RAM Drive with Windows ME

This product claims that it works with Windows ME

http://www.cenatek.com/product_ramdisk.cfm

(There are no spaces in the URL)

Check out the dialogue at this Q&A site between two others on that same subject. There was a DOS procedure discussed to create a RAM disk as well as a link to a download utility. (The DOS procedure, by the way, could be put into your autoexec.bat file.)

http://www.computing.net/dos/wwwboard/forum/8944.html

(REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URL.)

Maxwell

First, using a RAM drive in Windwos is not the best idea, but you're right, it will work, you just have to find a good one. The one I've used in the past is located here: http://www.simtel.net/pub/pd/4825.html you can tell it what the drive letter can be, provided you dont' give it something silly like "C:\".

Try it, it is pretty good. Load it from the Autoexec.bat file, or alternatively you can load it via a registry entry, but from the autoexec.bat is probably the best way to go.

Place the full path to the DOS file in the following location in the registry (as a new string value): HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

Be sure to give it a name like "RamDrive" or something.

I knew there was a reason I didn't like ME...

Ok, try this: when you start the computer, and right after the POST of BIOS, hit F8 and that will bring you to the boot menu. Select "...confirmation..." option which will let you step through all the configuration options prior to boot with a yes or no prompt. Select yes to all options except initializing the windows drivers (the last one). It might take you a few times to get it right (I don't even recall the correct name.) Once you're sittingat a DOS prompt, load the ramdrive. After that, type in "WIN". That should then load Windows with the ramdrive loaded. If not, let me know...

Here's a few other ideas that might help:

(1) entering "msconfig" at the RUN command, going to the "config.sys" file, and entering "DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\RAMDRIVE.SYS /E". Then save it and reboot windows.

(2) Check out this link: http://www.cenatek.com/product_ramdisk.cfm

(3) Check out Me2Dos here http://bobby.mydis.org/, which might allow you to use any RamDisk you want.

I did a bit more checking and read these articles:

http://www.TechRepublic.com/forumqa/thread_detail.jhtml?thread_id=82137&message_id=514910

Which says you need an EBD for it to work at all. You might want to try that.

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q192927

Which tells me that long file-names and ramdrives with ME don't get along too well.

So I'm beginning to think, based on the last article, that RamDrives aren't the best solution at all, but if you're still interested, even after my last post took you 12 hours to fix (sorry about that), then try booting with an EBD with the Ramdrive enabled in there. Alteratively, re-enable real mode DOS support by applying some of the various "patches" for ME. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Here's what is being called the "best" real-mode DOS solution for ME: http://www.geocities.com/mfd4life_2000/

I can't verify that it works, since I never tried it.

Good luck.