Ramdisks - A Quick Tutorial By James Judge I'm sure you've all now read my previous article about Ramdisks and what they can do for you and now the question on your lips is "How do I use one?". Well, I'm here, once again, to answer, in true 'agony uncle' style, this question. OK, so you've all rushed an order off for a Ramdisk program and you've received the disk with a flimsy README.DOC on it. Not only does it not explain how to use the Ramdisk, once up and running, it also goes on about 'root directories', 'kilobytes' and other horrifying computer type words. "WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?" Is, I should imagine, the question which is on your lips at the moment. Well, even though the DOC seems gibberish at the moment, I recommend you read it. Next, make a backup copy of the disk (after checking it for a virus, of course) and keep the original in a safe place (no, not with your collection of magnets). Also, on another disk, get a few files or programs (that you know are runnable from the desktop) that you won't mind fiddling around with for a while. Basically you're looking for a game or something that has a lot of disk accessing, takes a while to load and has a few files. Any suggestions? What's that at the back? An AGT game? Hmmm, good idea, give yourself a star, Miss Medley. So now you've got one disk with your backup program on it and a disk with a smallish AGT game (let's call the game 'Quest' for argument's sake). You've also read the README.DOC and know how to get the program up and running. You also need a blank disk to copy all the files and programs to. There are three ways of running a Ramdisk. The first is via an AUTO folder (I don't know what the equivalent is on the PC and Amiga) in which you place the program and any other files with the suffix INF (or any others the DOC told you about) in the root directory. To get an auto folder open up disk A (which should be the blank disk) and go up to FILE and from there select NEW FOLDER. Type in, as the folder's name, AUTO and press return. Now, in the directory of the disk, you should see a folder named AUTO. Well done. Copy the program(s) to this folder and all the other relevant files to the ROOT DIRECTORY of the disk. Putting files etc. in the ROOT DIRECTORY of a disk is basically not putting the files in any folders. Simple. Now, reset the computer using a cold reset (turn the power off, wait for thirty seconds and turn it back on) which will wipe any memory resident programs leaving you plenty of memory to fiddle about with. The installation program (the one you placed in the AUTO folder) should now run and present you with a menu (or something) with which you can change the parameters of the Ramdisk. Each program has its own system so I won't give you a tutorial on how to use it. Read the DOC!! Once you've changed all the parameters to your specifications (see later for recommended sizes and drive names) you save it and you've got your Ramdisk. Normally all you do now is reset the computer and the program will by-pass the set-up bit and install the Ramdisk. Now go down a bit and see how to get use the Ramdisk. The second and third ways of running your Ramdisk is via the desktop itself. The second is via a runnable program which you just double click on and it will bring up a configuration program with which you set the size and name of the Ramdisk. You then save the configuration and put the resulting program either in an AUTO folder (see above) or you can run it straight from the desktop. The third and final (and probably the least known about) way of running a Ramdisk is from a desk accessory. The way to run these thingies is by putting the .ACC file in the root directory of a disk and resetting your computer (preferably cold as it clears the memory). After a little while and maybe an installation note later you'll get the standard desktop. Now, go to the DESK menu and lo and behold, you've got something new under INFO!! Click on this new selection (normally the name of the program) and up will pop, in the middle of the screen, a configuration menu with all the normal options - size and name. Make your selection and click on OK. The accessory has now done its bit and got you your Ramdisk. The good thing about accessory Ramdisks is that you can access them in programs (if they use the standard GEM menu bar) and change the size of the disk or add another one. Hoorah!! "FINE, I'VE RUN THE PROGRAM BUT I CAN'T SEE THE %&$(^* DISK ICON. WHAT SHOULD I DO?" Panic! No, only joking. You can't see the icon because you have yet to install one. The way you do this is to click once (and once only) on disk A to highlight it. Now, go up to OPTIONS on the menu bar and select INSTALL DRIVE. You'll now see a small box with NAME, LETTER, INSTALL, REMOVE and CANCEL in it. Firstly you want to give the disk a name. I normally call it RAMDISK or MEMORY but you may like to call it Fred, George, Bobbi or any other name which suits you. You need to give the disk a letter as well. Don't give it any old letter as GEM has got a few special letters. Don't call it drive A or B as these are the internal and external drives. Don't call it drive C either (only in a few cases should you do this - see later) as that is the proper drive letter for a hard disk. The proper letter for the disk is M but you can name it another one from D to P if you want but M is easy to remember. Now click on install and you'll see, on the desktop, a drive icon for your Ramdisk. Ain't it cute? No, not really but it will now act as a standard drive but faster and with a few limitations. The first is you can't drag another disk icon on to it as it is incompatible with all others. Also you can't format it. If you want to lose the data just drag the files to the trashcan and whammo, in a couple of seconds, you've lost hundreds of K of data. Now, was that a mistake? OK. Let's have a look back at what we've achieved, shall we? Well, you've got the Ramdisk up and running with its own little icon and letter and you've got a disk with an imaginary game on it called 'Quest'. What should you do now? Saving the desktop would be a good idea. Firstly, if you're going to use the Ramdisk in medium resolution, go to medium resolution and then re-install the disk icon. Save the desktop to the disk with the Ramdisk program or accessory on it and, every time you want to use it again, you won't have to switch resolutions and install the drive. "YEP, DONE ALL THAT. I'VE NOW GOT A 2K RAMDISK UP AND RUNNING WITH ITS OWN LITTLE ICON (AND YES, IT IS CUTE)" Whoa, stop right there. You say you've got a 2K Ramdisk? "YEP" Well, you'll have to start all over again because you'll definitely need more than 2K in your Ramdisk. If you want to use your Ramdisk for only data handling I'd suggest about 750K. If you've only got a half meg machine you've just wasted some valuable reading time, haven't you, because this, little ones, is slightly out of your league. Go to the bottom of the article and read the section for the little ones. If you want to run AGT games off it I'd suggest 512K. For larger AGT games (Oklib's Revenge, for example) you may need 600K. Any larger and the game won't run. "FINE. DONE THAT. WHAT NOW, OH GURU OF THE RAMDISKS?" We-e-ell. You've got ya' RD (the correct size, no doubt), icon and letter so now you want to learn how it can aid you in disk copying. "YEP, SURE DO" Good. Let's imagine this, you've got a disk full of small files which all come to about 300K of data. There's 23 of these beasties and they are on a single sided disk. You want to copy them to a double sided disk. This means a total of 46 disk swaps. Pretty boring and time wasting. Wouldn't you rather just have one swap? Thought you would so this is how to do it: 1) Get your Ramdisk up and running in medium resolution. 2) Open drive A and drag all the files to the ramdisk. 3) Put your blank disk in drive A. 4) Close drive A and open drive M. 5) Drag all the files to drive A. 6) Drag all the files to the trashcan unless you want to copy them somewhere else. 7) Give yourself a hefty pat on the back. You've done it! "RIGHT, DONE THAT. S'GOOD, INNIT?" OK. Well done. Now, remember the disk with the fictitious adventure 'Quest' on it? Well, we all know it takes a while to load and is a pig to play don't we? So now, for our next trick, we are going to make them run triple time. Ready? Let's go... 1) Copy all the AGT data to the Ramdisk. 2) Open the Ramdisk. 3) Run the RUN program. 4) Sit back and watch as the game loads up in a few seconds and, every time you make a move, there is only a very small pause while the computer checks the memory. Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!! "WOWIE! THAT'S WHAT I CALL SPEEEEEED!" I've covered most of the things concerning Ramdisks and the use of now I think and I'm running out of steam and dying for a drink so I'll be going now and leave you to fiddle with your new found toy in peace. Oh and by the way, for all you ST owners out there, I've sent Sue a few programs which create Ramdisks so, if you order that disk, you'll have quite a good start in the world of Ramdisks, especially with RDE and Maxidisk. "AHEM, EXCUSE ME. WHAT ABOUT THE 'LITTLE ONES' AMONG US?" Oops, sorry. For those of you with only a half meg machine you can only use Ramdisks for file handling. Create a disk of 400K and then use the above method but you'll have to split the files into two. That is all isn't it? "YEP, NOW GO AND HAVE A WELL DESERVED DRINK" Thanks... slurp... slurp... belch! @~James' collection of Ramdisks is on disk 596.