Never again

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:29 pm

Never again will I go without a ramdrive!!

I have gone without my ramdrive for a couple of months, and had my IE cache going to the HD. Was wondering why surfing was a bit hesitant.

Pages load instantly again. Downloads don't stall and make my mouse get the gitters any more either.

I didn't think having the IE cache going to ramdrive was all that much better, until I removed it for a couple of months.

WOW, what a difference.

I'm done

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:34 pm

Interest peaked. How can you set one up in XP Pro?

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:37 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Interest peaked. How can you set one up in XP Pro?

First install a ramdrive, then 'move' the IE cache to it.

There is a ramdrive from AR-Soft in my XPTools download.

Here

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:38 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Interest peaked. How can you set one up in XP Pro?

Jesus Burke...why don't you just slap the man in the face while you're at it!!!

Do a SG search for Norm and XPTools.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:40 pm

Originally posted by UOD
Jesus Burke...why don't you just slap the man in the face while you're at it!!!

Do a SG search for Norm and XPTools.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Well just ass! I've never partaken of the fount of Norm's tools. I shall now drink deeply...

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:41 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Interest peaked. How can you set one up in XP Pro?

not sound like a bad guy , but i could never get it to work in my xp pro with a ntfs file system.

if you do please let me know how it goes.

i have 18 days till i need to format my spare pc so i may try it with a fat 32.

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:42 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Well just ass! I've never partaken of the fount of Norm's tools. I shall now drink deeply...

I'm sure you will be quite pleased. There are numerous useful tools....have fun.

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:43 pm

Originally posted by the snake
not sound like a bad guy , but i could never get it to work in my xp pro with a ntfs file system.

if you do please let me know how it goes.

i have 18 days till i need to format my spare pc so i may try it with a fat 32.

Awww Snake, NTFS is the devil.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:44 pm

If anyone has trouble with the AR-Soft ramdrive, there is a download at MS for a ramdrive as well. The downside is that the MS RD is limited to 32MB.

Others have had no problem with NTFS and the AR-Soft ramdrive. Not sure why some have problems while others don't.

It is a mystery.

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 7:02 pm

Man...XP Tools is awesome!

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 7:07 pm

Holy crap! Web pages load like lightning now!!!

w00t!

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 7:09 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Man...XP Tools is awesome!

Now apologize to Norm or else ten gigs for you and NO COOKIES!!!!!

LOL!

Glad it worked for you....Norm is the man.....you now owe him your allegiance and deep gratitude.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 7:17 pm

Originally posted by Burke
Holy crap! Web pages load like lightning now!!!

w00t!

so are you on fat32 ??

i need to know

nightowl · Post by **nightowl** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:03 pm

ihave the arc soft ram drive with winXP pro corp with NTFS file system with no problems

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:05 pm

Originally posted by nightowl
ihave the arc soft ram drive with winXP pro corp with NTFS file system with no problems

well maybe then i am an idiot or something, will try it in a few days on the spare box.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:11 pm

I just got this from AR-Soft's website....
"Warning:
Use AR Soft RAM Disk at your own risk.
Using large amount of memory for the RAM Disk can cause problems with other drivers or programs.
Notes:

If you reboot your system all contents of the RAM Disk will be lost!
The theoretical maximum capacity of the RAM Disk is 2GB.
If driver fails to allocate the memory, the driver does not start. The driver writes an event record into the Event Log. Please look into the Event Viewer for more details of the error."

The problem may be interference from other devices when you try to allocate too much ram to the ramdrive.
How much is too much ? That probably depends on what else is on your particular system.

If memory serves me correctly, I ran a 100 MB ramdrive without any troubles.

Good luck

Needlefreak · Post by **Needlefreak** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:34 pm

What kind of problems did ya have Snake?? I just set up the RAM drive on my NTFS XP Pro box bout 15 minutes ago...What should I look for??

Norm:: So far this thing is loading fast as hell..Set mine at 200mb,will see if it causes any probs...Thx for the tip!!!

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:45 pm

i got errors on the start up, or something.
no big deal, maybe an issue with my raid-0 or too much memory i gave it, can't remeber but i gave it about 500mb when i had a gig of the stuff.

even when i uninstalled it every time i rebooted, which is maybe a week or 2 if i checked the event viewer it had something about "rammdrive failed to start".
also i could not do any disk cleanup, not sure if the same problems were related or maybe a problem from an overclock gone wrong.

Needlefreak · Post by **Needlefreak** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:46 pm

Thx...Will keep a lookout..

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:54 pm

Snake, your problem was most likely the size (500MB) Even though it is theoretically possible to go as high as 2GB. I tried a huge size once myself and it wouldn't load for me.

A few years ago I played around with lots of ramdrives. Try doing a benchmark, and see how fast it transfers data WOW

Also, I had the MS, and the AR-Soft ramdrives running at the same time. Moving 32 MB from the MS to the AR ramdrive was almost instant.

I knew from experience that having the IE cache go to it made for faster page loads, it was obvious. But I didn't really see the BIG difference until I went without one. There must be more to it that just a bit of latency while writing to a HD. The difference is just too great.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:00 pm

okay norm i would like to try it again, this time i have 512 mb of ram, how do i place my IE cache into it ?

going to try it on the spare pc for now.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:04 pm

First, install the RD, reboot and set the size to about 100 MB. Reboot

Then in IE properties (Tools Internet Options) >Settings>Move Folder A window will come up to select where to move it, and if your RD is working, it will be in the list.

PS While you are in IE Properties, change the IE Cache limit to a size less than your RD size. Reboot.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:07 pm

Don't use speedguide forums as a test of page load speed. SG forum isn't a good site for pages loading fast.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:43 pm

well i'll be dammed it worked this time, so what else can i put on to this drive, knowing that it may be lost if i have to reboot without warning, so i don't lose anything ?

thanks norm

i do not know what i did right this time but wahoo

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:46 pm

Do anything you can dream up, it works the same as any HD.

Other than it gets deleted on shutdown, or reboot.

You can always save what's on it, and put it back after a shutdown re: copy/paste

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:49 pm

Remember, keep in mind it isn't as big as the average HD. Always know how big it is, and what's already on it before adding any files to it.

If you install programs to it, they load real fast

C-S wanna be · Post by **C-S wanna be** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 11:03 pm

I tried it on Win2k, but when I try to use the drive, it says format it but it wont format, any ideas?

downhill · Post by **downhill** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 11:11 pm

Dang....I finally got it to work with NTFS also...

But I had to check emulate a local hard disc.....the ram disc mode dosn't work for me.....

By the way, them XP tools ROCK, Norm...thanks for putting the package together and sharing it with us.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 11:30 pm

Glad you got it working DH. It's a mystery to me why it works, and sometimes it doesn't for some of those who install it.

One of these days I'll get around to fixing all the spelling mistakes in XPTools, and add a few more things I've come across since I first made it. I keep a dir handy and keep putting new stuff in it for that day

BMED · Post by **BMED** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 12:45 am

Norm,

You would have thought that you had learned you lesson while in "Band Camp"...damn noobies!

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 1:02 am

nEwb, NeWb, n00b, noobie, nubes.

They're all the same lol

BMED · Post by **BMED** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 1:37 am

Originally posted by Norm
nEwb, NeWb, n00b, noobie, nubes.

They're all the same lol

knewbies...english mind boggle!

C-S wanna be · Post by **C-S wanna be** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 1:59 pm

I cant get this ramdrive to work right. I can get to it thru Z:\, but it wont show up thru my computer. Any ideas?

jeremyboycool · Post by **jeremyboycool** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 2:26 pm

Hey Norm I hope not your baby picuter

O well if the ugly duckling did I bet you did too.

NSFT RULES!!

Well...so does FAT32

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 3:34 pm

Hi Norm

What does it mean, in configuration, when it offers the option to "emulate a hard drive"?

It would place itself in the drive letters as another HDD, but anything that was stored to it would be lost at each power down?

You said ealier in this thread that it could be treated as a HDD within size and time limitations...sp what is the difference between having it run as a RAMdrive or having it emulate a HDD?

Thanks, hope you and your loved ones are doing well.

Paft · Post by **Paft** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 3:40 pm

Can you pull this off with Linux systems as well as Windows ones?

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 3:45 pm

Originally posted by Paft
Can you pull this off with Linux systems as well as Windows ones?

Does this help Paft?

add ramdisk=6144 to the boot options
then
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram count=12288
/sbin/mke2fs /dev/ram 6144
mount -t ext2 /dev/ram /mnt

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 3:46 pm

or

first create a ram drive using
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ram0 count=2048( 1Meg size )
then format it using your fs, for eg
mke2fs -m0 /dev/ram0
Then mount you ram drive on any directory say /rd using the command
mkdir /rd
mount /dev/ram0 /rd -o loop

Paft · Post by **Paft** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 6:30 pm

Thank you!!

Bouncer · Post by **Bouncer** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 6:57 pm

Sounds interesting. Optimal settings would be useful though.

How is yours set up?

Regards,
-Bouncer-