shutdown means deleting memory in RAM?

file3456 · 21 May 2020

TechnoMage2016 said:

Yes, RAM is for the use of the cpu which only works when the computer is ON. Just like the cpu, RAM requires power from the PSU.

There is a tweak that loads the Registry into RAM on boot-up, which greatly speeds up the operation of the computer and running programs. I've been using that for years!
But when I shut down my PC, all that is GONE.
Sorry, but that's just another "Fact of Life".

Cheers mate!
TM

My Crucial SSD's software has a momentum cache feature much like this. It uses RAM like some sort of massive page file. I ran a hard drive speed test with it on and I had Gigabyte HDD speeds. LOL I do use a UPS so I won't lose data during a sudden power outage. Which is what the Crucial Executive software tells you to use if you decide to turn on momentum cache.

LMiller7 · 21 May 2020

Very often modern technology cannot produce everything we want. We must make the best of what is available.

As an ideal there would only be one kind of data storage. It would be byte addressable and as fast as RAM. It would also be as inexpensive as disk storage and maintain it's contents when power is removed. At the present time technology cannot produce such a device. Research is being done but it is unclear what form the technology would take or when it will be available.

But modern applications need data storage that can change values millions of times per second. RAM, with the help of the CPU, can do that. But even the latest SSDs cannot even approach that level of performance. But when RAM looses power it can no longer maintain data storage. But it is much cheaper than RAM per byte of storage.

Computer systems need both RAM and disk storage. In the early days of computers applications had to manage both forms of storage themselves. But since the 1960's software systems have been developed that blurs the distinction between RAM and disk storage. In many cases the application has no idea where it's data is. The operating manages all of this. Even the principles of this are complex and the details even more so. Operating systems like Windows, Linux and the Mac have developed this to a very high level.

townsbg · 21 May 2020

F22 Simpilot said:

Be advised that when you shut down a computer RAM is typically wiped, but not in all cases. I know this from my reading about security with Truecrypt or Veracrypt full disk encryption. The encryption key is held in RAM while you are on the computer and ideally it will be wiped on computer shut down, but studies have shown that some computer setups still hold some memory after a power down.

So the blanket statement of RAM being wiped on computer shutdown may not be true in all cases. I'm not sure if it's the type of RAM or a RAM/motherboard combination that does it. It could very well happen more often with laptops.

There may be a way to see if RAM is wiped on computer shutdown, but I don't know how yet. I haven't researched it at all. Something I've been meaning to do since I do use FDE on every computer I have running here. There may also be a program that can wipe RAM prior to computer shut down, but I'm sure there still may be some data in RAM after shut down for certain computers based on the OS's shut down procedure.

They do sell RAM drive PCI cards that hold RAM sticks that you can use as an external hard drive that's extremely fast as all hell. Probably would be faster than a gigabit fiber backbone from an ISP. But the only use for such a thing is for a high hard drive demanding applications. With today's SSDs and NVMe drives, it's not really needed much, but it could be a killer small website drive using XAMPP for a local web page of WordPress, phpBB or a Wiki software install. I mention this RAM hard drive because the memory is in fact volatile (meaning not capable of holding data on power off) and these RAM drives have a battery. Once that battery is dying, dead or removed, all data is wiped.

Fun fact # 457

SSDs, while they can hold data for long periods of time, will eventually need power due to a slow bit degradation in the memory chips. This may be a months or years long process, but it happens. So if you chose to use a SSD for a very long term clone or backup, you should apply power to it every once in a great while. Like every 6 months or so. I've read some SSDs have internal batteries, but I've never ran across one I've ever bought. All the SSDs I bought which were Adata, Kingston and Crucial were just a metal box with a board inside holding several memory chips. Drill holes in each memory chip and that data is gone to infinity and beyond. Way more secure than a PATA when it comes to data wiping using this method. You can burn, beat, or drill holes in a platter HDD and you can STILL recover data off of it. The FBI has methods of doing just that. Believe me.

Anyway...

Volatile | Definition of Volatile at Dictionary.com

Nonvolatile | Definition of Nonvolatile at Dictionary.com

Might be hard to remember as to non-fiction and fiction.

The OP didn't ask anything about wiping ram, using an SSD, data recovery, running a webserver, or wiping an SSD. He just asked a question about ram losing data on a power down or reboot. You might have gotten too technical for him.

file3456 · 22 May 2020

townsbg said:

You might have gotten too technical for him.

Not my problem. You either possess the neurons or you don't. What can I say...?