new ram, flash drive, or second ewf?

**roflcopter** · 02-25-2009, 10:54 PM

So... I just realized i messed up i think. i have a 1gb flash ata drive from logic supply and 1gb of kingston ram.

im currently using nlite to minimize my footprint. but was just reading sfiorto's guide again and realized i either need a bigger HDD or a smaller stick of ram to use HORM.

I guess my question is... would i find it more advantageous to buy a new stick of ram or a new flash ata drive. or can i put the hibernation file on an ewf volume on a second partition of my storage drive (wd sata 160gb)?

Thanks.

**SFiorito** · 02-26-2009, 08:07 AM

These days your better off buying a newer, faster, larger drive. The SSD prices on NewEgg are pretty cheap. And if you're using HORM you don't care so much about write speeds, just read.

Windows requires the hibernation file to be on the root of the system drive. Some people have tried to get it onto another drive, but I don't believe they were ever successful. I also don't know how that would work with HORM since EWF would no longer be protecting the hibernation file from writes.

**roflcopter** · 02-26-2009, 12:06 PM

is the ssd a must? or could i just get a 7200rpm laptop disk drive and be fine? will i really see that much speed difference?

i currently have a 160gb 5400rpm that i could just partition to a 2gb partition for the system and ewf that volume correct?

otherwise i can purchase the same emphase ATA flash drive from logicsupply for $38 but in a 2gb

**roflcopter** · 02-26-2009, 12:11 PM

i just found an OCZ 30gb SSD for 85 after rebate with free shipping. would it be logical to just partition this into a 2gb partition for the OS and use the other ~28 for software... FE, nav, etc... and then use my second ide as my media library as planned...

**SFiorito** · 02-26-2009, 12:52 PM

SSD isn't a necessity, but I think those ATA flash modules are very slow. They're meant for very limited devices.

That OCZ would be good. Yes, you could partition it so you can use HORM, have a really fast boot up due to good read rates and then place your software on a writeable partition.

**roflcopter** · 02-26-2009, 02:02 PM

thanks man, i really appreciate it. im pretty new to the whole embedded world.

i guess my only other question is, will nliting really boost the performance? is it worth reducing the footprint if im not going to be restricted by hdd space now?

**BlackStealth** · 02-26-2009, 02:08 PM

FYI Windows XP has an option called /burnmemory -- it's used to reduce your memory size without the need to physically replace your ram.

**roflcopter** · 02-26-2009, 02:28 PM

hmmm.... i might give that a shot... although, it would probably be a better option in general to just get the 30gb OCZ SSD. that way i'll have 1gb of ram available... not that i probably need it, but it wouldnt hurt.