Volatile RAMdisk Topic is solved

FAQ, getting help, user experience about Primo Ramdisk
Post Reply
User avatar
RAMbo
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:50 am

Volatile RAMdisk

Post by RAMbo »

I'm no longer sure what a Volatile RAMdisk is.
For me it's a disk that gets distroyed when rebooting.
But still when I use the image function I can select Volatile RAMdisk.

Doesn't an image make a RAMdisk non volatile?
User avatar
Jaga
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 692
Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:11 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by Jaga »

Yes, it does make it non-volatile. At least in the regard that the same image (as it was last saved) is re-loaded at boot time. And changes to the disk that you *don't* save (either automatically or manually) are discarded.

I was just able to successfully create a 1GB Ramdisk with a backing image on my C: drive, with the Volatile setting also turned on. Not sure why you can't.
User avatar
RAMbo
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:50 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by RAMbo »

I CAN create a RAMdisk with backing image and volatile on. I can do exactly what I want. So no big issues at all.
I just find the terminology conflicting.
The way I see it, the volatile option can be removed from the interface. It serves no purpose.
The image option does that already.

Sure, you are 100% right that unsaved data gets destroyed. But even then the volatile option is useless because an image never protects against crashes. It would only protect if it saves the image every millisecond, but that defeats the whole RAMdisk idea.

Maybe I'm overlooking some sound logic the Romex team can explain.
User avatar
Support
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 3623
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:42 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by Support »

Volatile disk here means that the virtual disk will not be created/present after Windows reboot/shutdown. It's a one-shot disk.
User avatar
RAMbo
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:50 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by RAMbo »

Not even when an image was set?
If so, what's the use of the image?
User avatar
Support
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 3623
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:42 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by Support »

Volatile is set to the disk itself, while the imaging is for disk contents. They are not mutually exclusive.
Here is the use case of using both options together. Some users may just want a temporary ramdisk for current Windows session only and don't want it after reboot, and they want the ramdisk loading an saved image file after creation. This is useful when you have saved some imaging files to serve different purposes.
User avatar
RAMbo
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:50 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by RAMbo »

ok, now I see. It's more like a backup I could use, for example, years later.

Thanks for the answers!
User avatar
Support
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 3623
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:42 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by Support »

You're welcome!
User avatar
Jaga
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 692
Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:11 am

Re: Volatile RAMdisk

Post by Jaga »

RAMbo wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:18 am ok, now I see. It's more like a backup I could use, for example, years later.

Thanks for the answers!
Yep - it keeps the contents as it was last saved, just like a backup. If you don't force a manual save, you can continue to use it in the state it was in when last written to.
Post Reply