Ram disk windows free

The following guide provides you with an overview of the best free RAM Disk programs for devices running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

A RAM Disk, also called RAM Drive or RAMDisk, works in many regards just like a hard drive. The core difference is that it is a virtual hard drive that uses RAM for storage. With it come notable differences born out of that: a RAM Disk is faster than hard drives, and the storage space that it offers is only available during the session unless the software supports the saving and loading of disk images.

These traits make RAM Disks ideal for a lot of purposes. You may use it as fast, temporary storage for temporary data. Move the browser cache to the RAM Disk, and never have to worry again about it filling up valuable disk space (as it is only available during that session).

You may even install applications or games on the RAM Disk to benefit from faster loading times and less performance related issues while playing those games or using those apps. Another option is to move files that you want to process to the RAM Disk to speed that up.

The best free RAM Disk programs for Windows

Requirements are simple: the programs must be offered as a free version, and they must be compatible with at least Windows 7 or newer versions of Windows.

AMD Radeon RAMDisk

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

AMD Radeon RAMDisk is not limited to devices equipped with AMD Radeon hardware. Anyone can download and install the program, and use it to create a single RAM Disk with up to 4 Gigabytes of space. The limit is raised to 6 Gigabyte on systems with AMD Radeon Memory.

The program is compatible with all versions of Windows starting with Windows Vista, and supports the saving and loading of the RAM image on start or shut down for persistent storage.

The program is created by DataRAM, a company known for its RAM Disk products. The program displays an ad for the commercial versions of AMD Radeon RAMDisk on start.

Check out our full review of AMD Radeon RAMDisk here.

Dataram RAMDisk Software

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

The resembles to AMD Radeon RAMDisk is obvious. It is more limited than AMD’s version, as you may only create RAM disks up to a size of 1023 Megabytes using it.

Changes may be saved on shutdown, and you may select to load the saved image on start. The program lacks features that AMD’s version offers, such as selecting a drive letter for the disk.

Check out our review of Dataram RAMDisk Software here.

Gavotte RAMDisk

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

Gavotte RAMDisk supports the creation of a single RAMDisk on Windows machines — XP or newer as well as Server 2003 and 2008 — with no size limitation. The interface is basic but functional. Install and remove the RAM Disk, configure its size, drive letter and media type, and use the load or save image buttons for persistent storage.

The program has not been updated in a while though, and does not support Windows 8 or Windows 10 officially.

ImDisk Toolkit

One of the interesting features of ImDisk is that you may use it to create dynamic RAM Disks. Instead of specifying a size during setup, you may check the «allocate memory dynamically» option to have it changed on the fly.

The program does not limit the size of the RAM Disk, and you may use it to create multiple disks. It supports the loading and saving of images for persistent storage options.

ImDisk Toolkit offers more than just the creation of a RAM Disk. You may use the program to mount image files as well.

Read create a dynamic RAMDisk with IMDisk Toolkit for additional information.

OSFMount

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

Designed primarily to mount virtual disk images, OSFMount comes with capabilities to create RAM Disks as well.

Actually, it offers two options here. First, you may load a disk image file in RAM, or create an empty RAM drive instead.

OSFMount supports the creation of multiple RAM drives, and does not limit the size of them. You may select drive letters during setup as well, and may set them to read-only. Data can be saved to image files so that you can load it in the future again.

Softperfect RAM Disk

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

Softperfect RAM Disk is no longer available on the Softperfect website. You may still download it from portals such as Major Geeks though.

The program ticks all the right boxes. It does not limit the RAM that you may use to create RAM disks, and you may create as many as you have free drive letters for.

It supports the saving of images so that data persists across sessions, a lot of command line switches, file system selection for each RAM disk, and an option to launch programs when RAM disks load.

StarWind RAM Disk

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

StarWind requires you to create an account on the website before the download link of the company’s RAM Disk software is sent to the email account you used to register the account.

The program may be used to create multiple RAM Disks that are not size limited. It offers basic functionality besides that however: you cannot assign drive letters to disks, and there is no option to save and load disk images as well.

RAM Disk comparison

* 6GB with AMD Radeon Memory

Other RAM Disk programs

The following programs are not listed in the main section above for one reason or the other. They may still prove useful to you in some situations:

1. Bond Disk — The program supports a maximum size of 640 Megabyte. The main purpose of the program is however not the creation of a RAMdisk, but storage for files that hold valuable information. Additionally, it has last been updated in 2010. Read our review of Bond Disk here.
2. Gizmo Drive — Gizmo drive is part of Gizmo Central, and cannot be downloaded separately. The program’s main purpose is the mounting of disk images or encrypted hard drive images. One of the features that it supports however is the creation of RAM drives. You may use it to create multiple RAMDisks that are not limited in size. Program has not been updated since 2011.
3. VSuite Ramdisk Free Edition — Last updated in 2010, the program is only available as a 32-bit version. It supports a size of up to 4 Gigabytes, and multiple RAMDisks. Also, supports the saving and loading of data on system boot and shut down.

Additional resources

The overview and description of each program is certainly helpful in determining the best suitable program for your use cases. I suggest you check out Raymond’s RAM Disk Software benchmark to find out how many of these programs perform.

If you want to know more about RAM Disks in general, check out the Wikipedia article on RAM drives.

Closing Words

On a personal note, I have used SoftPerfect RAM Disk for the past years (the latest free version), and cannot be happier with it. It offers great functionality, and the downside that it is no longer maintained does not bother me as it works fine and without issues.

Now You: Do you use a RAM Disk on your system?

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If you’re looking for the best free RAM disk software, we’ve tested 11 options to find the fastest and most reliable. RAM disks boost speed by storing temporary files in memory, but performance varies.

What is the best RAM disk software?

Here’s a quick overview of our results:

• Best 4K Performance: ImDisk, OSFMount
• Best Sequential Speeds: OSFMount, SoftPerfect, Ultra RAMDisk Lite
• Most Consistent: OSFMount, StarWind RAM Disk

Now, let’s take a look at what the tools we tested have to over, then we’ll take a closer look at the test.

1. ImDisk Toolkit

Although you can use the original ImDisk driver and Control Panel applet, the ImDisk Toolkit is easier to use. It also includes options to mount floppy, CD-ROM and hard disk image files (ISO, BIN, VFD and etc) as virtual drives.

RAM disk size is not limited and there are options to load content from an image file or folder, synchronize at shutdown, enable compression, auto add temporary folders, and allocate memory for the RAM disk dynamically.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Note that the option to allocate memory dynamically is not enabled as it is supposed to lower the performance of the RAM disk.

2. AMD Radeon RAMDisk

Radeon RAMDisk is a rebranded version of Dataram RAMDisk but it actually has a higher limit on the maximum size of the RAM disk. It’s not only for for AMD based systems but also works on Intel and others. Downloading and installing AMD Radeon RAMDisk is easy and straightforward.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

For a standard system, the maximum RAM disk size is 4GB, if you have AMD branded memory installed, that limit is increased to 6GB. Higher limits can be purchased separately.  Note you will get an ad window when opening the user interface.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

3. Asus ROG (Republic Of Gamers) RAMDisk

ROG is an acronym for the “Republic Of Gamers” brand that is used on Asus high-end motherboards and other Asus hardware. RAMDisk is a similarly branded tool but works on all computers and not just ROG-branded hardware. Downloading and installing ASUS RAMDisk is easy and straightforward.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The drive size limit appears to be around 50% of the total amount of RAM you have installed. The Junction tab is useful so you can easily create junction points to map real folders to the RAM disk.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

We did try with the “Dynamic Memory Allocation” option enabled and disabled. Seven of the eight CrystalDiskMark scores did improve but the difference was so small that it would be unnoticeable in real world use.

4. Ultra RAMDisk Lite

Ultra RAMDisk Lite is a multi-purpose tool that can also create ISO images, create virtual ROM drives, and change system/Internet Explorer/Chrome cache directories. Known limitations of the free Lite version include only one RAM disk at any one time with a maximum size of 2GB, and no Dynamic memory allocation.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Click on RAM Disk+ in the main window to open the RAM disk settings. The available options allow you to set the default filesystem (FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS), use a SCSI or Direct I/O disk, mount as a removable disk, create TEMP folders, and use as a one time disk that removes itself on shutdown. One slight annoyance is the buy now nag often pops up when opening the user interface.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The Direct I/O Disk Type was used for the benchmark as the program says it’s the faster of the two options. We did try the SCSI Disk Type and the difference in performance was anywhere between 5% and 25%, so Direct I/O should be used where possible.

5. Miray RAM Drive

Miray RAM Drive is definitely the easiest program to use here and is almost foolproof to operate for all but the most inexperienced of users. However, that comes at the expense of features.

There are no real features to speak of and you simply have options to autostart with Windows and adjust a few confirmation dialogs. Simply click on the tray icon, adjust the slider to set the RAM drive size, and press the power button to mount.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The maximum RAM drive size is 4GB for 32-bit systems and 8GB for 64-bit systems. This can be expanded by purchasing a paid version.

6. Dataram RAMDisk

As we mentioned earlier, Dataram RAMDisk and AMD Radeon RAMDisk are in essence the same program. The only major differences are Dataram has a smaller maximum RAM drive size of 1GB, you can select a FAT or unformatted filesystem, and there is an option to choose a boot sector type.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The AMD tool has additional options to choose what type of disk to load on startup and which drive letter to assign the RAM drive to. Both will periodically popup an ad window.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

7. Qiling Disk Master Free

Disk Master is a multi-purpose application with some useful features. In addition to a RAM disk creation tool, Qiling Disk Master can also create/mount virtual drives, backup and restore the system drive or partitions, create and format partitions, clone/migrate disks, and even create a WinPE PreOS recovery system.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The RAM Disk option itself is pretty basic but doesn’t appear to limit disk size. It has options to change the drive letter, save the drive contents, and put Temp folders onto the disk (including setting the system TEMP folder to the RAM drive). Go to “Tools and utilities” from the main window to create, modify, and stop the RAM disk.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

There is an option during install that is pre-selected to join the “Customer Experience Improvement Program”. Make sure to opt-out if you don’t want it.

Read more:

• Best Disk Imaging Software: Features & Speed Comparison – Compare top commercial disk imaging tools for backup and restore efficiency.
• 12 RAM Disk Software Benchmarked for Speed – See how different RAM disk tools perform in real-world tests.
• How to Access Virtual Hard Disks in Windows – A guide to mounting and managing VHDs in Windows.
• Make Deleted Data Unrecoverable – Securely erase files to prevent recovery.
• Test Your Hard Drive’s Real Performance – Learn how to benchmark disk speed in Windows.
• How to Test Your RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic – Identify memory issues using built-in Windows tools.
• How to test your VRAM with Online Tools – Check your GPU without downloading any software

8. Passmark OSFMount

OSFMount is designed to be used in conjunction with Passmark’s OSForensics but works equally well as a standalone product. The program can also be used to mount virtual disk images to a drive letter, such as ISO, BIN, IMG, VMDK, and VHD. You can directly load one of those virtual disks as a RAM drive while going through the setup wizard.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The RAM disk size only appears to be limited by the amount of free RAM you have. Make sure to enable the option to format the drive during its setup, otherwise, you will have to manually format afterward.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Most of the options during step 4 of the wizard setup should be left alone and are mostly related to virtual drive images.

9. Gizmo Drive (Part of Gizmo Central)

Gizmo Central is a software frontend for several Gizmo tools, including macro scripting, database analysis, text/hex editor, and a file hasher. Luckily, if you just want the Gizmo Drive RAM disk, these other components can be excluded during install.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Once installed, select an empty virtual device and press Create Image. Along with creating a virtual hard disk or an ISO image, you can then set up a new RAM disk. Size is only limited to the amount of system RAM you have and you can create up to 10 virtual disks at once.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

10. SoftPerfect RAM Disk (Freeware version)

SoftPerfect RAM Disk was originally shareware, then was made freeware in 2012. But with the release of version 4 in 2016, it went back to being shareware again.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The size of the RAM drive can be as big as the amount of free RAM you have. Multiple drives can be mounted and unmounted from the user interface. You can select the default filesystem and also supply folders to be auto created once the drive is mounted.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

The version tested and the download link is for the last free version, 3.4.8, released in October 2016.

11. StarWind RAM Disk

Starwind is another nice and simple RAM disk software to use. However, for some reason, StarWind requires you to fill in a form on their website to download the software. A temporary email works just fine though.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Add a device, select a size (limited by free RAM), choose whether to FAT format it and whether to automount. The only other notable options are setting the default RAM disk configuration and changing the skin for the software interface.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

How we tested

A good score in both 4K and sequential tests would be the best result for general all round good performance. The screenshot below shows a CrystalDiskMark result from a standard 7200RPM hard drive.

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The next screenshot is a typical NVMe SSD result. You’ll notice the 4K scores in particular for the SSD are vastly superior. This is what really sets a solid state drive apart from a mechanical hard drive in terms of performance.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

Test Hardware and Conditions

Each RAM disk created is 512MB in size (or close to it) and formatted to NTFS. The CrystalDiskMark test file size is set to 256MB and each test is run with 5 passes to give an average. We also run a test recently added to CrystalDiskMark called Mix. It combines both read and write tests with transfer ratios manually selectable (default is 70% read and 30% write). This score is useful to get a general overview of performance.

The operating system is Windows 10 64-bit (21H1) with a PC containing an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, a Gigabyte B450 Motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4 memory running at 3,000Mhz.

The results for the RAM Disk software will give you an idea of how much faster a RAM disk is. Even the slowest RAM drive software is still faster than a standard SSD although fast NVMe drives are catching up to RAM disk speeds. Obviously, the slower your computer and system memory is, the slower your RAM disk will perform in comparison.

Other available RAM disk software

There are some other RAM disks out there that we have tested before or looked at and cannot include for various reasons. ASRock XFast RAM is a program that still works but only if you have an ASRock motherboard (our test motherboard was a Gigabyte). BondDisc is another tool we looked at in the past that is actually very fast. Sadly, it won’t install on modern systems and is limited to a 640MB disk.

Results and Summary

As we mentioned earlier, the results can be split into two distinct categories, 4K scores and Sequential (Seq) scores. The Q8T1 score for sequential and Q32T1 score for 4K is how well the RAM disk handles multiple file transfer requests at once, so they represent a heavier workload.

Tools that did well with 4K performance were IMDisk, and especially OSFMount. ROG RAMDisk did very well in a single queue workload while Gizmo Drive and Miray did well in a multi queue workload.

Software that did well in the 4K scores also mostly does well in the sequential read and write scores. OSFMount wins this test with very high scores in both single and multi queue workloads. Softperfect and UIltra RAMDisk Lite were also fast across both tests.

There isn’t really a clear winner because no drive won a sizeable number of the 12 different tests. If we had to choose one, we’d pick OSFMount. It is very fast across the board and read/write scores were very consistent. StarWind RAM Disk was also consistent but not as fast. Other generally fast but not as consistent tools were Ultra RAMDisk Lite, ImDisk, ROG RAMDisk, and SoftPerfect RAM Disk.

Картинка с сайта: whatsoftware.com

At the end of the day, it depends on what you want from your RAM disk. Do you want a fast all rounder, fast sequential or random speeds, or a preference for reads/writes? All RAM disk tools actually performed reasonably close to each other and you probably wouldn’t notice a huge difference between most of them.

Here is a list of best free RAMDisk software for Windows. These freeware let you create virtual disk drive on your computer to juice up your computer’s performance. This memory is taken from your computer’s RAM, so more RAM lets you create larger RAMDisk. Of course, you can’t use all of the RAM to create virtual memory, but you can use a significant part of it depending upon your RAM’s capacity.

Why to create RAMDisk using these RAMDisk software?

RAM is way faster than the Hard Disk Drives available on our computers. It is up to 100 times faster than SSD and 200 times faster than Hard Drives. Retaining a bit of space from RAM can speed up your computer’s process significantly. It is usually made use of for processes like: Boost Games, Browser cache for fast web surfing,  Software compilation, Audio editing and Video editing, CAD programs, Speed up CD duplication, Databases, etc. It is also preferred for its security, as all info stored on it is cleared out as soon as computer is shut down or if there is a power loss.

Some of the RAMDisk software that I have mentioned here let you create one without any limitation, while some are free versions of paid software and have limitations. Instead of limitations, you are given ample features to make use of these freeware. Define RAMDisk memory and various other parameters as per your requirement and start using any of these software. Go through this carefully crafted list to know more about these software.

My Favorite RAMDisk Software:

I like Miray RAM Drive the most because of its ease of use. It has a simple interface which minimizes in the Windows system tray. You just have to select the size of the RAMDisk and begin the process.

You can also checkout the list of best free Virtual Drive Software, Hard Disk Encryption Software, and Software To Clone Hard Drive.

Miray RAM Drive

Miray RAM Drive is a simple RAMDisk freeware with limited functionality. The free version supports a max disk size of 4 GB and 8GB for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows respectively. If you have a low capacity RAM, the max size of the RAMDisk adjusts according to the size of RAM. The software interface rests in the system tray and can be accessed from there.

Click on the software’s icon, a small interface appears which lets you select the size of disk you want to create. Select a size and then click on the Green button, then the RAMDisk begins to operate. To stop the process, click the Red button on the interface. As soon as you stop the process, all data will be lost.

Right click on the icon to access configuration window. Here you can set auto start parameters, access advanced settings, and choose to quit the application. The advanced setting options let you choose to activate confirmation When turning off, When quitting, and When shutting down.

ImDisk

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

ImDisk is a freeware to create RAMDisk on your computer. The software lets you create RAMDisk in easy and simple steps.

How to create RAMDisk using ImDisk:

• Click on Mount New option on the UI.
• A popup opens where you have to select a Drive letter, Enter desired size of RAMDisk, and select Device type (auto, hdd, cd/dvd, or floppy).
• Select Image File Access option: Create virtual disk in virtual memory or Create virtual disk in physical memory.
• Choose if you want your disk to be as a Removable media or Read-only media.
• Click OK to mount the drive.

A list of mounted virtual drives are displayed on the main UI. There is also an option to mount saved RAMDisk image stored on your computer.

QILING Disk Master Free

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

QILING Disk Master Free is a free utility with multiple tools to manage your computer. One of the tools let you create and mount RAMDisk.

How to craete RAMDisk using QILING Disk Master Free:

Go to the Tools and Utilities tab, and click on Create RAMDisk option. Now you can set its size, choose to save RAMDisk data, set system temp dir to RAMDisk, set current temp dir to ramdisk, set name of RAMDisk, and finally click on Create RAMdisk option. Go to the main interface now, and click on Start RAMDisk to begin the process.

Other tools available in this freeware RAMDISK Creator are: Create bootable media, Enable preOS, Set temp dir to RAMDisk, Disk info, Disk health, Disk partition clone, Fix boot, and Disk mount.

Gavotte Ramdisk

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

Gavotte Ramdisk is a simple RAMdisk creator software with few options to setup. To setup RAMDisk, the first thing you have to do is select the RAMdisk size. You can select the size from 16MB to 3GB. Then you can assign a Drive letter and select Media type from the following: RAM Drive, Fixed Media, and Removable Media. Click on Install Ramdisk to start it. These is also an option to save a Ramdisk configuration and Load it when you want.

AMD Radeon™ RAMDisk

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

AMD Radeon™ RAMDisk is another free RAMDisk software, which offers upto 4GB of ramdisk capacity. For higher RAMDisk capacity, you will have to upgrade to paid versions. Ideal RAM memory to utilize this freeware for 4 GB RAMDisk is 8 GB.

The options on the interface let you select the RAMDisk size, set label, set drive letter, choose to set temporary directory, save and load RAMDisk image file, show system log, set RAMDisk timeout value, clear RAMDisk on exit, etc.

The options to Start and Stop this freeware are available on the interface.

AR RAM Disk

AR RAM Disk is a very simple RAMDisk software for Windows. The website of this product says that it is only supported on these platforms: Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP; however, I tested it on Windows 10 and it worked perfectly fine.

So, talking about the freeware, you can set various parameters for RAMDisk through 3 different tabs:

• General: Set Drive letter, startup type (system, automatic), operating mode (Ramdisk mode or Emulate a local hard disk).
• Geometry: Set Disk size (1MB to 2047MB), Byte per sector (512, 1024, 2048, 4096), Sector per track (8, 16, 32, 64), and Track per cylinder (1, 2, 4, 8, 16).
• File System: Set Volume name and Volume ID.

Click on Ok after setting up all the parameters to begin AR RAM disk.

OSFMount

OSFMount is primarily a software to mount disk images, but it is also fully capable of mounting RAMDisk. To mount new RAMDisk, go to File>Mount New Virtual Disk. A new popup opens, where you have to choose Empty RAM Drive as Source. Define Drive size, Drive Letter and Drive Type (Auto,HDD, CD/DVD, or Floppy). Click Ok to mount the drive.

To mount Image files, you can select Source as Image File while mounting new virtual disk. You also get options to dismount drives, save image files, etc. The software is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.

Ultra RAMDisk Lite

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

Ultra RAMDisk Lite is a version which lets you create one RAMDisk at a time, and is free only for personal and non-commercial use. There is also a limitation of maximum RAMDisk size, which is 2GB.

Click on the RAMDisk + option to create one. A popup opens which displays following system info: OS name, Available memory, Total  memory, and Installed memory. Now you can define the following parameters to create RAMDisk:

• Disk size: Set the memory size in MB (should not be more than available memory).
• Disk type: SCSI (physical disk) or Direct I/O (logical disk, faster).
• Disk management: Drive letter, File system (NTFS), Lable, and Create temp folder.
• Other settings: Set as Read-only and One-time (remove on system shutdown).
• Backup and Restore: Choose to Restore at system startup and Backup on system shutdown. This is a very important option as it ensures you can keep using the same RAMDISK even after the system restarts.

After all parameters are set, click on Ok to create RAMDisk. You will have to Log Off once setting up the parameters, then Log In again to begin RAMDisk.

This freeware also lets you utilize the following tools: Temp folder, Virtual CD+, Make ISO, etc.

RAMDisk

Картинка с сайта: listoffreeware.com

RAMDisk is a freeware to create RAMDisk for free. The free version comes with a limitation of creating RAMDisk of 1 GB only, but does its job pretty well. There are various parameters that you can set before creating RAMDisk. There are four Tabs to do so:

• Settings: Define RAMDisk data size (max size 1 GB), Choose the type of memory (FAT Partition, FAT 16 partition, Fat 32 partition, and Unformatted partition), Select to create Temp Dir, Set Disk label, etc.
• Load/Save: Save and load options for the Image file of the disk. You can also choose to load disk image at startup.
• Event Log: Check RAMDisk event log here.
• Options: Here you can choose to manually set RAMDisk timeout value, clear RAMDisk memory on exit, select to not start RAMDisk when Windows starts, and allow image files to be saved on non system drive.

After going through all the options, click on the Start RAMDisk to start and Stop RAMDisk to stop the process.