SMARTDrive ElementSize Should Precede CacheSizes (83376)

SUMMARY

SMARTDrive (SMARTDRV.EXE) is a disk caching program provided with the Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1.

SMARTDRV.EXE version 4.0 includes a parameter, /e:ElementSize. The ElementSize specifies the amount of the cache (in bytes) SMARTDrive moves at a time.

The ElementSize should precede the CacheSize(s) to work as documented. If the ElementSize is loaded after the InitCacheSize and/or the WinCacheSize, the actual cache size and allocated memory values may differ from those specified when SMARTDrive is executed.

MORE INFORMATION

The SMARTDRV.EXE cache driver version 4.0 is loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Its parameters include ElementSize, InitCacheSize, WinCacheSize, and BufferSize.

Switches and/or parameters for some device drivers and commands are not order-specific; however, the ElementSize for SMARTDRV.EXE version 4.0 should precede the CacheSize(s) for SMARTDrive to allocate the intended cache size(s).

The ElementSize specifies the amount of the cache SMARTDrive moves at a time. Valid values are 1024, 2048, 4096, and 8192 bytes. The default value is 8192 bytes.

If a value for the ElementSize is not set to the default of 8192 bytes and the ElementSize appears on the SMARTDrive command line after the CacheSize(s), these CacheSizes will be reduced in direct proportion to the reduced ElementSize.

For example:

SMARTDRV 2048 1024 /e:4096

In the above example, 2048 is the InitCacheSize (in kilobytes), 1024 is the WinCacheSize (in kilobytes), and 4096 (in bytes) is the ElementSize. Because the ElementSize of 4096 bytes is one-half of the default size (8192 bytes), the InitCacheSize as well as the WinCacheSize would be reduced by one-half, adjusting their values to 1024 and 512, respectively. This is reflected by the MS-DOS MEM and SMARTDRV /S commands.

When the ElementSize follows the (Init or Win)CacheSize parameter, the actual cache size is determined by the ElementSize multiplied by the number of elements. The number of elements is determined by the CacheSize parameter; if CacheSize is 2048k, then the number of elements is 256. A CacheSize of 1024K yields 128 elements; a CacheSize of 512K yields 64 elements; and so on.