RAM Disk from StarWind Software, Inc.: High-Performance RAM Disk Emulator. A RAM disk is a block of RAM (Random Access Memory) that a computer treats as if it were a locally attached Hard Disk Drive. It is sometimes referred to as a virtual RAM drive or software RAM drive. Because the speed of RAM is much faster than most other kinds of storage, files on a RAM disk can be accessed more quickly. Also because the storage is actually in RAM, it is volatile memory and will be lost when the computer powers off. This is sometimes desirable, for example, when working with a decrypted copy of an encrypted file. The decrypted, potentially sensitive data, disappears when the machine restarts. In many applications, data is copied to a RAM disk from other media for much faster access. With RAM drive emulation these virtual drives can be more than 1000 times faster than your local hard drive. They appear to your system and applications as a standard disk volume where you can read and write files. A Virtual RAM disk is based on software abstraction that treats a segment of random access memory (RAM) as secondary storage which is similar to hard disks, except with the advantage that a RAM disk is a lot faster and access time is greatly improved. As there is no mechanical moving parts involved, there won't be any question of wear and tear either. Virtual RAM disk can be used to store frequently accessed yet less important temporary data to speed up the system performance, such as swap space for virtual memory, temporary files used for programs such as Internet Explorer, BT client, P2P eMule, compression utility, translation software (etc.), frequently accessed data from a database or used to hold uncompressed programs for short periods.