Guide for switching between RAM Disk and RAM File System

Is there a guide for those moving from RAM Disk to RAM File System, and vice versa?

Also, can RAM File System use an image file created by RAM Disk?

The move between RAM Disk and RAM FS is pretty much just pointing things at a new volume letter.

Can RAM File System use a RAM Disk image?

No, and not the other way round either. The two formats have nothing in common:

• A RAM Disk .img is a copy of a virtual disk, with NTFS, exFAT or FAT32 formatted inside it. RAM Disk gives Windows a disk, and Windows' own file system does the rest.
• A RAM File System .rfs is our own format holding the files and folders directly. There is no virtual disk and no NTFS/FAT inside it — RAM FS is the file system, which is why it's faster and why there's no formatting step.

So RAM FS cannot open an .img, and RAM Disk cannot open an .rfs. However, your data can be easily moved over — simply mount both at the same time and copy the files across as you normally would.


Moving from RAM Disk to RAM File System

1. Keep RAM Disk installed for now and install RAM File System alongside it. They are separate products and run happily side-by-side.
2. Create a RAM FS volume on a different drive letter. For example, if RAM Disk has R:, give RAM FS S: for now. Choose the size. If you want the contents to survive a reboot, point it at a new .rfs image file; if it's only for temporary files, leave it volatile.
3. Copy your files from the old drive to the new one while both are mounted. You can skip this step if the old drive only held caches and temporary files.
4. Repoint anything that used the old letter — TMP and TEMP (or use Tools - Windows Temp Folder, which sets these for you), browser caches, build and scratch folders, and anything else you set up by hand.
5. Reboot and check that the volume comes back automatically and nothing complains about a missing path.
6. Run CrystalDiskMark on both. This is an optional step, simply to give you a good idea of what you are gaining. In our testing RAM File System came out ahead in every category, with the biggest gap on 4K random and on jobs with lots of small files, such as builds or unpacking archives. But in each particular setup the results can be different.
7. When you are completely satisfied with everything, remove the RAM Disk volume and uninstall RAM Disk if you no longer need it. To get the original letter back, change it in the RAM FS volume's properties — a mounted volume picks up the new letter at the next mount or reboot.

Moving from RAM File System to RAM Disk

Follow the above steps in reverse: install RAM Disk, create and format a disk on a spare letter, copy the files across with both mounted, repoint your settings, reboot, then remove the RAM FS volume.


Keep in mind:

• RAM FS isn't NTFS, so two NTFS extras are missing: alternate data streams (the "downloaded from the internet" marker) and the 8.3 short names. Everything else that programs normally need is there — permissions, hard links, junctions, sparse files, memory-mapped files, file locking and SMB sharing.
• Don't set both products to auto-mount to the same drive letter.

Thanks.

If one wants RAM File System to replace RAM Disk, using RAM Disk's drive letter would be much easier than updating all hard and symbolic links to a different drive letter.

I worked it out myself thankfully, and was happy to discover that I could stop RAM Disk loading at startup, rather than having to remove it. This was necessary, because one cannot alter the creation time of an existing disk.

One suggestion that I would make is, that given many will use one or the other, but not both, allow one to transfer a RAM Disk's licence to RAM File System licence for a 50% discount on a licence period of the same or a shorter period. In my case, that would mean that my RAM Disk lifetime licence would be cancelled, upon my paying 50% of the cost of a RAM File System lifetime licence. I guess SoftPerfect could adjust the discount amount to what they think is both fair and reasonable.

Finally, it's great that the last Saved (written to disk) time is always visible in RAM File System console. Please update RAM Disk to do the same, unless of course, it's already been implemented. I am still running v26.2.

Good point, and a fair one to add to the guide. You can keep the old letter — the two products store their auto-mount settings in the registry, one key per volume, and the drive letter is the name of that key. So it is just a rename, and it takes effect after a reboot.

For example, RAM Disk is on R:, and you have set up a RAM File System volume identically on S:. Close both consoles first, then open Registry Editor as administrator and rename two keys:

• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SPVVEngine\Options\Auto — rename R: to S:
• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ramfs\Parameters\Volumes — rename S to R

Then reboot. RAM File System comes up on R: and RAM Disk on S:, and your links keep working.

Mind the naming: RAM Disk includes the colon, RAM File System does not. A key named the other way round is ignored rather than reported as an error.

About the the licence: we already offer something similar. And it's better, because nothing has to be cancelled: existing RAM Disk customers get 50% off RAM File System and keep their RAM Disk licence as it is. We emailed the offer recently, so it should be in your inbox — worth checking the junk folder too. If it did not reach you, drop us a line with your RAM Disk license details and we will sort it out for you.

I got the email, but I'd rather buy a lifetime licence now, and be done with it, instead of buying a one year licence, and upgrading to a lifetime licence a year later.

I was surprised to find that disabling "Launch automatically at startup" causes the console to be closed (exited), instead of being minimised to the system tray, for both RAM Disk and RAM File System. Please change this behaviour, so that the console is always minimised to the system tray.

Also, I was surprised to find that disks were created after rebooting when "Launch automatically at startup" was disabled. I had to unmount the RAM disk to prevent it being created after rebooting. Is this behaviour correct? It would be helpful it there was an option to prevent a RAM disk from being created after a reboot, so one doesn't have to unmount it before shutting down.

The behaviour is all intentional, below is the explanation.

What "Launch automatically at startup" does:

This option is only about the console. It determines whether the GUI starts with Windows and sits in the tray. The volumes are created by the driver, which starts early in the boot process, so they come up either way. That is why your disks were still there after a reboot.

The console is usually not needed in everyday use. It is there for managing volumes, changing settings, and licensing notices, nothing more.

Closing behaviour follows from the same tick box. If it is ticked, you have told the software you want the console around, so closing just tucks it into the tray. If it is not ticked, it presumes you opened it to change something and are finished, so it closes properly instead of lingering in the tray.

How automatic mounting works:

No need to unmount before shutting down. If you do not want a volume created at boot, just change it in the volume's own settings:

• RAM Disk: Add/Edit Disk, under Mount Options set Creation to Manual
• RAM File System: untick Create automatically at startup

It stays configured, and you create it by hand when you want it.

How licensing/purchasing works:

As for the lifetime licence, you can buy it straight away. Use the link from the email and pick "Unlimited updates" from the drop-down on the purchase page. The default is "Updates for 1 year", but you can easily change it by selecting "Unlimited". The 50% comes off the whole total, so unlimited extension is half price too. Also worth knowing: the licence is perpetual either way. The drop-down only sets how long you get version updates, not how long the licence lasts. With the same version the same licence can be used forever.

Thanks for your comprehensive reply.

Regarding the console, it's also useful for monitoring RAM usage, though it would be more helpful if RAM Disk/File System usage and In Use usage was grouped together, with the Free space on the right of the usage display/graph.

Was the ability to change the Mount Option in RAM Disk a recent change, as if I correctly recall, that wasn't an option in version 26.2?

Regarding the Launch automatically at startup, I didn't realise that the console was only required to configure RAM disks. Perhaps, include a tooltip or note in the Settings box, that changing the Launch automatically at startup option does not enable or prevent RAM disks being created.

Thanks for clarifying the situation regarding licencing.

Thanks for the follow-ups.

The memory bar

We'd rather leave this one as it is, and the reason is the very thing you'd lose. The volume's usage is drawn as its own segment precisely so it can be told apart from everything else the system is using. If the two were grouped, you would see, say, 12 GB used with no way to know how much of that is the volume and how much is the rest of Windows - and that is the one question the display exists to answer. Watching the blue segment grow as a volume fills, independently of what the rest of the machine is doing, is the whole point of it.

Manual creation in RAM Disk

It was there in v26.2. The option was added in 25.12, so 26.2 has had it from the start. What did change in 26.2 is how it is presented: "At Logon" was dropped, so the Creation drop-down became simply At Startup or Manual, and the Creation column in the main list was replaced by an "M" flag against manual volumes. That is most likely what you are remembering - the column went, not the option. It is still in Add/Edit Disk under Mount Options.

The note about "Launch automatically at startup"

Agreed, that is a fair point and an easy one. We will add a note or tooltip to the Settings box in both products making it clear the setting concerns the UI only.

Quote

Andrew

If the two were grouped, you would see, say, 12 GB used with no way to know how much of that is the volume and how much is the rest of Windows

Sorry, I obviously wasn't clear about what I meant. I meant showing the "In Use" RAM segments (both RAM Disk/RAM File System usage and OS usage) next to each other, to the left of the free RAM segment (just moving the brown segment to the left of the green segment). Not making one single "In Use" segment, for the reason you mentioned.