DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

converting hard-disk to ram

16 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/converting-hard-disk-to-ram.28542/

friend_sunit
friend_sunit Original post #1
May 19, 2006 at 3:19 PM
hello i have a RAM of 64 MB and on the other hand a huge hard-disk of more than 50 GB free-space. Isn't there any way that some of the hard disk space may be used as RAM without buying a new ram. many games don't run on my pc.
samrulez
May 19, 2006 at 3:25 PM
Yes u can do that.That is called the virtual memory.But being on the hard disk it will be much much slower than physical memory.But I have a doubt that will it help in games.But it will surely help in opening windows etc.
Desmond
Desmond #3
May 19, 2006 at 3:30 PM
Convert HDD to RAM??
Who is stupid enough to do that. You already have a Pagefile on your Windows drive. You can try increasing the Pagefile size. Rt.click My Comp> Properties>Advanced>Virtual Memory

Increase the size as you please. About 500 MB should be fine.
digiFriend
May 19, 2006 at 5:11 PM
randomly increase pagefile can have reverse effect on performance. in greater pagefile windows will more depend on it, which will increase access time for windows. general rule is to increase pagefile max up to 2 times of ram installed .
D
May 19, 2006 at 6:25 PM
That's totally incorrect. By that logic if I have 4 GB RAM should I make my pagefile 8 GB? No na?
O
one #6
May 19, 2006 at 6:29 PM
we can increase the page file but we cant convert the harddrive space into RAM,harddisk is a storage device.i think its impossible
ymhatre
ymhatre #7
May 19, 2006 at 10:22 PM
drvarunmehta said:
That's totally incorrect. By that logic if I have 4 GB RAM should I make my pagefile 8 GB? No na?

agree with u....
i hope the rule is ( ram + 500)mb.....
but on the otherhand having 4gb dont mean tht we shld hav 4.5gb of page file....
S
May 19, 2006 at 11:34 PM
all are funny persons !! haHaHahahahahahah....

hey first understand the question asked , what he wants , is there any possible way to use some space to be accessed by the ram for its expasion purpose ? is ther any soft's for that ? thats it ? but i dont know !!!!! Sorry guys
ymhatre
ymhatre #9
May 19, 2006 at 11:55 PM
steelwin said:
all are funny persons !! haHaHahahahahahah....

hey first understand the question asked , what he wants , is there any possible way to use some space to be accessed by the ram for its expasion purpose ? is ther any soft's for that ? thats it ? but i dont know !!!!! Sorry guys

SORRY but i think u r the most funniest guy in this thread.....(DAM SERIOUS about this........ uhhhhh)
may be the host of this thread may be a rookie..... but everyones knows tht HDD cant be the substitute for ram....
ram is totally different thing...
if tht was the case, then theres no way of purchasing ram...
a normal 512 ram spends ur 1700rs(approx)
while a 40 gb hdd(pata) is around tht price...
if it was possible to convert hdd into ram, then there would have been no sales of ram....
so the people here r telling tht by atleast increasing page file he could make is OS/programs faster a "bit"

AGAIN the conclusion :--- "u r the funniest of all" (uuhhhhhh.....)
digiFriend
May 21, 2006 at 11:15 AM
drvarunmehta said:
That's totally incorrect. By that logic if I have 4 GB RAM should I make my pagefile 8 GB? No na?

the below extract is from web page
*www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/04/27/pagefile.html

althought its for server, you can get general idea about pagefile.
Increasing the Pagefile Size

While the default setting of 1.5 x RAM is sufficient for pagefile size for some server roles, if your machine is running disk- and memory-intensive applications like Exchange or SQL Server then you may want to increase the initial pagefile size to 2 x RAM or even larger. Microsoft doesn't recommend increasing the pagefile to more than 3 x RAM, however, and the maximum allowed size for any one instance of pagefile.sys on a machine is limited to 4GB. So, if you have a powerful machine with 4GB of RAM then you have to split the pagefile to overcome this limit. This splitting can be done in two ways: create separate pagefiles on different volumes (done in the usual way) or create multiple pagefiles on a single volume. (See KB 237740 for how to do this.) On a more modest machine with 1GB of RAM though, you would probably be best served to set the initial pagefile size to 2GB (2 x RAM) and the maximum pagefile size to 3GB (3 x RAM).

also follow the digit tread where "sakumar79" has written simple explation
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28579
ymhatre
ymhatre #11
May 21, 2006 at 11:32 AM
@digifriend
thts an useful info......
D
May 21, 2006 at 12:35 PM
Actually it's better not to have a minimum and maximum size for the pagefile but to keep it static. If the file size varies, it's going to get fragmented and will lead to a loss inperformance.
H
May 22, 2006 at 9:58 PM
WHO'S THAT NUTSHELL WHO WANTS SOME PAGEFILE WHEN HE HAS 4 GB RAM!!
my god! what do u want ? A COMPUTER running at a speed 12 Lightyears per second?
ymhatre
ymhatre #14
May 22, 2006 at 10:14 PM
@hellboy_extreme
sorry mate...
here nobody wants to put 4gb of page file.....
infact carefully read the thread, all r against it....

"A COMPUTER running at a speed 12 Lightyears per second"
------- This make no sense....
Also nobody in this thread is having 4Gb of ram...(U may be exception)
it_waaznt_me
May 24, 2006 at 2:39 AM
I would like to correct Digifreind on some counts . .. That 4 Gb limit is not on pagefile only .. Its the maximum file size on Fat32 formatted drive .. So it applies to every file ...

Now if someone is having 4 Gb Ram, he doesnt need virtual memory .. In fact if you have Ram above 2048 mb (2 Gb) (I envy you >:) ), you dont need virtual memory at all .. In fact if you use virtual memory, it will degrade your system's performance ... Here's why ..

The access time of hard disk is muuuuch larger than that of RAM .. So you cant substitute hard disk space for Ram .. Virtual memory works on the principal that most frequently used files are loaded in the cache so that time is not lost in accessing and loading them to Ram ...

I hope this will make the matter clear .. .
kin.vachhani
Aug 21, 2006 at 2:09 AM
In short it is not possible.....