PrimoCache ChangeLog

Version 4.3.0 (2023-04-07)

• Compatible with Windows 11 22H2.
• New: Add the function "Freeze Cache".
• New: Add option to ignore Windows busy state for "Intelligent" and "Buffer" write modes.
• New: Add option to prefetch data from level-2 cache.
• New: Add option to turn off the level-2 validation mechanism introduced since v4.0.1.
• New: Add option to turn on/off Numa-Aware in the GUI Options dialog.
• New: Support displaying stat data in specified units.
• New: Support detecting Invisible Memory in the 512GB range on 64-bit Windows.
• New: Support entering license information during installation.
• Fix: DirectStorage was blocked.
• Fix: Failed to format certain drives as level-2 storage (Error 0x00000057) in v4.2.0.
• Fix: Failed to cache certain drives in v4.2.0.
• Fix: When "FlushL1ToL2" was enabled, even a volume was set to turn off L2, its write-data still can be flushed to L2.
• Fix: The option "IgnoreSync" was not working since v4.0.1.
• Fix: Trial got expired after Windows updates or BIOS changes.
• Fix: Some CLI commands did not redirect all output.
• Optimize: The "FlushL1ToL2" option is selected by default (if applicable).
• Optimize: Optimize code to reduce unnecessary operations.
• Optimize: Improve help and prompt messages to make them clearer.

Version 4.2.0 (2021-12-31)

• Support Windows 11.
• Support Windows Core Isolation.
• Support 4Kn drives as level-2 cache devices. Note: if target drives are not 4Kn drives, 4Kn L2 cache can only speed up reading.
• [Pro/Server] Level-2 cache size can be greater than 2TB for each cache task.
• Support high-DPI devices.
• Adopt a uniform system font for the GUI program.
• Optimize: Improve the connectivity to activation servers, reducing connection problems while activating online.
• Fix: On some computers, the GUI program cannot automatically launch with Windows startup as required.
• Fix: File dialogs were not resizable on Windows XP or 2003.
• Fix: Possible memory leaks.

Version 4.1.0 (2021-01-30)

• New: Support caching 4K native (4Kn) drives.
  Note: 4Kn drives currently cannot be used as level-2 storage.
• Fix: v4.0.1 might cause BSOD on some Vista operating systems.

Version 4.0.1 (2020-12-31)

• New: Verify level-2 cache data on the next boot after an ungraceful shutdown, instead of simply cleaning all level-2 cache data.
• New: Add the option value "INSTANT" for the level-2 Gather Interval, able to quickly gather data to level-2 cache when system is busy.
• New: Add the option "Flush L1 Cache to L2 Cache" for Defer-Write, able to flush level-1 deferred write-data to level-2 cache instead of target disks when level-1 cache is full.
• New: [Server Edition] Support cluster shared volumes (CSV).
• New: [Server Edition] Be numa-aware. How to enable NUMA-Aware.
• Fix: PrimoCache was in the Alt+Tab list though it was minimized to the tray if PrimoCache started with Windows on Windows 10 1903 or later.
• Detect 4K native (4Kn) drives and prevent them from being cached or used as level-2 cache. Currently 4Kn drives are not supported.
  Note: Disks generated by Windows Storage Space usually are 4Kn drives, so they cannot be cached in this version.
• Other minor improvements.

Version 3.2.0 (2019-12-31)

• Fix: Cached volumes were removed from the cache task after Windows 10 major upgrade.
• Fix: The GUI program couldn't show up on some computers with recent Windows 10 updates.
• Improvement: Be compatible with latest Windows 10 updates.

Version 3.0.9 (2018-12-30)

• New: [Server Edition] Support Windows Server 2019.
• New: Able to individually turn off level-1 cache for specified volumes in a cache task.
• New: CLI supports using volume drive letter instead of volume index in commands.
• New: Add "Preset Configurations" drop-down button in the configuration dialog to quickly apply pre-defined configurations.
• New: A switch in the Option dialog to quickly turn on/off Windows Fast Startup.
• New: Showing the license activation code (partial) in the license dialog.
• Fix bug: The kernel component cannot be loaded in some computers with Windows 10 1803/1809 build.
• Fix bug: The program cannot be activated successfully in some computers with Windows 10 1803/1809 build.
• Fix bug: The GUI program cannot correctly determine administrative privileges in few cases, leading to failure in listing volumes.
• Fix bug: The GUI program don't change list column width at the first mouse click in Windows server systems.
• Optimize: Before install the program, check if Windows Core Isolation Memory Integrity option is on. And if on prompt users to turn off this option as PrimoCache is not compatible with this option.
• Optimize: Remove the "Choose Profile" page in the wizard of creating a cache task to simplify the procedure.
• Optimize: Mistake-proofing on typing or pasting license activation code.
• Change: No need to execute the command "rxpcc set BootFetch 1" to enable the feature of "prefetching at Windows boot".
• Other improvements.

Version 3.0.2 (2017-12-21)

• Fix bug: Possible BSOD when delete an empty cache task.
• Fix bug: Once a cache task failed to start at Windows startup, whatever configuration you change later, no volume can be added to this cache task successfully.
• Fix bug: GUI program is not minimized at Windows startup on some computers.
• Fix bug: Some problems related to the GUI tray icon.
• Fix bug: On Windows 10 16299, if PrimoCache GUI is open, Windows shows "this app is preventing logoff/shutdown" when logoff/shudown the computer.
• Other improvements.

Version 3.0.1 (2017-12-04)

• New Features:
• Support write-caching on L2.
• Allow individual read and write cache space.
• Allow specifying different cache configuration for each target volumes within a cache task.
• Support converting a L2 storage volume to a normal volume. In previous versions, users have to go to Windows Disk Management to delete the partition and then create a new volume.
• Changes/Optimizations:
• Remove the "Cache Strategy" setting when set up a cache task because now the Read/Write Cache Ratio implicitly indicates the cache strategy.
• Optimize internal caching algorithm.
• Reduce cache memory overhead.
• Statistics: add Total Write (L1/L2), and rename Total Write (Done) to Total Write (Disk).
• GUI: Able to resize the status and the statistics list boxes, and remember the layout.
• GUI: Able to resize and remember the width of each column in list boxes.
• Bug Fixes:
• Display cannot be automatically turned off or DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE BSOD on shutdown/restart when L2 is used.
• Possible hang or DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE BSOD on sleep/hibernate on some computers with L2 enabled.
• DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE BSOD will happen if the amount of deferred write-data is too big and the computer takes too much time to write back deferred data at sleep/hibernate/fast-shutdown.
• Possible BSOD in XP/2003 when Invisible Memory is used.
• Fix the write amplification issue.
• Fix the L2 read amplification issue (statistics: L2Storage Read > Total Read).
• Trial version causes that Windows cannot successfully run the Chkdsk program on the system partition.
• GUI program may not be responsive during operations that may take a long time, for e.g. to enable Invisible Memory, remove a cache task, flush/stop defer-write.
• GUI program cannot automatically minimize to the system tray at Window startup on some computers.
• In the cache task creation wizard, Defer-Write Latency value may not be correctly loaded if you switch among different profiles.
• In the L2Storage Management Dialog, partition list is not refreshed after a second L2Storage volume is created.
• Possibly log incorrect data to Windows Events on 32bit Windows.
• When PrimoCache is expired, if plug out and then plug in an usb drive or any other removable drives, KERNERL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE BSOD will happen.
• If the cache configuration of an empty task (no target volumes) is changed, and then a target volume joins to this task, unexpected problems will happen, usually KERNERL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE BSOD.
• Possible hang if doing manual flush of deferred data and sleep/hibernate/hybrid-shutdown at the same time.
• Unexpected problems or data loss when caching on media-removable drives.
• Possible BSOD with L2 cache enabled if a cached volume device is unpluged from the computer.
• Other bugs.

Version 2.7.3 (2017-05-02)

• Fix bug: Windows 10 build 1703 may show "Scanning and repairing the volume \\?\Volume{xxx}..." messages during bootup if there is a level-2 storage volume.
  Note: To fix this error, you need to delete existing level-2 storage volumes and re-create them with v2.7.3.
• Fix bug: When you double-click on a task/volume entry in the GUI main dialog, sometimes the configuration dialog does not pop up.

Version 2.7.2 (2017-04-17)

• Fix bug: Windows 10 build 1703 cannot boot up with secure-boot on after PrimoCache is newly installed.
  Note: This is a driver-resigning version to v2.7.0, so all internal versions keep to "2.7.0" instead of "2.7.2".

Version 2.7.0 (2016-12-07)

• Fix bug: Incompatible issue with some network adapters in Windows 10 build 14393, resulting in BSOD at bootup or network failure.
• Fix bug: The GUI program looks bad in high-resolution screens. This issue exists in the version 2.6.0 only.
• Fix bug: Still populates data to level-2 cache storage when the cache strategy is "write-data only".
• Optimize: Remove the success message when creating a cache task to reduce operation steps.

Version 2.6.0 (2016-11-07)

• Fix bug: Incompatible issue with Windows 10 EFS.
• Fix bug: Incompatible issue with UWF in Windows 10 build 14393.
• Fix bug: Incompatible issue with Apps from Windows 10 store.
• Optimize: Increase compatibility with Windows 10 build 14393.
• Change: In Windows 10, if source disk data are encrypted by EFS, Bitlocker, etc, this version stores encrypted data into cache, instead of decrypted data, in order to increase security.

Version 2.5.0 (2016-08-19)

• Enable caching paging files. This helps improve the performance on 32bit Windows with Invisible Memory enabled.
• Fix bug: Potential blue screen crash (Memory Management BSOD) on Windows 10.

Version 2.4.0 (2016-07-14)

• General:
• Improve the compatibility with Norton Ghost and other third-party programs.
• Fix bug: When caching media-removable devices like SD cards, blue screen crash may happen if devices are removed and then inserted in.
• Level-2 Cache:
• Support to format partitions on dynamic disks as level-2 storage volumes.
• Fix bug: Failed to format GPT partitions to level-2 storage volumes on some computers.
• Fix bug: Potential blue screen crash while formatting GPT partitions to level-2 storage volumes.
• Fix bug: Potential blue screen crash when a USB level-2 storage device is removed a short while after computer reboot and then plugged-in.
• Fix bug: If a USB level-2 storage device is used and the computer sleeps or hibernates a short while after reboot, blue screen crash may happen on wake-up.
• Fix bug: A SD card level-2 storage volume may not be recognized after computer reboot.
• Fix bug: Cache contents may be reset when using a SD card level-2 storage volume.
• CLI Application:
• Fix bug: Commands cannot correctly output Non-English characters.
• Fix bug: Command 'ls' cannot display the capacity of unrecognized volumes.
• GUI Application:
• Add option: Allow remembering the position of the main GUI window.
• Optimize: Increase the display duration of tooltips from 5 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Correct typos.

Version 2.3.0 (2016-06-06)

• Fix bug: Possible blue screen crash with Norton Ghost and some third-party programs.
• Fix bug: Defer-Write option "Flush on Sleep" does not work on few computers.
• Fix bug: Unexpected errors while resuming from the hibernation state on few computers when the invisible memory is used.
• Fix bug: Insufficient memory error when reconfiguring a cache task even though there is enough memory.
• Add option: Do not preserve level-2 cache contents when the system is rebooted.
• Add option: Do not clear level-2 cache contents even if they might be out of sync with source data.
• Add option: Allow caching all kind of volumes, including proprietary and unrecognized volumes.
• Optimize: Show the capacity of volumes that have not a recognized file system.
• Optimize: Remember the main dialog size and list columns' width.

Version 2.2.0 (2015-11-30)

• General:
• Fix bug: Program becomes unregistered or expired after Windows is upgraded to 8 or later.
• Fix bug: Cache statistics is not reset on Windows fast startup in Windows 8 or later.
• Level-1 Cache:
• Clear level-1 cache (MM) contents on Windows fast shutdown in Windows 8 or later to not affect the shutdown/boot time.
• Add option to keep level-1 cache (MM) content on Windows fast shutdown.
• Add option to clear level-1 cache (MM) contents on hybrid-sleep or hibernation to not affect the hibernation/resume time.
• Optimize: prevent prefetch index information from being updated on Windows restarts in very short time.
• GUI Application:
• Fix bug: GDI objects leak.
• Fix bug: Inappropriate drop-down value list for setting VM/IM cache size when editing the cache configuration in certain cases.
• Fix bug: The setting box of IM cache size is greyed and cannot be changed in certain cases when editing the cache configuration.
• Optimize: do not quit the dialog if the configuration is not appropriate when editing the cache configuration.
• Embellish the cache configuration dialog.

Version 2.1.0 (2015-09-22)

• Level-2 Cache:
• Support to format GPT partitions as level-2 storage volumes.
• CLI Application:
• Add new commands: storage/edit/clear/status/perf/export/import/lic.
• Support to import the cache configuration from a configuration file by the option '-t' for the command 'new'.
• Support to operate all cache tasks at a time by the option '-a' for the command del/pause/resume/dwpause/dwresume/dwflush/clear.
• GUI Application:
• Activate the already running application instead of showing an error message when a user tries to open a new instance.
• Automatically switch to the new selected language for the multilingual version.
• Add options: Allow disabling warning and success messages when operating cache tasks.
• Fix bug: It may take too much time to checking the new version and users have to wait when they open the application.
• Fix bug: The application does not minimize to the system tray at Windows startup when the option "Launch with Windows startup" is ticked.
• Fix bug: The display state of the system tray icon may not be correct in Windows XP.
• Amend some message/help texts and correct typos.

Version 2.0.0 (2015-06-17)

• Level-1 Cache:
• Support to prefetch the last cache content on Windows startup.
• Support hibernation when both Invisible Memory and Level-2 cache are enabled.
• Fix bug: Windows crashes when changes level-1 cache size for an empty cache task.
• Fix bug: Cannot change invisible memory size if all invisible memory is used.
• Level-2 Cache:
• Remove the dependency of Windows Performance Counter which may corrupt on few computers.
• Speed up gathering cache data into level-2 storage.
• Add option: Tune gathering speed when Windows is busy.
• Automatically disable the level-2 cache function on volumes which have same underlying disk as level-2 storage.
• Support maximum level-2 cache size from 1.5TB to 2TB (2044GB).
• Fix bug: Incorrect error message when level-2 cache size is larger than 1.5TB.
• Fix bug: Windows may suspend on entering standby/sleep or hibernation with level-2 cache enabled.
• Fix bug: Level-2 cache may stop gathering cache data after Windows resumes from the hibernation.
• Fix bug: Level-2 cache content does not persist across Windows restarts when level-2 cache overhead is big.
• Fix bug: A possible race condition which may cause data error when loading the persistent level-2 cache content.
• Fix bug: A volume was previously cached still loads level-2 cache content which may have been outdated when this volume joined the cache task again.
• Fix bug: Cache tasks may load outdated level-2 cache content if a level-2 storage volume which was plugged-out is plugged-in.
• Fix bug: Level-2 cache may not function if there were devices plugged in-and-out.
• Fix bug: Windows may crash if a cache task waiting for a level-2 storage volume is deleted and then another level-2 storage volume for another cache task plugs in.
• Defer-Write Feature:
• Add write modes: Native/Intelligent/Idle-flush/Buffer/Average.
• Add option: Flush deferred data on Windows standby/sleep.
• Add option: Release cache blocks holding deferred data when these data are written to disk.
• Add option: Do not flush deferred data on Windows shutdown (through CLI only).
• Automatically disable Defer-Write feature if level-1 cache not specified.
• Fix bug: C1 value in some hard disks increases fast with Defer-Write enabled.
• Fix bug: Windows may suspend on entering hibernation with Defer-Write enabled.
• Fix bug: Theoretically, Windows may suspend when flushing deferred write-data.
• GUI Application:
• Add function: System tray icon.
• Add function: Operate all cache tasks by one click (through tray icon).
• Add option: Tune the update time interval of performance statistics.
• Add option: Automatically launch GUI application at Windows startup.
• Add option: Minimize to system tray on the close of GUI application.
• Optimize displays of performance statistics data.
• Fix bug: Tip text may be not correctly updated when showing hidden part of performance statistics data.
• Others:
• Remove PrimoCache service.
• Fix bug: Usb/external devices are not cached after computer restarts in Windows XP/2003.

Version 1.0.1 (2014-04-16)

• Fix bug: Unexpected errors may happen on resuming from sleep/hibernation/shutdown(fast startup) if using USB devices as L2 storage.
• Fix bug: Remove the noisy message "You need to format this disk..." each time USB L2 devices connect to computers on Windows Vista/7/8. (Note: this bug fix only applies for new L2 storage. For existing USB L2 storage, you need to re-format it to L2 storage.)
• Fix bug: Extremely low probability crash when cache is working.
• Fix bug: Unexpected errors such as crash when L2 cache is enabled, especially with Defer-Write enabled.
• Fix bug: Cache strategy may not apply immediately when you change the cache strategy.

Version 0.9.9 beta (2014-01-28)

• Fix bug: Computers may fail to boot up on Windows prior to Windows 7.
• Fix bug: GUI program may crash on reconfiguration of a cache task.
• Fix bug: GUI program may crash on creating a new cache task.
• Fix bug: Changes may not apply if changing the configuration of a newly created cache task.
• Fix bug: PrimoCache service may not function properly on Windows which is configured to not allow interactive services.
• Fix bug: On 32-bit Windows, cache task disappears when removing cache on the last volume.
• Fix bug: "Format L2" dialog instead of "Manage L2" dialog pops up, even though there is already a level-2 storage volume in the system, when users click "manage L2" button in the configuration page.
• Tune the level-2 cache algorithm. Changing the default value of minimum frequency at which blocks are allowed to be cached into level-2 storage. In version 0.9.8 this value is 3, now is 1.
• Support to set the minimum frequency at which blocks are allowed to be cached into level-2 storage (CLI only, option -f).

Version 0.9.8 beta (2014-01-20)

• Completely change and improve the level-2 cache algorithm. PrimoCache keeps frequency of use data, and when system is idle, it stores high frequently used data to the level-2 storage.
• Improve the cache algorithm to make better system response.
• Add function: Command-line interface (CLI).
• Add function: View/Edit the cache configuration.
• Add function: Export/Import the cache configuration.
• Add function: Automatically save & load the last configuration which is used to successfully create a cache task.
• Add function: Add/Remove a volume to/from an existing cache.
• Add function: Individually manage (pause/resume/flush...) a volume's cache state within a cache task.
• Add function: Reset/Clear the cache content.
• Add function: Reset the cache performance statistics.
• Add function: Copy cache performance statistics to clipboard.
• Support a cache configuration with level-2 cache only (level-1 cache size equals 0).
• Add the option "MAX" for the level-2 cache size. With this option, maximum available level-2 storage space will be used for the level-2 cache.
• Add the option "INFINITE" for the Defer-Write latency. With this option, PrimoCache don't sync deferred write-data to disk until the cache is full.
• Improve the graphical user interface (GUI).
• Fix bug: On Windows prior to Vista, level-2 storage cannot be recognized after computer reboots.
• Fix bug: Possible hang while flush/stop the defer-write.
• Fix bug: Blue screen happened when trying to remove an usb level-2 storage device if this usb is being used by a cache task.
• Fix bug: Failed to format raw partitions to level-2 storage on windows server systems.
• Fix bug: Possible blue screen error when level-2 cache is enabled.

Version 0.9.2 beta (2013-10-28)

• Fix bug: System may crash when level-2 cache is enabled.

Version 0.9.1 beta (2013-07-26)

• The first release of PrimoCache. PrimoCache is derived from FancyCache, but it is completely redesigned and much different from FancyCache.

Version 0.1.0 beta (2010-05-04) - v0.8.0 beta (2012-04-19)

• Releases of FancyCache which is the predecessor of PrimoCache.