Microsoft DOS smartdrv command
Quick links
About smartdrv
Availability
Syntax
Examples
The smartdrv, or smartdrive, is an utility that can be loaded in the autoexec.bat to create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.
Many times users will use this utility on their boot disks as it can sometimes greatly increase the speed of how MS-DOS accesses disk drives.
Note: Users who are using Microsoft Windows instead of MS-DOS should not load this line in the autoexec.bat and should not run this command while Windows is running. Users running Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 will not be able to load this command unless they are in a MS-DOS shell.
The smartdrv.exe command is an external command that is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.
MS-DOS 6.0 and above
Windows 3.x
Windows 95
Windows 98
Installs and configures the SMARTDrive disk-caching utility.
| SMARTDRV | [/X] [[drive[+|-]]...] [/U] [/C | /R] [/F | /N] [/L] [/V | /Q | /S] [InitCacheSize [WinCacheSize]] [/E:ElementSize] [/B:BufferSize] |
| /X | Disables write-behind caching for all drives. | ||||||||||||
| drive | Sets caching options on specific drive(s). The specified drive(s) will have write-caching disabled unless you add +. | ||||||||||||
| + | Enables write-behind caching for the specified drive. | ||||||||||||
| - | Disables all caching for the specified drive. | ||||||||||||
| /U | Do not load CD-ROM caching module. | ||||||||||||
| /C | Writes all information currently in write-cache to hard disk. | ||||||||||||
| /R | Clears the cache and restarts SMARTDrive. | ||||||||||||
| /F | Writes cached data before command prompt returns (default). | ||||||||||||
| /N | Doesn't write cached data before command prompt returns. | ||||||||||||
| /L | Prevents SMARTDrive from loading itself into upper memory. | ||||||||||||
| /V | Displays SMARTDrive status messages when loading. | ||||||||||||
| /Q | Does not display status information. | ||||||||||||
| /S | Displays additional information about SMARTDrive's status. | ||||||||||||
| InitCacheSize | Specifies XMS memory (KB) for the cache.
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| WinCacheSize | Specifies XMS memory (KB) for the cache with Windows. If this option is not specified smartdrv will default the wincachesize to the amount of extended memory available. Below is a basic chart of what will be set.
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| /E:ElementSize | Specifies how many bytes of information to move at one time. | ||||||||||||
| /B:BufferSize | Specifies the size of the read-ahead buffer. |
c:\dos\smartdrv.exe /x
Placed in the autoexec.bat. This command loads the smartdrv utility into memory and allows it to be used as well as disables the write-behind caching for all drives.
c:\dos\smartdrv.exe C 1024 512
Specifies a size to be used with smartdrv. When a cache size is not specified, smartdrv will use all extended or expanded memory.