You can create a virtual RAM disk in Windows 11 or Windows 10. A RAM drive is a hard drive created within the Random Access Memory (RAM) of a computer. Unlike traditional hard drives or solid-state drives (SSDs) that use physical media for storage, a RAM drive uses the computer's RAM to store data.
A RAM disk has a number of advantages. For example, data exchange with a RAM disk is much faster than other types of disks. It is therefore extremely suitable for temporary cache files or the rapid exchange of data. Consider, for example, the data from a database. Because this data needs to be exchanged quickly, a virtual disk such as a RAM disk is extremely suitable.
A RAM disk is created using software that allocates a portion of RAM as storage space. Windows itself does not have built-in support for creating RAM disks, but there are several programs available that make this possible. This guide will tell you how.
Create virtual RAM disk in Windows 11 or 10
We are going to use the app “Softperfect RAM Disk” for this. SoftPerfect RAM Disk is a powerful RAM disk application that allows you to completely store a disk on your computer in memory. So, because memory is much faster than physical hard drives, storing temporary data on a fast drive in memory provides higher performance.
The SoftPerfect RAM Disk virtual disk creates a temporary virtual disk that can be accessed in Windows Explorer and other applications, so you can save all temporary information on this drive. In addition, Windows can be configured to use the RAM disk for temporary files, causing the system and most other applications to use the fast disk in memory for their temporary data. Since Windows and other third-party applications often create a large number of temporary files for only a short time, using a RAM disk will extend the life of your hard drive by sparing it from excessive reading and writing. This is especially valuable for solid-state drives (SSD), which have a limited number of writes.
To begin download Softperfect RAM Disk to your computer. Then install the app. Softperfect RAM Disk supports Windows 10 to Windows 11, Windows Server 2016 to 2022 or later. This software is compatible with Intel, AMD, and ARM64 processors.
Click “+” to create a new virtual RAM disk.
You can then configure various options. You start by setting the “Size (MB)” in megabytes. For example, if you want to set 3 Gigabytes, enter “3000”. Additionally, you can mount an Image (ISO) file to the virtual RAM disk.
In the “Mount Options” you can set the drive letter “Drive Letter” and “Automatic Creation”. You can choose from “At Startup” or “At Logon”. The first is at computer startup and the second is at user logon.
At the bottom you will see the “File System Options”. Here you can specify the file system for the virtual RAM disk. This is standard “ExFat”. This file system is suitable for all types of files, including those created in Linux or macOS. If you only use Windows, you may consider setting “NTFS” here. If you have no idea, use the standard “ExFat” file system.
Click “Advanced” to change additional configuration settings. You can do this in the advanced settings “volume label” or set a virtual disk name. You can also change the allocation size (cluster) in the file system.
If you have set everything correctly and as required, click “OK”. In Windows Explorer you will now see the drive letter as a virtual RAM disk. In the window of “Softperfect RAM Disk” you can further manage this RAM disk.
This way you can see the size, the current disk usage, the configured file system and any linked ISO (image) file. Click the question mark in the menu to view more information about using Softperfect RAM Disk.
I hope to have informed you with this. Thank you for reading!
Also read: What type of RAM memory is in my Windows computer?