XP-Erience RAMDISK Comments.

[sanctum]

Hiya folks.

I just wanted to comment about the RAMDISK for XP program that is posted on the XP-Erience website.

It comes with a ramdisk.exe (uncompresses several files to a location of your choice), a .reg file and a .txt file with pretty good instructions.

However I wanted people to know somethings. (Before i go on, i am using this with xp pro, using an account named "installer" that is in the local administrator's group).

For some reason, several parts of the .reg file DOES NOT get placed into the registry. I am not a registry wiz, but this confuses me. One of the most important parts is the DISK SIZE. The part of the registry that makes the disk size keeps it at 1 meg!!!

Even though i have merged the reg file that is included in the zip with my registry. You have to go in MANUALLY and change the size yourself!!!!

Here the part with the disk-size for the ramdisk:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ramdisk\Parameters]
"BreakOnEntry"=dword:00000000
"DebugLevel"=dword:00000000
"DebugComp"=dword:ffffffff
"DiskSize"=dword:01f00000
"DriveLetter"="Z:"
"RootDirEntries"=dword:00000200
"SectorsPerCluster"=dword:00000002


Now go to the same spot in your registry and find that the "DiskSize"=dword is going to only be 1 meg!!!! (in hex).

I had to change that manually, and reboot to get my 31 megs. Hrm. Also here are some more entries i had to change:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProfileReconciliation\History]
"CentralFile"="History"
"LocalFile"="History"
"Name"="*.*"
"DefaultDir"="Z:\\History"
"MustBeRelative"=dword:00000001
"Default"=dword:00000001
"RegKey"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders"
"RegValue"="History"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
"Cookies"="Z:\\Cookies"
"Recent"="Z:\\Recent"
"Cache"="Z:\\Temporary Internet Files"
"History"="Z:\\History"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders]
"Cookies"="Z:\\Cookies"
"Recent"="Z:\\Recent"
"Cache"="Z:\\Temporary Internet Files"
"History"="Z:\\History"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Url History]
"Directory"="Z:\\History"

The parts with the z:\\ WAS NOT UPDATED IN THE REGISTRY!!! i had to add the z:\ myself in the registry.

The below part WASNT even in the registry!!!:



[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProfileReconciliation\Cookies]
"CentralFile"="Cookies"
"LocalFile"="Cookies"
"Name"="*.*"
"DefaultDir"="Z:\\Cookies"
"MustBeRelative"=dword:00000001
"Default"=dword:00000001
"RegKey"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders"
"RegValue"="Cookies"

And now i have to figure out how to add it myself. I'm not entirely sure. What's with all the "\\" double backward slashes? Are they legit?

Hrm....... Even though with all these problems it worked to an extent, but seeing as all those entires were ignored, i am not sure if it REALLY was saving everything in the correct spot.

Also something else that bothers me. Maybe someone has a clue as to what is going on. I like to use a local administrator account, this time the user "installer" and install EVERYTHING i want on a computer. Set it up exactly the way I like it. Do all the editing i have to do etc etc etc, and then take that profile directory and copy it into the "Default User" Directory. THen when anyone else ever logs onto the computer, they will see exactly everything I have setup and done with the "installer" account.

This works GREAT especially when you have some programs that will NOT work with "user" access. This allows them to work fine (in windows 2000 professional). And no setup of any other programs in a new profile. Everything is setup already

Now remember, ramdisk "seemed" to of worked with installer. Now when i log into the computer with a "user" account, everything looks kosher. I can browse etc etc etc UNTIL i have to log in securely (like www.aol.com) when it doesn't work. Any suggestions?

I'm thinking of making the "user" account a "local admin" temporarily just to be able to go into registry and make sure everything matches everything in the .reg file that came with the zip file.

I LOVE the idea of storing EVERYTHING related to IE browsing on a ram disk. The temporary files idea is great also. Its just that you have to make absolutely sure it works

Any comments?

-G

-lipan@public.org


I attached the ZIP file from www.xp-erience.org to this post (or at least im going to try) if anyone wants to run some tests.

 

[sanctum]

XP-erience RAMDISK INSTRUCTIONS BAD??!!

Ok, to start, I'm not someone who can point to the registry and explain what that part does in the operating system, but I know something is up.

I'm talking about the RAMDISK.zip file that is distributed by XP-Erience. I hope I can get someone to shed some light on this.

First off here is the first few lines from the .reg file that comes with the XP-Erience.

(P.S. I'm running windows XP Pro and am logged on as a local admin)

REGEDIT

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths]
"Paths"=dword:00000004
"Directory"="Z:\\Temporary Internet Files\\Content.IE5"


I cut and copied that tid-bit into a new .reg file i create and double clicked it to add it to the registry. Problem is IT DIDNT CHANGE THE ENTRY!!!! I mean I did the same for most of the .reg file that came with the ramdisk instructions and they didnt work!

What's going on here? I discovered this problem on another computer. I followed the instructions perfectly on another computer and it seemed to work. But i was still getting cookies placed on my local computer. That confused me. So I re-checked the registry entries to find this problem.

Am I missing something? So I did more research. I found this web site:

http://members.aol.com/axcel216/newtip12.htm

Do a search for "ramdisk" (the site is long). Anyway I found something else out!!! You cannot download any files larger than your ramdisk (the win2000 version in the xp-erience zip file is allowed only to 32 megs of ram). What if you wanted to download a large movie clip or even a Game Demo!!! No dice!

Anyway, I read in http://members.aol.com/axcel216/newtip12.htm that I should change the first line in the .reg file from

REGEDIT

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths]
"Paths"=dword:00000004
"Directory"="Z:\\Temporary Internet Files\\Content.IE5"

to (add a 4 to REGEDIT)

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths]
"Paths"=dword:00000004
"Directory"="Z:\\Temporary Internet Files\\Content.IE5"


AND GUESS WHAT! It worked!!!! I looked into my registry and found the new directory path!!!! So, I can only figure think of one thing. People who have tried to follow the instructions, and find they can successfully surf thinking that ALL their surfing is going into the RAMDISK is wrong?!?! So they think they're safe but their not!?!

Someone please tell me I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something important. If I'm not, a lot of people have a false sense of security

Anyway http://members.aol.com/axcel216/newtip12.htm has instructions that allows me to use a freeware ramdisk software that goes beyond the 32 meg limit. I'm going to go give it a shot.

Whatta ya think guys?

-G
-public@lipan.org

Attached is the XP-Erience ramdisk zip file.

 

[Lonman]

I thought your first post was informative. If it doesn't work, don't use it.

 

[sanctum]

Yes, I understand that. I wont use it, no big deal

But what about those people out there who think they are surfing safely? Maybe the zip file in XP-Erience should be removed or updated?

I'm thinking of putting new in depth instructions together for a better functioning ramdisk. Maybe xp-erience can use that instead.

-g

 

[Lonman]

That would be cool. I've experimented with these ramdisks myself. The best free one i tried was the one by ARSoft. The best I was able to do with that one was 121mb. Now I'm using the SuperSpeed Ramdisk XP Pro... this one really works well. Good luck on your tinkering.

 

[Daviesbad04]

U can use the superspeed software ramdisk, its 100X's better than that ramdisk. ALtho i dont really see the need for using a ramdisk when its not really that big of a deal

 

[sanctum]

SuperSpeed RamDisk

Yes, I've checked out SuperSpeed Ramdisk and I like it. There is only 1 problem. AR-Ramdisk is free and superspeed is like 99 bucks isn't it?

-G

 

[Lonman]

Re: SuperSpeed RamDisk

Originally posted by sanctum
AR-Ramdisk is free and superspeed is like 99 bucks isn't it?

-G

Yeah, that's right. I wasn't able to get the ARSoft Ram Disk past 121mb when I used it... but it did run perfectly stable there for as long as I used it (a couple weeks). If you have a problem with it... just reduce it's size and it should fire up ok. If I remember right, there's a lot of rebooting required to get changes picked up correctly.