Resizing a disk

RAM Disk allows you to expand a mounted disk without unmounting it. This is useful when you need more space but don't want to lose the current contents or disrupt running applications.

How to resize

To resize a mounted RAM disk:

1. Right-click the disk in the main window and select Resize.
2. Enter a new, larger size.
3. Click OK to apply the change.

The disk will be expanded immediately while remaining mounted and accessible.

To resize a mounted image file without an associated RAM disk, go to Image – Mounted Images and click Resize.

How it works

The resize operation works differently depending on how the RAM disk is configured:

Volatile RAM disks (no image file):

• For statically allocated disks, additional physical memory is allocated immediately.
• For dynamically allocated disks, only the maximum size is updated. Memory is allocated on-demand as data is written to the new space.

Image-backed RAM disks:

• The backing image file on disk is extended to the new size.
• For statically allocated disks, additional memory is allocated immediately for the expanded area.
• For dynamically allocated disks, only the maximum size is updated. Memory is allocated on-demand as needed.

Mounted image files:

• The image file on disk is extended directly.

In all cases, the NTFS file system is extended to fill the new space and all existing contents remain intact.

Limitations

• Expand only: You can make a disk larger, but not smaller.
• NTFS required: Live resize requires the NTFS file system.

Why not shrink?

While shrinking is technically possible, it is difficult to implement correctly and largely unnecessary. If you need to reduce memory or disk space usage, use dynamic allocation instead. Deleting files automatically releases memory via TRIM, and for image-backed disks, creates sparse holes (unallocated regions that take no space on disk) in the image file.

Resize and dynamic allocation

Resize and dynamic allocation serve different purposes and can be used together:

• Resize increases the maximum capacity of the disk.
• Dynamic allocation manages memory usage within that capacity, allocating and releasing memory as files are written and deleted.

For example, you might create a dynamically allocated 8 GB RAM disk that initially uses only a few megabytes. If you later need more than 8 GB, you can resize it to 16 GB without losing data or restarting applications.