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Windows on virtual hdd in RAM, possible at all?
- Thread starter donati
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2001
You would need 2GB+ of RAM for this, plus the image would need to be loaded into RAM from disk or CDROM to start.
I think maybe it could be done, Linux systems residing entirely in RAM are possible and common, I suppose with enough RAM then a full graphical linux system could be held in RAM.
Not sure about Windows though.
I think maybe it could be done, Linux systems residing entirely in RAM are possible and common, I suppose with enough RAM then a full graphical linux system could be held in RAM.
Not sure about Windows though.
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2003
- Location
- behind the wheel
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!
this does seem to be possible, although it is 98, and not 2000 or XP. It is not without its risks though, have a look here: http://forum.oc-forums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=247008
unfortunately that's all I've been able to dig up... haven't found a website for it or something like that.
this does seem to be possible, although it is 98, and not 2000 or XP. It is not without its risks though, have a look here: http://forum.oc-forums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=247008
unfortunately that's all I've been able to dig up... haven't found a website for it or something like that.
Last edited:
- Thread Starter
- #4
My motherboard only supports up to 1.5gb RAM, but even that should be enough to run windows.. i remember that my very first PC had a 1.2gig hdd
i need a patch for windows, that will allow it to run without a hdd, a tool that creates i virtual drive, and a driver for same
But it should be possible to do it with windows, dont you think?
(im no good at Linux).
The reason i ask this is that if it is possible, i would like to run my PC without any hdd's and fans = totally silent.
Could get hdd storage space from another PC on LAN.
i need a patch for windows, that will allow it to run without a hdd, a tool that creates i virtual drive, and a driver for same
But it should be possible to do it with windows, dont you think?
(im no good at Linux).
The reason i ask this is that if it is possible, i would like to run my PC without any hdd's and fans = totally silent.
Could get hdd storage space from another PC on LAN.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2001
donati said:My motherboard only supports up to 1.5gb RAM, but even that should be enough to run windows.. i remember that my very first PC had a 1.2gig hdd
i need a patch for windows, that will allow it to run without a hdd, a tool that creates i virtual drive, and a driver for same
But it should be possible to do it with windows, dont you think?
(im no good at Linux).
The reason i ask this is that if it is possible, i would like to run my PC without any hdd's and fans = totally silent.
Could get hdd storage space from another PC on LAN.
Might be cheaper and easier to just enclose your hard disk(s) in some sort of enclosure?
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2001
- Location
- Vancouver, WA
In order to make windows run off a RAMdrive, the follwing things would need to happen...
1) Bios boots off a drive containing RAMdrive software (must remain memory resident!)
2) Software creates a 1GB virtual partition in RAM (let's call it R:\)
3) Software copies the contents of a second HD containing an image of the RAMdrive on the previous shutdown, to the RAMdrive again.
4) Software simulates a boot condition and reads the bootsector of the R: drive.
5) Windows loads off the R: drive.
6) When something is written to the R: drive, the memory resident RAMdrive software adds it to a write-cache where it will wait for an opportune time to update the real windows instalation on the second HD.
7) On shutdown, the software intercepts Windows' shutdown request and flushes it's write-cache and creates an image of the RAMdrive to save to disk.
8) When the backup process is complete, the software sends the signal to turn off the computer.
If you could get all that to work, you might have a working solution. When installing windows for the first time, you'd need to assign the HD it installs to the letter R: since that will be the path it looks at when it's on the RAMdrive.
However, I haven't heard of any RAMdrive software that initializes on boot and restores a bootable image from another drive. You can get plenty of programs to make a drive within windows, or make a drive within DOS, but none AFAIK that include their own bootloader to make a drive without Windows, DOS, or Linux allready running......
JigPu
1) Bios boots off a drive containing RAMdrive software (must remain memory resident!)
2) Software creates a 1GB virtual partition in RAM (let's call it R:\)
3) Software copies the contents of a second HD containing an image of the RAMdrive on the previous shutdown, to the RAMdrive again.
4) Software simulates a boot condition and reads the bootsector of the R: drive.
5) Windows loads off the R: drive.
6) When something is written to the R: drive, the memory resident RAMdrive software adds it to a write-cache where it will wait for an opportune time to update the real windows instalation on the second HD.
7) On shutdown, the software intercepts Windows' shutdown request and flushes it's write-cache and creates an image of the RAMdrive to save to disk.
8) When the backup process is complete, the software sends the signal to turn off the computer.
If you could get all that to work, you might have a working solution. When installing windows for the first time, you'd need to assign the HD it installs to the letter R: since that will be the path it looks at when it's on the RAMdrive.
However, I haven't heard of any RAMdrive software that initializes on boot and restores a bootable image from another drive. You can get plenty of programs to make a drive within windows, or make a drive within DOS, but none AFAIK that include their own bootloader to make a drive without Windows, DOS, or Linux allready running......
JigPu
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2001
JigPu said:
Im a bit rusty with the linux stuff but it should go as follows:
- boot kernel from LAN or HDD, with initrd.
- Initrd loaded into RAM and Linuxrc called.
- Linuxrc creates large (say 1Gb) RAMDrive and loads entire filesystem from a LAN/hard drive.
- Linuxrc calls Init from the RAMDrive and Linux kernel continues to boot, mounting RAMDrive as root partition.
- Thread Starter
- #10
Still looking for the right solution..
Any idea if i can boot windows from a compact flash card using one of these ide adapters?
http://mach5products.com/merchant2/...duct_Code=CFTOIDEMOTHERBOARD&Category_Code=CF
Any idea if i can boot windows from a compact flash card using one of these ide adapters?
http://mach5products.com/merchant2/...duct_Code=CFTOIDEMOTHERBOARD&Category_Code=CF
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2001
Here's one easy way to do it in linux:
Download Knoppix 3.3 or a remastered veriosn of it.
Burn the CD.
Boot the CD with the cheatcode:
knoppix toram
Wait a few minutes while it copies the contents of the CD to rasmdisk. You need at least 768mb to do this.
Knoppix is actually close to 1.75GB of files, but it is compressed in a cloop so it fits on a 700mb CD.
Download Knoppix 3.3 or a remastered veriosn of it.
Burn the CD.
Boot the CD with the cheatcode:
knoppix toram
Wait a few minutes while it copies the contents of the CD to rasmdisk. You need at least 768mb to do this.
Knoppix is actually close to 1.75GB of files, but it is compressed in a cloop so it fits on a 700mb CD.
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2001
- Location
- Vancouver, WA
Yes, those adapters will turn a CF card into IDE. I've looked at the pinouts on them, and it seems like you could almost make one yourself if you were REALLY good at soldering
The problem with using a CF card is that it's really slow. The fastest ones I've seen are from Lexar and run at the same speed as a 40x CD (a mere 6MB/sec). Also, you may hit the problem of maxing out the number of writes the CF card can handle (I read it's about 1 Million before it dies), so you'll want to take that into consideration as well.
JigPu
The problem with using a CF card is that it's really slow. The fastest ones I've seen are from Lexar and run at the same speed as a 40x CD (a mere 6MB/sec). Also, you may hit the problem of maxing out the number of writes the CF card can handle (I read it's about 1 Million before it dies), so you'll want to take that into consideration as well.
JigPu
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