RAM Disk window will not open, ramdisk.exe crashes in dgapi64.dll (Digital Guardian)
4 posts
I have SP RAMDisk (was 26.4, just updated to 26.7) installed on a Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows 11; this is on a work laptop, managed by the company IT dept. It's been working fine for a while, but today I noticed that the config app icon was no longer running in the Notification area. I tried to manually launch it (normally, then Run as Admin) from the Start Menu but couldn't get it to appear. I rebooted, no diff. I installed the 26.7 update & rebooted, no diff. Plenty of free RAM, plenty of free SSD space. Purchased & authenticated install (5x-pack, not all used).
I see I still have my working RAM Disk (R: drive) along with the custom auto-created folders (browsers caches, Windows temp folders, etc.) I had previously set up. I see the Windows Temp folder redirect I had previously set up.
TEMP=R:\Windows\wintemp TMP=R:\Windows\wintmp
I checked the Windows logs and found the below.
It's certainly possible that a new company-installed security update is interfering with the program (preventing app launch), but the generic crashing message/log doesn't point me in a direction. I'm not getting any security popup when I try to launch the SP RAM Disk app from the Start Menu. I am able to launch the RAM Disk Console from the Start Menu.
I could manually revert the TEMP & TMP directories (Env settings) and uninstall the program, but I'd prefer to keep using it. But it concerns me that I've lost control since I can no longer launch the app to change settings etc.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Andrew
Windows app log (found error message for the program):
Faulting application name: ramdisk.exe, version: 26.7.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000 Faulting module name: dgapi64.dll, version: 10.1.0.36, time stamp: 0x68f6341f Exception code: 0xc0000005 Fault offset: 0x000000000003ed0c Faulting process id: 0x8140 Faulting application start time: 0x1DD1E544C7364CC Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\SoftPerfect RAM Disk\ramdisk.exe Faulting module path: c:\windows\system32\dgapi64.dll Report Id: 0376eb71-6f0f-41ab-ab33-b47ed68aa8e5 Faulting package full name: Faulting package-relative application ID:
Log Name: Application Source: Application Error Date: 7/27/2026 10:42:39 PM Event ID: 1000 Task Category: Application Crashing Events Level: Error Keywords: Description: Faulting application name: ramdisk.exe, version: 26.7.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000 Faulting module name: ramdisk.exe, version: 26.7.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000 Exception code: 0xc0000005 Fault offset: 0x00000000000f6418 Faulting process id: 0x1CD4 Faulting application start time: 0x1DD1E53E65DEE93 Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\SoftPerfect RAM Disk\ramdisk.exe Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\SoftPerfect RAM Disk\ramdisk.exe Report Id: 7cb3d348-a723-466b-8f2e-28fcedf32760 Faulting package full name: Faulting package-relative application ID:
The crash is in dgapi64.dll, which is Digital Guardian, a Data Loss Prevention agent that your company's IT department manages. Your RAM disk and its data are not at risk.
Digital Guardian works by injecting itself into running applications to monitor them, and here its injected code crashes inside our GUI process, ramdisk.exe, the moment it starts. That's why the crash reports point at both dgapi64.dll and ramdisk.exe: it's the same crash, because an injected hook that faults takes the host process down with it. It's also why the RAM Disk Console still works, as Digital Guardian injects into the interactive GUI app and not the console.
It also explains why this started "today" regardless of your 26.4 to 26.7 update. The Digital Guardian module on your machine is dated October 2025, so your IT department most likely just pushed a DG update that our app doesn't get on with. Updating our app can't fix a crash that starts in their injected DLL.
Your R: drive, the auto-created folders and the TEMP/TMP redirects are all intact. They're served by our kernel driver, which isn't affected at all, so you haven't lost any data, only the ability to open the settings window.
The real fix is for your IT or security team to add C:\Program Files\SoftPerfect RAM Disk\ramdisk.exe to Digital Guardian's process injection exclusion or allow list. That's a standard DG setting and resolves exactly this kind of crash.
Meanwhile you can still manage your disks from RAM Disk Console in the Start menu, which opens a command prompt for ramdiskctl, so you're not locked out. If you ever need to change or revert TEMP and TMP, you can do that in System Properties → Environment Variables without our GUI at all.
You could also try our newer product, RAM File System. It's generally faster than RAM Disk, and its GUI is built on a different software stack, so there's a good chance Digital Guardian won't crash it the way it crashes the RAM Disk app. See the RAM File System page and how it compares to RAM Disk.
Thank you for the fast, efficient reply, as always.
After I submitted the support request last night, I read through the log in more detail and found the same dgapi64.dll => Digital Guardian you called out below. And deduced it was the issue you IDed.
After I read your email this morning, I did install FS on the problem Win11 machine (I had to know :-)) and its GUI starts up OK, for now. I don't know if I'll use it or not--I may run into the same IT-pain problem again when they update their security software the next time.
I also uninstalled RAMDisk from that machine (first fixed Windows TEMPs and browser cache redirects; couldn't use the GUI to dismount etc., so I had to do a brute-force install) to avoid problems and due to the blocked GUI.
Unfortunately, the IT department where I work is Mordac, and I can count on not getting support/help from them. Especially for something I installed myself (for performance and reduced wear & tear) that's "not approved" by IT and layers of management. If I asked them to add a SP RAMDisk exception, I'd get laughed at or have an IT-email sent to my boss. They've made me uninstall self-purchased software (WinRAR, ActivePERL, Acrobat Pro) previously when it got flagged by a background scan :-(. But I continue to fight the battles so I can get my work done...
I did install FS on one of my home Win10 PCs to test, leaving the old RAMDisk in place but moving my browser & temp files to the new FS mount (64G on that machine so two RAMDisks aren't a problem). It's working fine so far.
As far as the license, I decided to buy a new 5-pack unlimited-upgrades for RAM FS. I have the older RAMDisk installed on a few machines at home and I'm going to leave those alone for now. I don't know if I'll need to install a Linux or Mac version in the near future (I've been thinking about buying a new laptop, but with Linux instead of Windows) but having both apps available gives me the option. More importantly, if people don't support good small software developers such as you/SoftPerfect, we won't have them, and the small price of buying a new license for this new product is well worth it.
Regards,
Andrew
Thanks for the feedback, and for your kind words about supporting small software developers. I really appreciate it.
RAM Disk already runs on macOS and Linux, and so does RAM File System now: macOS from version 26.9 and Linux from 26.10. Whichever way you go with the next laptop, both will be there to try.