SoftRAM

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SoftRAM and SoftRAM95
Basic data

developer Syncronys
operating system Microsoft Windows
category Memory management
License proprietary
German speaking Yes
archived at syncronys.com ( Memento from December 28, 1996 in the Internet Archive )

SoftRAM and SoftRAM95 are computer programs that the manufacturers claim can double the available memory under Windows without additional hardware. But it turned out that the program is not able to influence the memory management at all. Developers Syncronys resolved charges with the FTC in July 1996 relating to the program's performance commitments. In 2006 the software was named Third Worst Technical Product of All Time by PCWorld Magazine .

SoftRAM

SoftRAM was developed for the Windows 3.x operating system . The program came on the market in May 1995 and sold over 100,000 times.

Most of the memory problems with the Windows version of that time were caused by the lowest megabyte in the main memory, the conventional memory, when it was completely occupied. For this reason, Windows assigned a program segment prefix (PSP) for every program it started . Some utilities refused to allocate DLLs in this memory area in order to have more conventional memory available for other programs. In PC programming, this was a standard procedure that was also used by other memory optimization programs. SoftRAM also promised to increase the memory using data compression. This also referred to the virtual memory , which is swapped out on the hard drive for reasons of space, which should reduce the number of read and write accesses to the swap file. In addition, the swap file has been enlarged, a setting that normal PC users can also make.

SoftRAM95

SoftRAM95 was developed for Windows 95 and came onto the market in August 1995. Syncronys sold over 600,000 packages at a list price of DM 170 ( USD 79.95, GBP 60).

After the start of sales of Windows 95 it quickly became known that the operating system occupies a lot of memory and needs at least 4 megabytes of RAM, or better still 8 MB, to run smoothly. Syncronys marketed SoftRAM as the cheaper alternative to purchasing memory for those computer systems that would otherwise have difficulties using Windows 95 at all because of the lack of RAM.

Investigation by the FTC

The German computer magazine c't analyzed the program in December 1995 and found that it didn't even begin to try to achieve the effect for which it was advertised. During operation, SoftRAM lets the device drivers process the data unchanged , ie exactly at the point where the data would have to be compressed in order to fulfill the promised program function. The driver supplied is actually just a slightly modified version of Microsoft's "Windows Development Kit". Nevertheless, SoftRAM pretends to have larger system resources by secretly enlarging the swap file under Windows 3.1 and falsifying the system status. There is also an incorrectly set debug flag with which the source code was compiled. This means that the program runs significantly slower compared to the original Microsoft driver. Another test by PC Magazine revealed that SoftRAM takes the same amount of time to process the data as it does to change the RAM size. As a result, the technical writer came to the conclusion that “SoftRAM is free of any function”. Another analysis by Dr. Dobb's Journal came to the same devastating conclusion. Research from PC World found that the program only increases the size of the hard drive cache. Experienced PC users can also do this with little effort, without having to spend money on a special program. In addition, Syncronys uses the “Designed for Windows 95” logo on its sales packaging, even though SoftRAM has not been certified by Microsoft.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began its investigation in late 1995. She concluded that Syncronys' advertising claim was "false and misleading". They also noted that "neither SoftRam95 the RAM on a Windows 95 PC larger still generates an operating speed acceleration, memory expansion, or other measurable program acceleration on a Windows 95 PC." The study called the manufacturer in December 1995 to a product recall from SoftRAM and SoftRAM95. Several end customers sued Syncronys. The company reached an agreement with both customers and the FTC in 1996. As part of the agreement with the FTC, Syncronys agreed to give discounts to all software buyers on additional products from their company.

Syncronys finally filed for bankruptcy in 1999 after other software products sold poorly due to their poor quality. A large number of the creditors were end customers who had not yet received any discounts for the purchase of SoftRAM.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e Federal Trade Commission Press Release , July 1996
  2. ^ Dan Tynan: The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. The Worst Five. 1. America Online (1989-2006). PCWorld.com, May 26, 2006, accessed August 17, 2014 .
  3. ↑ a b c Inside SoftRAM 95 , Mark Russinovich , Bryce Cogswell and Andrew Schulman , Dr. Dobb's Portal , July 22, 2001
  4. ↑ a b Placebo forte. November 11, 1995, accessed April 21, 2020 . , c't about SoftRAM95
  5. ↑ SoftRAM95 Does Not Compress RAM In PC Magazine Lab Tests ( Memento from February 23, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ Software allegedly doubles trouble instead of memory
  7. ↑ a b Kanellos, Michael. SoftRAM 95 maker in Chapter 11 . CNET News , July 22, 1998
  8. ^ The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time , Dan Tynan, PCWorld.com, May 26, 2006; Syncronys's BigDisk Spells Big Risk ( June 14, 2006 memento on the Internet Archive ), Lincoln Spector, PC World magazine , August 1998

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