Knowledge Base

What is SMARTDRV.EXE?

SMARTDrive® is a disk cache program that allows your computer to read/write data to the hard disk faster by intercepting system calls. SMARTDrive is loaded by using the SMARTDRV.EXE command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or at the command prompt. This command, once loaded, becomes a TSR (Temporary Stay Resident) and creates a disk cache in extended RAM (Random Access Memory) memory.

A disk cache can significantly speed up MS-DOS disk operations and dramatically improve the performance of Windows®. SMARTDRV uses a portion of extended memory to act as a buffer for information. The cache duplicates the information as it reads from the hard drive and stores it in this buffer. When your computer requests a read, the cache checks to see if that information is being held in its buffer. If the requested information is present, SMARTDRV will provide it from RAM rather than going to the disk. If the information is not present, SMARTDRV accesses the hard drive and duplicates the information into the disk cache as it passes it to RAM.

SMARTDrive can also perform double buffering, which provides compatibility for hard-disk controllers (usually older SCSI controllers) that cannot work with memory provided by EMM386 or Windows running in 386 enhanced mode. To use double buffering, load the device driver in your CONFIG.SYS file. SMARTDRV will not load after Windows starts. It will only load when Windows is not loaded; therefore, you would have to exit Windows to load SMARTDRV, if it was not loaded prior to Windows.

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