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MagnaRam 2,

Review by Phyllis Christian / Alamo PC

MagnaRam Quarterdeck’s MagnaRam 2 is for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups. My system is Windows 95, Pentium 90, 16Meg Ram, using MemMaker, three harddrives and other miscellaneous bells and whistles....

 You all know how QuarterDeck applications are...complex, efficient, quiet and sneaky...Yes you heard me...sneaky! MagnaRam2 is one of those mysterious programs that installs like a charm and you wonder what it is really doing behind the scenes.

 MagnaRam2 is a Windows utility that works by replacing part of Window's virtual memory system. Virtual memory works by swapping the contents of RAM memory to the hard disk and back again, as needed. When using Window's virtual memory, you can open many more programs than you could in the actual RAM, but then you get a slowdown and have to sacrifice speed and put up with a slower performance.

 MagnaRam2 to the rescue. MagnaRam2 inserts itself in the chain of Windows Programs that determine what parts of RAM will be swapped out to the harddisk. Instead of writing to the harddisk, it goes to MagnaRam2's own buffer that is a faster process. In idle moments, MagnaRam2 compresses the information in it's ram buffer to a fraction of it's size. When the ram buffer becomes full, it is then swapped to the harddisk taking both less time and less space.

Windows does all the swapping because MagnaRam2 is completely compatible with disk compression programs like Stac's Stacker and Microsoft's DoubleSpace and DriveSpace. MagnaRam2 does not interact directly with your harddisk, or with disk compression programs...it lets Windows do the work of swapping all data to the disk. MagnaRam2 is also compatible with 386 memory managers, both QEMM and EMM386.

 MagnaRam2 comes complete with a Button Bar for a set of analytical graphs that you can leave on your Task Bar. I just checked mine and found that there were:

If nothing else, it is saving wear and tear on the harddisks.. There is the Statistics Screen (which is where I got the above information) The Configuration screen which allows you to change several MagnaRam2 settings. The Help Screen for MagnaRam2 and the About screen giving your version #, etc. MagnaRam2 even has a self-test procedure to prove to you how well it is working for you through a easily configured comparison test. You know, "Before" and "After".

 Hope you will find MagnaRam2 an enhancement to the operation of your system..the Manual is small and easy to follow. MagnaRam2 really works, quietly in the background, without any help from you or me..

Dave’s note: If you have MagnaRam 1, you can upgrade for the cost of shipping $ 4.95, by calling Quarterdeck at (800) 683-6696. Quarterdeck can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.qdeck.com