How may I setup a RAM disk on my Windows 7 computer without using third-party software? There seems to be a lot of third-party applications that can do this, but I am wondering if this is something that Windows already provides, perhaps through the command line interface or Administrator controls, that is not as intuitive as a nice GUI. Thanks.
Windows – How to setup a RAM disk without using third-party software
ramdiskwindows 7
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I convert my comment to an answer, as the comment by @C0D3M0NK3Y confirms it.
Windows will not accept dynamic virtual disks in a RAID, but the comment by @C0D3M0NK3Y confirms that fixed-size disks used to work in XP Professional. There is therefore an excellent chance that fixed-size virtual disks will still work with RAID in Windows 7.
It is actually quite logical that Windows cannot create a RAID over dynamic disks whose size is unknown and can change at any moment.
EDIT/ADD:
Had to try it to see either way for sure, and it works (when using fixed-sized VHDs):
Host OS: Windows 7 Ultimate, with two "Basic" disks.
VM OS: Vista Ultimate.
Created two "fixed sized" VHD's of 500MB each, one on each of the host's physical disks, and attached them to the VM (as the 2nd and 3rd drives).
Initialized the new disks in the VM and then converted them to "Dynamic" disks (in Vista's Disk Management).
Then joined them together into a RAID0 (stripe):
Worked like a charm, without any need to do anything 'weird'.
On the workstations (or on the domain controller if there is one) you will need to change this Group Policy:
User Configuration--> Administrative Templates --> Control Panel --> Printers --> Prevent addition of printers --> Enable
This is what it does. Keep in mind that it does not prevent them from craftily using PowerShell or NET USE to add the printer.
Prevents users from using familiar methods to add local and network printers.
This setting removes the Add Printer option from the Start menu. (To find the Add Printer option, click Start, click Printers, and then click Add Printer.) This setting also removes Add Printer from the Printers folder in Control Panel.
Also, users cannot add printers by dragging a printer icon into the Printers folder. If they try, a message appears explaining that the setting prevents the action.
However, this setting does not prevent users from using the Add Hardware Wizard to add a printer. Nor does it prevent users from running other programs to add printers.
This setting does not delete printers that users have already added. However, if users have not added a printer when this setting is applied, they cannot print.
Note: You can use printer permissions to restrict the use of printers without specifying a setting. In the Printers folder, right-click a printer, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
If this policy is disabled, or not configured, users can add printers using the methods described above.
Best Answer
There is no ramdisk included with windows, you must use a 3rd party one.
They do have the source for a ramdisk in their Driver Development Kit that you could compile and install. But I would recommend going with a 3rd party solution as it will be much more robust than a quick SDK example (often example code will not be written with best practices because understandability is more important that perfect design when writing a example (whats the point of writing a example if your student is totally lost looking at it)).