Command: tdsk
TDSK creates a RAM disk. Part of memory is set aside to act like a
disk drive. Because memory is much faster than a real disk drive,
RAM disks are very fast, but anything stored on them will be lost when
the machine is restarted or switched off. TDSK supports XMS, EMS and
conventional memory.
Syntax:
device=tdsk.exe size [[s_sector [files [s_cluster]]]] [/E] [/A|X] [/C]
[/M]
Options:
size the size of the RAM disk, from 8 to 65534 (in Kilobytes).
[[s_sector [files [s_cluster]]]]
Advanced. The size of the sectors, root and clusters
on the disk.
Valid values for sector are 32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048.
Files (in the root direcotry) can be from 1 to 65534.
Clusters can vary from 1 to 255 (some systems are restricted
to 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128)
/E Forces the use of XMS memory.
/A Specifies the use of EMS memory.
/X Specifies the use of EMS memory.
/C Forces use of conventional memory (not ideal, so it is
generally only recommended for systems without XMS/EMS or if
you are having problems with XMS/EMS memory.)
/I:nnn nnn=country code. This will show the help in another language.
/M Switches the screen output from color to monochrome(redirect-
able) while in CONFIG.SYS monochrome will be used by default.
/B avoids to load TURBODSK if there is at least one hard disk
available on the system.
/F selects the number of FAT copies (1 by default) up to a maxi-
mum of 2.
/H Shows the help.
/? Shows the help.
Comments:
Size must be in the range 8 - 65534 KB; valid sectors are from 32 to
2048 Bytes (in powers f 2), though some DOS versions support 128, 256
and 512 Bytes only. Files of root may be 1 to 65534 and sectors by
cluster can vary from 1 to 255 (some systems need a power of 2). Only
the size is necessary.
Turbodsk defaults to XMS or EMS.
After installing TURBODSK in CONFIG.SYS it can be run from AUTOEXEC.BAT
or the prompt in order to vary the drive size (amount of memory used);
this also erases the drive's contents. A size 0 can be used to
completely free the memory occupied by the drive: When using
conventional memory it is useful to cancel a drive BEFORE resizing.
When more than one TURBODSK is installed, they can be identified by
additionally giving the drive letter.
By default, tdsk tries to use XMS or EMS, before trying to use
conventional memory. Most modern computers have XMS.
Why use a RAM disk?
Many programs create temporary files, which will be stored in a
temporary directory specified by an environment variable:
set temp=c:\temp
Temporary files are deleted when a program exits anyway. So one of the
main uses of RAM disks is to hold this temporary directory. This
increases such programs' performance.
TDSK has the following EXITCODES (ERRORLEVEL):
0: Disk not defined
255: Driver not installed from CONFIG.SYS
254: Incorrect drive letter specified
253: Attempt to define a drive from within a multitasking
environment such Windows, DOSSHELL, TASKMAX/TASKMGR, etc.
252: Syntax error
Other values below 128 are related to the handle used in both
the Extended or the Expanded memory.
Examples:
IN CONFIG.SYS/FDCONFIG.SYS:
device(high)=c:\fdos\bin\tdsk.exe 8096
(creates 8096 KB RAM disk)
tdsk.exe 0 resizes the ramdisk to 0 Byte size
(deletes all files)
tdsk.exe 2048 resizes the ramdisk to 2048 KB size
(deletes all files)
See also:
autoexec.bat
config.sys
(emm386 (EMS))
fdconfig.sys
(fdxms (XMS))
(fdxms286 (XMS))
(himem (XMS))
himemx (XMS)
jemm386 (EMS)
jemmex (EMS)
rdisk
Copyright © 2003 Robert Platt, updated 2011 by W. Spiegl.
This file is derived from the FreeDOS Spec Command HOWTO.
See the file H2Cpying for copying conditions.