built-in ramdisk for winxp

[koawmfot]

in sp2 there is an inf and corresponding sys file for a ramdisk, ramdisk.inf and ramdisk.sys. this does not appear to be the same as the ramdisk from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257405, as the version is different and the inf configures a different sub-set of keys/values under the service. i can get the driver installed (on WinFLP it is installed by default). i just cannot get an actual drive to use it, and i have tried the settings in the above KB article.

the xp driver can be installed using devcon.exe.

devcon install ramdisk.inf Ramdisk

does anyone have any experience using this built-in xp ramdisk? i have already read a million pages about 3rd party ramdisks and such, but since this is included in a WinFLP install, i would like to make use of it for cache redirection and such for a VDI template.

i also checked and vista has the same (similar) inf and sys files, and checking the registry properties of a running Vista PE environment, i can not see anything that tells the system to assign X: to the ramdisk.

so, how do i assign a drive letter and set the disk size?

[RJM]

Do you mean like this? It's only good to 32Mb.

http://www.picobay.com/projects/2006/06/ho...disk-drive.html

[koawmfot]

That link is the same stuff that the KB article references.

i am asking about the XP version of those files included in SP2, but there is no documentation on how to use them, or if it is even possible to. The 32MB limit is one of the things i am hoping is not present in the XPSP2 version of the SYS file.

[jaclaz]

The XP SP2 RAMDISK.SYS (which should be the same as Server2003) is however limited to 512 Mbytes.

Question is WHY you want to use exactly that ramdisk?

I mean, there are freeware ones, most notably IMDISK:

http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=59

that have more options, a CPL applet, or are however better configurable, like the Gavotte one that supports up to 2, 3 or 4 Gb.

A list can be found here:

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=1507

jaclaz

[koawmfot]

The XP SP2 RAMDISK.SYS (which should be the same as Server2003) is however limited to 512 Mbytes.

Question is WHY you want to use exactly that ramdisk?

The why is that in WinFLP there is an XP ramdisk driver installed by default. We are setting up WinFLP for a VDI environment want to put the cache and temp into ram so that nothing is really captured on the systems. If all it takes is a couple of registry entries, i can have them imported before the system even makes it's first boot without having to install anything extra. I guess i would like to take adavantage of what is already provided.

Since you know the sp2/2k3 ramdisk size is 512 max, maybe you know how to configure it as well so that i can set the size and drive letter? Like I said, the parameters in the KB257405 do not have any effect, and i have not been able to find any information anywhere.

[Nuno Brito]

Imdisk is a really outstanding tool in terms of simplicity and power.

I was also MS ramdisk user until I tested it for the first time - no more 500Mb limitations, nice options to write directly to images on disk, can be started early on the boot process, disks can be dynamically resized or allow loading multiple images at the same time and all configuration comes with a control panel applet or straight from command line if you wish.

Do try it at least once to see what I mean and you'll see why it is far better than the MS tool and shouldn't be ignored.

[koawmfot]

i will definetely try out ImDisk.

but both of you guys are telling me you have experience using the SP2 ramdisk... how do i configure it??

[Nuno Brito]

so, how do i assign a drive letter and set the disk size?

This value came as default from MS after XP SP1.

The only known way to change X: to some other driver letter with XP SP2 was discovered by MedEvil exactly a year ago: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1938 (doesn't work on CD drives thought)

i will definetely try out ImDisk.

but both of you guys are telling me you have experience using the SP2 ramdisk... how do i configure it??

You can configure it using WINNT.SIF and this is read once at boot time.

For all other uses - imdisk has no rival and Jaclaz already pointed to the main topic where all found ramdisks are mentioned: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=1507

For other MS ramdisk configurations, some info can be read from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257405