Create a RAM Disk

Some of you probably remember when Windows 3.11/95 was around we had a virtual disk function, more widely known as Ramdrive. A simple command in the config.sys file (DEVICE=c:\windows\ramdrive.sys 8192 /E) allowed you to create a virtual disk, which I’m sure is now bringing back some memories ;-) Unfortunately it is not possible to install this virtual disk by using the config.sys, as it is no longer used in 32 bit Windows. Fortunately, there is a small program that is free (AR RAM Disk) that allows you to easily create this Ramdisk…

For those of you that don’t know what I am talking about, then don’t worry, I will explain in two words what it is. This space is a reserved area of your memory (RAM) that is used as a virtual drive. This will be seen under Windows as if it was a normal hard drive, as you can see below:

So, what would we want to use this disk for? The answer is simple, access time! Even the fastest disks available today are not actually able to rival the speed of your memory in terms of access time, with the difference being about 1000 times between the two! The access to the files that are located on this disk will be greatly increased, which can then be taken advantage of for your needs. The one thing that you shouldn’t forget though is that if you turn   your computer off, anything that is stored on this drive will be lost. So enough of the talk, let’s see how this can be done 

• Download the AR RamDisk tool (it’s a ZIP file)
• Unzip the ZIP file with your normal program.
• Double click on the unzipped file: setup.exe to start the installation.

Follow these instructions:

a. Click Next	b. Click Accept

c. Click Install (keep the default options)	d. Click Finish (keep the default options)