Xantor -

Absolutely true. You don't need an uninterruptable power supply to use a RAM disk. I just said I wouldn't use a RAM disk without one.

If your PC loses power for any reason, even a short "brownout" style sag in the current to your house, everything on the RAM disk is gone in an instant. In order for the contents of the RAM disk to be saved permanently, the PC must be shut down properly so the software that manages the RAM disk can write the contents to the hard disk.

If I'm sitting there working on a project for three hours and the lights suddenly go out, I want to be able to shut down smoothly and save everything I've been doing, not sit there in the dark banging my head on the keyboard. Hence, I would want that UPS.

Similarly, a hard computer crash that requires a reboot can wipe your RAM disk before you have a chance to save it to disk. These are rarer under XP than they used to be, but they still happen. No defense against this scenario, though.

Incidentally, the Cenatek company I link to above also makes a solid-state disk add-in card that uses memory chips as a super-fast hard disk. This device has an option for an external DC connection to keep it powered up in the event of a power failure or system power cycle.  It also uses its own RAM so your system's main RAM is not impacted. The price is a laugh, though - $1,600! I guess they are aiming at the high-end server market or something. Too bad - I'd bet at a saner price point (maybe 1/5th) they'd sell quite a few more of these.

• Jimdoria  ~@>@