Tip: using a ramdisk for cache

[greebo]

If you have enogh RAM then moving disk cache onto ramdisk will speed things up for any browser:

E.g. use lmdisk in Windows (32 or 64bit) http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk

imdisk.exe -a -s 250M -m R: -S 4096 -p ”/fs:exFAT /q /y”

in about:config add

browser.cache.disk.parent_directory R:\
#200mb is PM default MAX
#browser.cache.disk.capacity 200000

[greebo]

this one is faster and also free http://www.softperfect.com/products/ramdisk/

[alan9182]

Am I correct in thinking there is an option with a RAM DISK for it to transfer contents to HDD upon computer shut-down, and reload upon Start-Up ?

Does that apply to both products ?

How do the products compare in computer resource use ?

Regards
Alan

[greebo]

i do not use it to "preload" data on them, so i can't say about those functions, but softperfect solution looks better [gui, autostart, make folders...]

preloaded portable palemoon/ffox version should work fast if loaded on ramdisk. haven-t tested that, but it could be ...interesting.

[alan9182]

Thanks

Regards
Alan

[mr666]

I have just read other posts about specific apps for ramdisk: I am pretty curious, it would seem a way to have speeder PaleMoon: article is from lffl.org(italian language) about making this work for every browsers without any app install,on linux. I know thar RAM is much more fast than HDD..
I use a notebook and winxp on an old 2,5'' Hdd sata, less than 1 Gb of ram: is it useful to install an app for RAMDISK and is not possible to have this kind of boost performance in another way?
Paolo

[greebo]

linux uses tmpfs and it's already integrated.

usage > http://www.krenger.ch/blog/linux-ramdisk-with-tmpfs/

BUT every browser or app has it's own way to cfg the path to it.
opera and ffox+derivates use about:config

chrom* uses command line parameters...

[mr666]

I thought that it was necessary a software for giving to windows system a command in order to manage ram as a disk too,..
Paolo

[Moonchild]

Let's keep our things straight here. Linux doesn't apply, since pale Moon is for Windows only.

Windows, indeed, needs to use a third-party program to make a RAM drive, and I suggest you stick with the softperfect one, since it has the lowest threshold for use (everything can be done through the UI, and it will autostart with Windows, as well as have the built-in option to change Windows' "temp" folder to the RAM drive - and it can save everything in it to disk for a permanent cache across reboots).

To have Pale Moon use the RAM drive for cache, you need to edit the about:config entries as outlined in the OP

[stravinsky]

i have used a RAM-caching software. It sounds really nice. But the actual subjective improvements are quite less.
Palemoon is not really disc bound software. The problem is that the main UI thread can be blocked by I/O operations thread. The solution is to rewrite the code and make I/O asynchronous.

[Moonchild]

... I'll get right on that. ...

[Labelleprovince]

this one is faster and also free http://www.softperfect.com/products/ramdisk/

Softperfect contains virus/trojan (blocked/deleted by popular chinese AV during setup), so the program did not work.

[Moonchild]

I forget the name of it but if it's the same that flags some of the additional tools for Pale Moon as a virus (like the backup tool etc.) then it's most likely a false positive - especially if you download it from the official site

[Labelleprovince]

I forget the name of it but if it's the same that flags some of the additional tools for Pale Moon as a virus (like the backup tool etc.) then it's most likely a false positive - especially if you download it from the official site

Rising AV is quite effective and well known in Asia, I think that it is superior to many European products. Excellent technology!

[Moonchild]

Well, if it prevents you from using software that is safe and that you want to use.... it's not by definition superior

But, that's a discussion for a different thread, not this one (feel free to discuss this in "general discussion" or "technical chat")

[mr666]

Hi!
I 'd like to know about this values's advice,please:

in about:config add

browser.cache.disk.parent_directory R:\
#200mb is PM default MAX
#browser.cache.disk.capacity 200000

Is this 2011 post good for last updated version of our broswer yet? I have just 1Gb RAM and no much cpu available, on my laptop, tending to quiet in order to cool it: may be, I should change 100M and 20000...
Regards
Paolo

[Moonchild]

Using a RAM disk for cache is a tip if you have plenty of memory to spare. Pale Moon already uses memory for caching, and the disk cache in your case would be best left on disk.
What you can do, however, is use the softperfect RAM disk with 100 MB or so allocated to it, and make sure you put your Windows TEMP folder on it - that way any temporary files (used a lot by e.g. Flash) will be written to RAM instead of disk which will speed things up, probably more noticeable than using it for the browser cache.

[alan9182]

What you can do, however, is use the softperfect RAM disk with 100 MB or so allocated to it, and make sure you put your Windows TEMP folder on it - that way any temporary files (used a lot by e.g. Flash) will be written to RAM instead of disk which will speed things up, probably more noticeable than using it for the browser cache.

Regrettably some software developers, not only third party but also Microsoft themselves,
do NOT now appreciate that by its nature TEMP is is supposed to be non-persistent and may lose its contents after a reboot.

When their products are installed they may require a reboot to execute "RunOnce" code to complete installation before Windows is fully launched,
and they may place that code in TEMP before the reboot expecting it to be available upon the restart

I believe that TEMP held on a SoftPerfect RAM Disk would not be suitable for Installation Completion upon Restart unless its Preload ability was used,
and without further investigation I do not know if it is possible for SoftPerfect to execute under Windows and Preload RAM before the RunOnce completion code is needed to run.

I am still focussed upon how to optimize my use of a new SSD,
so I am happy to raise the question and hope that those with a more immediate need for an answer will obtain and provide links before I need to know for myself.

Regards
Alan

[Moonchild]

Most RAM disks supporting content loading / persistent contents do so at the kernel or driver level, not at the application level, so cross-reboot installations are normally just fine with that since the content of the drive is loaded before the OS gets to the application run level.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: SSDs aren't as fragile as people think. They will outlast many "regular" disks with even the cheaper models having a standard lifetime with normal use as a system drive of 8 years or more - provided you don't use it for a swap file and you don't use standard defrag algorithms on it (defragging should still be done on occasion, like once every few months at most, but with specialized SSD algorithms for it that are supported by some defrag programs (e.g. AusLogics Defrag Pro, I have a 180 day trial version here) - not defragging at all in fact will shorten its lifespan because of excessive allocation table/file table writes).

[alan9182]

Thanks for the assurance

Regards
Alan