Using the same principle, the working data of other programs is transferred to the RAM disk. And especially sophisticated gamers purchase an extra 8 GB of RAM specifically for the RAM disk to fully install the game.

It is not recommended to transfer user profile folders, databases, project files of specialized programs and other important information to a RAM disk, even if implemented through programs with the function of saving data to a file on the hard disk.

4. Programs for implementing a RAM disk

A RAM disk can be created using programs such as: SoftPerfect RAM Disk, Radeon RAMDisk, Gilisoft RAMDisk, Primo Ramdisk, etc.

SoftPerfect RAM Disk is one of the easiest tools to install, configure and use.

After installing the application, you just need to select the “Add boot-mounted disk” option to specify the letter, size and format of the partition on your hard drive or SSD to which data from the RAM disk will be written.

Its size can vary depending on the amount of RAM available, as well as what percentage of it you are willing to allocate for use as an in-memory disk.

Most modern PCs have at least 4 GB of RAM, which makes them ideal for using SoftPerfect RAM Disk - in such a system you can safely allocate 20-25 percent of the available RAM.

SoftPerfect RAM Disk takes care of the rest, including the ability to create more than one virtual disk. After assigning a letter, the drive will appear in the Windows Explorer menu and you can use it like any other device in the system.

But how to benefit from such a disk? First of all, it can significantly speed up the loading of any program that uses temporary (cache) buffers - for example, Adobe Photoshop.

The same applies to any web browser - if you configure it so that it uses the RAM disk as a buffer cache, it will not only work faster, but will also not clog up your hard drive with unnecessary temporary files.

RAM disks are also useful if you want to extend the life of an SSD device. It is a known fact that after a certain number of rewrite cycles, solid-state drives “wear out” and stop working. So if you deal with applications that love to constantly access the disk device, redirect them to the created RAM disk - this will extend the life of the system SSD.

RAM drive, RAM disk (disk in memory), electronic disk - computer technology that allows you to store data in high-speed RAM as on a block device (disk). Can be implemented both in software and in hardware.

The idea of ​​using semiconductor memory as the main storage medium in a PC did not arise today. Its implementation is possible both as a separate device and as a virtual disk in RAM.

The effectiveness of this approach can be debated; there are different opinions: some talk about an increase in productivity by orders of magnitude, others deny the feasibility of RAM Disk in principle.

Having read some information on the Internet and tried using memory as a disk on my computer, conducting appropriate tests, my experiments and those of other users showed that with a sufficient amount of RAM, using a RAM Disk almost always has a positive effect.

The number of accesses to the hard drive decreases (the HDD resource increases), the execution speed of some applications increases, although not hundreds of times, as some promise.

For example, we need to work with photographs or a video file, we write it (them) to a disk in memory and work with these files at the speed and speed of the memory we have. True, there is a nuance: the memory must be commensurate with the files and the cache for processing them. And if the power suddenly goes out, all your work can be lost. So we use UPS or a laptop :)

Many browsers store a lot of all sorts of junk in databases that hardly use the computer’s memory, as a result, after a month of use, even typing an address becomes torture - the hard drive creaks, letters are typed in a second. All these problems are removed.

Main advantages:

# Extremely high access speed (up to several gigabytes per second);
# No delays during random access;
# Implementation without the use of additional hardware components;

Main disadvantages:

# Consumption of an extremely valuable resource (RAM);
# Small capacities (if there are 500-1000 GB hard drives on the market, RAM modules are calculated in units of gigabytes);
# Loss of content on shutdown (can be partially overcome by saving content to disk when shutting down, but the risk of losing information due to an unexpected power outage still exists);

Attention! I warn you - this article is for advanced users, there are many pitfalls! So everything you do, you do only at your own peril and risk.

So, the idea is simple. Make a RAMDisk (virtual “disk” in the computer’s memory) and force programs to store their work there.

1. Download one of the programs for creating a virtual disk in RAM - RAMDisk “\Enterprise\”. Among all similar products, RAMDisk “\Enterprise\” stands out, if only because the Russian version of RAMDisk “\Enterprise\” is distributed free of charge, and also has sufficient functionality and stability.

RAM Disk: http://ramdisk.nm.ru/ramdiskent -rus.htm

The software consists of a RAMDisk driver (RAMDriv.sys), an installer support library and property page (RAMDriv.dll) and an installation file (RAMDriv.inf), which together, through the “Hardware Setup” wizard, allow you to install RAMDisk on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Server 2003 and Vista.

For Windows 7 - go to Toolbar, System and Security, Device Manager. In the Action menu, select install old device. And manually point to the driver file.

In other systems, I think you will figure out how to install it yourself.

The settings are set through the RAMDisk properties in “\Device Properties\” through “\Device Manager\” Windows. New values ​​can be activated without rebooting.

Click configure operations with image file and create an image file.

To ensure that our data is not lost, check the “Save image when unloading driver” checkbox. Booting and shutting down the system will take a little longer, but for us the main thing is fast work.

If you work with photo or video data and don’t want to accidentally lose it, you can periodically dump the disk image onto a hard drive by selecting the appropriate option “Save the contents of RAMDISK in an image... etc.”

In principle, that's all. Check the box “Restart RAMDISK after clicking OK”, click “OK” and enjoy.

A virtual disk can also be used for its intended purpose (like a regular storage device - HDD), placing on it not only temporary and swap files, but also programs, user profiles, etc. There are publications with recommendations for using RAMDisk for storing temporary 1C files , one of Photoshop's "scratch disks", etc. Moreover, it is argued that productivity actually increases, although not significantly.

An interesting solution may be to use RAMDisk to improve system security, since data in RAM is destroyed when turned off. Naturally, in this case, the function of saving/recovering virtual disk images should be disabled.

Now a little about setting up Windows

It should be mentioned that the use of RAMDisk, depending on the tasks, may differ significantly, i.e. at the discretion of the user.

Eg:

To change system operating parameters using standard procedures:

Let's set the size and transfer the swap file to RAMDisk.

We will perform a similar procedure regarding the placement of “Temporary Internet files”

Speeding up Firefox.

Open the "Start" menu and click "Run...".

In the window that appears, type %appdata%\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\Profiles and press Enter. A window will open in which you will see a directory named “abracadabra.default”. This is your Firefox profile folder.

Open the "Start" menu and click "Run..."

In the window that appears, type %appdata%\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\profiles.ini and press “Enter”.

Notepad will open with the “profiles.ini” file loaded. Replace "Profiles/" in the "Path" variable with "Z:\\", where Z is the letter of your ramdisk.

Make sure the "IsRelative" value is zero.

StartWithLastProfile=1

Path=Z:\\ abracadabra.default

Launch firefox and enter about:config in the browser's address bar. We agree that we will be careful and end up on the firefoxa configuration page.

Right-click anywhere, select New -> String and set browser.cache.disk.parent_directory as the parameter name, and the path to the folder where the cache will be stored as the value. Z:\\ abracadabra.default

A few more settings:

// Cache and memory
user_pref(\”browser.cache.memory.enable\”, false); // memory cache becomes meaningless
user_pref(\”browser.cache.offline.enable\”, false); // why is this needed at all?
user_pref(\”browser.turbo.enabled\”, false); // for those who have it enabled, disable it. The parameter loads the Fox part into memory for quick startup. Now we have everything quickly and in memory
user_pref(\”config.trim_on_minimize\”, false); // also not necessary. The parameter resets Fox from memory to swap. It still doesn't work on Vista and 7

Close Firefox.

Copy the “abracadabra.default” folder to the ramdisk. If there are requests to replace files, answer in the affirmative.

Restart Firefox.

We also change the paths of the system variables %TMP% and %TEMP%

Control Panel (this is for windows 7), system and security, viewing the name of this computer, additional system settings, environment variables.

Change the system variables %TMP% and %TEMP% to the letter of your RAMDISKa Z:\\Temp:

The problem is that many programs, for example, WinRAR or installers, will unpack temporary files in R:\\TMP, and if this file has more than free space, then the unpacking will not complete, and the archive will not be unpacked.

Is it worth it?

For me - yes. The health of the hard drive and browsing speed are very important to me.

There are inconveniences, but they are minor (saving the state before rebooting, restoring it when you turn it on - of course - not for a novice user), and you have to periodically clear the cache (but this can be avoided by taking up more memory for the RAMDisk or by writing a script that will clear the cache itself).

That's all for now, if anyone has any additions, write, we will add them.

The article is taken from open sources. Original article: //whitebrotherhood.ru/whitebrotherhood/node/15

An awesome free computer program from a reliable and trusted manufacturer... of processors and video cards (AMD), called Radeon RAMDisk, will allow you to make an ultra-fast RAM disk in any computer that will work many, many times faster than your hard drive (HDD) and even SSD disk.

RAMDisk - fast disk in RAM

The scope of application of such a high-speed virtual disk is so wide that it makes your hair stand on end when you start to think about it. For example, I installed a portable browser on it and, as a result, my jaw hit the table painfully from the results of the experiment - it really began to fly like crazy.

But you can also “throw” system temporary files, programs or their profiles into it...

In fact, there are quite a few programs that can mount such disks in RAM, but I especially liked the one described in this article for its simplicity and clarity.

Operation speed

You will now understand everything without further ado - just by looking at the screenshots. So, here is the sad speed of my decrepit HDD drive...

...and this is the system SSD drive (more fun indicators)...



...but the speed of a drive created in RAM (hold on to your pants)...

I described the program for measuring the speed of disks and the methodology in the article at this link.

How?

Everything is very simple and understandable. Any RAM works on its own much faster than any disks, but add a multi-threaded high-speed data transfer bus with a pair of channels - and we get the results shown above.

Nuances and warnings

  • I strongly advise owners of at least 4GB of RAM to start thinking about speeding up their computer using RAMDisk. Otherwise, you will get the opposite effect. The program will cut off a noticeable piece of RAM needed for stable operation of the system.
  • Before transferring anything important and system-related to this virtual disk, make sure that you correctly and completely understand the transfer technology. Before experimenting, be sure to make system restore points and backups.
  • When you turn off the computer, our virtual disk also turns off, or rather, completely evaporates. Don't worry - if you configure the program correctly, all data from the disk is written to a real physical disk. When the system starts, they are again written to the automatically remounted RAMDisk.
  • In the event of a sudden power outage, the data will not have time to be written to the physical disk and will be completely lost somewhere among your loud curses at the electricians. That is why this method can be used completely painlessly only in laptops or computers with a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).
  • When using this computer acceleration technology, you will literally lose a couple of seconds when turning off the computer and the same amount when starting it up.
  • Simply “throwing” system or profile folders into this magic disk will not be correct. You also need to indicate to the system the correct new path to them.
  • Storing simple files (photos, videos, music...) in RAMDisk is extremely stupid, sorry. There are others for this dimensionless places.

As you can see, there are not only advantages, but also some disadvantages of using a RAM drive.

Why operating system manufacturers don’t use this feature and don’t give us convenient built-in tools for this remains a mystery. They may give birth in a few years, as with the adjustment monitor color temperature.

I dragged on a bit with the preface - You’re already afraid of impatience, and here I am blah blah blah...

Radeon RAMDisk

You can download this free miracle program from the link at the end of the article, but for now...

Program installation

For a couple of days I “tested” 2GB of RAM as an additional disk - I deleted it and made it 3GB with screenshots. I don’t play games, I practically don’t use programs that require computer resources, billion tabs I don’t keep them open at the same time - I think that the free (remaining) 5GB is quite enough for me for comfortable everyday work on a laptop.

Go…

If you leave a checkmark here, the disk creation program in RAM will start immediately. Perhaps when you first start, such an extortion window will appear - shoot it like a mad dog...

...and go to settings...

This is the first settings tab - here we set the size of the future disk (in the free version, this size is limited to 4GB for third-party memory and 6GB for proprietary AMD Radeon™ Memory.

“Create TEMP Directory” - check the box if you plan to store system temporary files here (I don’t recommend doing this yet, because additional steps are required, which I will describe in another article).

“Set Disk Label” is a required checkbox (we name our disk and assign an unallocated letter to it).

In the column “Image File to use For new Disk or to Load exiting image” we indicate the storage location of the drive image that is created when the computer is turned off (left as default).

If you check “Create a new disk” in the “Load Options” section, a new disk will always start when the computer starts. “Load the specified saved image” - will resurrect the image saved when the machine was turned off. And for it to be saved, you need to check the box “Save Disk Image at Shutdown” in the “Save Options” section.

Confused yet? It’s better to re-read it a couple of times, but do everything correctly - any mistake or inattention can cost you dearly. For those who don’t want to delve into it, just do everything as in my screenshots - I’ve tested this setting on a couple of computers several times already and everything works great.

The last settings tab remains...

“Manualy set RAMDisk timeout value” - delayed start when the system starts.

“Do not create backup file when saving disk image” - disables the creation of a disk backup if saving the disk to a file is enabled.

“Do not compress image file on NTFS filesystem”—do not compress the disk file if it is saved to a disk with the NTFS file system.

“Clear RAMDisk memory on exit” - clears the contents of the disk when shutting down.

“Do not start RAMDisk when Windows starts” - do not start when the system starts (manual start by clicking on the shortcut).

“Allow Image file to be saved in non System Drivers” - saving the image using third-party drivers.

Drum roll - click on the “Start RAMDisk” button and... agree to install the drivers...

...format the newly created virtual disk...

To configure programs so that they open and work with one click, the most common advice in this situation is to install a fast solid-state drive.

However, what to do if this is not possible. How to speed up Windows without investing financially in the form of purchasing additional components? How to boost the system without replacing the media? By the way, you can follow the optimal path: replace the old hard drive with a solid-state drive and at the same time use the tips from this article. This way you'll get the most out of both methods - and the fastest Windows possible.

Maximum system acceleration is achieved using the so-called RAM disk. Such an electronic drive is faster than any SSD because it acts as a virtual hard drive located entirely in RAM. Modern computers are often equipped with RAM of 8, 16 and even 32 GB. This way, there is always enough memory left over even for several RAM disks, which you can customize individually to suit your needs.

The AMD Radeon RAMDisk program will help you create such virtual turbo drives that will even receive their own drive letters from Windows. Thanks to this, the system will perceive them as completely normal disks, and you will be able to copy files there and create folders there. Unlike built-in SSDs, the RAM disk is accessible only when the system is running and the corresponding software is running. In addition, by default, all data stored on such a drive is destroyed when the computer is turned off, since the RAM is also turned off. However, such loss can be easily avoided by first copying the contents of the RAM disk to the HDD or USB drive, and then loading it back again the next time the system starts.

Installing AMD Radeon RAMDisk is very quick and easy: start the process by double-clicking on the “Radeon_RAMDisk 4.4.0.RC36.msi” file. When prompted by User Account Control, answer “Yes” and then agree to the license agreement.

After launching the program, it will analyze your hardware, in particular, from which manufacturer the video card is installed. If it is not AMD, then the utility will warn that the free
version, you can create a virtual disk of no more than 4 GB.

If you need more, you'll have to fork out for a full license. Select "No Thanks". Now you can start setting up the RAM disk.

Creating a simple RAM disk

The program interface is quite simple and contains all the necessary options for quickly configuring a virtual disk in RAM. The lack of localization of the menu may cause some difficulty, but even basic knowledge of the English language will be quite enough to understand the general logic of the software.

In the Settings tab, you will see the letter “Z” in the drop-down menu on the right. Here you can set any letter for your drive. Above in the “Basic Setting” section you can immediately specify the size of your virtual disk. The default is “40 Mb”, and below the warning is “Max 4092 Mb”. Set the value to “2046” and click the “Start RAMDisk” button.

If you use an SSD drive as the system drive, and an additional hard drive for data storage, then configure the program so that it writes backup files to the latter. To do this, go to the “Options” tab and check the “Allow Image files to be saved in non System Drives” checkbox.

Here you can also change some other standard parameters specified by the program by default. After starting the installation of the virtual disk, the program will display a window asking you to install additional software. Agree to this operation. Next, the program will automatically open Windows Explorer, where the still empty new virtual disk will be displayed. All files that you transfer to it will be located on the RAM disk, and after the first copying process they will open noticeably faster than usual.

However, do not forget that all information located on such a drive will be lost when the computer is turned off. RAM disks are great, for example, for quickly running portable programs that do not require installation, which you then want to completely delete along with all the data created, or speeding up individual applications.

Speed ​​up Firefox with RAM disk

A RAM disk is not just a fast intermediate storage for files that will later be deleted. First of all, it is suitable for speeding up frequently used programs such as Firefox.
This browser works with a local cache, which stores elements of previously found web pages, as well as downloads that have started. When you next visit the page, Firefox first checks to see if the saved data is up to date. If the result is positive, the browser downloads information from local memory rather than re-downloading it from the Internet. A RAM disk speeds up this process.

Since you have already created a virtual disk of 2046 GB in RAM, all that remains is to configure the Firefox browser to store the cache on the created disk. To be able to access cache files when you turn on or restart your computer, arrange to save the RAM disk image to your hard drive.

To do this, on the “Load/Save” tab, in the “Save Options” section, check the “Save Disc Image at Shutdown” checkbox. You can later load the saved disk image if the need arises.

Now open Firefox and enter “about:config” in the address bar. In response, the advanced browser settings will open. Agree to the risks when prompted for security and right-click the empty box in the window. Select New from the context menu and then Row. For the name, enter “browser.cache.disk.parent_directory”. Click on “OK”, and then specify the letter that was previously assigned to the RAM disk - in our case it is “Z:\”.

Click on "OK" again. After restarting the browser, Firefox will use a fast RAM disk for its cache.

RAM disk for Windows temporary files

Another useful scenario for using a RAM disk is to store temporary operating system files on it. For this purpose, you can also use the virtual drive we created earlier.

By default, the AMD Radeon RAMDisk program starts with Windows, and the RAM disk is installed automatically.

In order for temporary files to be written specifically to the temporary virtual disk, you need to change the Windows environment variables. The principle of operation under Windows 7, 8/8.1 and 10 is the same: press the key combination “Win+Pause” and click on the line “Advanced system settings”.

On the "Advanced" tab, click on the "Environment Variables" button. Select the "TEMP" variable and click on the "Edit" button. Specify the path to your RAM disk, in our case “Z:\”. Repeat the procedure for the "TMP" variable.

Confirm the changes by clicking “OK” twice. Now temporary files will always be on a fast RAM disk, and when you turn off the computer, they will be automatically deleted

Using RAM disks is a simple but extremely effective way to overclock Windows. However, you can not stop there and further restore order to the system by clearing it of junk and unnecessary files. One of the best and most popular cleaning products for Windows is considered.

Not all personal computer users know that you can create a virtual partition in RAM and store temporary files in it. This unusual storage medium is called RAM Disk and allows you not only to increase overall system performance, but also to speed up the operation of individual applications. Moreover, the virtual disk has other advantages that allow it to stand out even against the background of SSDs.

From this article you will learn what results can be achieved by allocating just a small part of RAM for RAM Disk. In addition, programs that allow you to create virtual partitions in just a few clicks will be discussed here. But first, a little excursion into the past.

A little history

Surprisingly, RAM Disk is far from a new technology. They were used back in the days of MS-DOS and allowed you to use a computer without a hard drive. It was enough to create a small virtual partition in RAM, throw files into it from external media and work with them calmly. Then, when it was time to turn off the computer, the information was copied to a floppy disk and stored there.

Thanks to such a simple manipulation, it was possible to increase the speed of operations several times. In addition, floppy disks, when using a virtual partition, were needed only as temporary storage of information, which made it possible to significantly extend their service life. In principle, all these advantages are still relevant today, but with some changes.

Performance boost

Of course, now no one will use RAM Disk as a replacement for a regular hard drive or SSD. And the point here is solely that modern programs, and even more so games stored on your hard drive, simply will not fit entirely into RAM. However, no one is stopping you from transferring individual files to virtual media by selecting those that are accessed most often by a particular application.

In this case, several nuances should be taken into account, otherwise, by making a RAM disk on your computer, you will not increase performance, but, on the contrary, will worsen it. Here's what we're talking about:

  • Allocate part of your RAM to the RAM Disk only if you have at least 6 GB of RAM left (for gaming PCs, it is recommended to leave at least 8 GB of RAM).
  • Transfer to the virtual partition only those files that the application accesses very often.
  • Do not try to put important system files or drivers on the RAM Disk. This can disrupt the operation of the operating system.

Also, do not forget that when you turn off or restart your computer, all information stored in the virtual partition will be moved to the hard drive. If your power goes out unexpectedly, you may lose important data.

SSD durability

Another reason why people are increasingly starting to use RAM disks is the desire to extend the life of SSDs. The fact is that the less often files are read from a solid-state drive, the less likely it is that it will fail. But RAM has a much larger safety margin, so it is logical to transfer the most active programs that constantly process any data to it.

As an example, consider Internet browsers. These applications constantly move various files into the cache and then retrieve them from there as needed. Because of this, the disk, be it an SSD or HDD, is constantly under load and its service life is reduced. If you transfer the browser cache to a RAM disk, the entire load will fall on the RAM, which is not so dangerous.

Softperfect RAM Disk

Virtual media has also become widespread because of its ease of use. Almost any user, even without any special skills, can download a special application and use it to create a RAM Disk. Therefore, below we will consider the most popular programs that allow you to do just this. And the first of them is Softperfect RAM Disk.

The application allows you to create several virtual disks at the same time, and also displays the current value of free RAM. In addition, the program has a function for automatically saving files from RAM Disk to the hard drive after turning off the computer. Unfortunately, you can only use the application for free for 30 days. After this, you will have to buy a key for Softperfect RAM disk from the developers. Using it, you activate the utility and can use it without restrictions.

Dataram RAM Disk

Perhaps one of the best programs for modern operating systems. It allows you to create a RAM Disk for Win 10, but is nevertheless suitable for older versions of Windows. The application has a simple and intuitive interface, as well as the ability to set automatic saving of information stored on virtual media. For example, you can set the program to flush data to your hard drive every 30 minutes, so you don't have to worry about losing it.

Unfortunately, the free version of the utility only allows you to create virtual media up to 4 GB. To remove this limitation, you will have to purchase a key from the Dataram RAM Disk developers. Another disadvantage of the free version of the program is the advertising banner that periodically appears on the screen. However, no one is stopping you from downloading a “cracked” RAM Disk from Dataram and getting rid of the above problems.

ImDisk

The main difference between ImDisk and its closest competitors is that this program allows you to create not only disks in RAM, but also virtual CD drives for reading images. This allows you to use one utility instead of several.

There is, however, a negative point that emerged due to the versatility of the program. ImDisk's interface is quite confusing, so it will take you some time to figure it out. However, once you get the hang of it, you will find that the application allows you to create an unlimited number of virtual media.

It's also worth mentioning that ImDisk is a free program. Simply put, you don’t have to shell out a round sum of money to use it or rummage through specialized forums looking for a “crack”.

Creating a RAM disk

And now it’s time to move from theory to practice and figure out how to create virtual partitions using the example of the “cracked” Softperfect RAM Disk. This operation looks like this:

  • Launch the program and click on the big green plus in its main menu.
  • Indicate in the appropriate field the size that you are going to allocate for RAM Disk.
  • Check the "Like a removable disk" option. In this case, Windows will not create unnecessary system files such as the Recycle Bin on the virtual disk.
  • Select the file system format of your RAM Disk. It is recommended to specify NTFS.
  • Click "OK".

After this, the virtual disk will be created and you can safely use it. By the way, in other programs this operation is performed almost similarly, so, as you can see, there is nothing complicated about it.

What should be transferred to the RAM disk

And finally, let’s consider which files and folders should be transferred to a virtual partition to speed up the operation of the operating system and individual applications:

  • Browser cache. This is especially true for the Google Chrome Internet browser and other utilities based on the Chromium engine.
  • Folders "TEMP" and "TMP". Windows stores various temporary files in them, so the faster they are loaded from disk, the faster your operating system will start to work.
  • All kinds of files of textures, models and other objects in those games where this is supported. Thanks to this, you will significantly reduce the time required, for example, to load levels or transition between locations.

You can also place individual programs that you use very often on virtual media. Try this and you'll be surprised how much faster they start working.