VCACHE

Updated: 10/17/2017 by Computer Hope

A 32-bit driver disk cache in Windows 9x and Windows Me that replaces MS-DOS Smartdrv. VCACHE can dynamically change depending on the available disk space and memory an application requires.

Windows 95 machines have issues with memory above 48 MB because of how the memory is handled with VCACHE. Windows 98 and Windows Me users can also improve their performance by modifying the VCACHE; however, many issues existing in Windows 95 were fixed in Windows 98 and Windows Me. To correct out of memory errors, improve performance, or correct issues with VCACHE, users can modify the system.ini and add the below two lines into the [vcache] section of the system.ini.

[vcache]
minfilecache=xxxxxx
maxfilecache=xxxxxx

Where xxxxxx is the memory (in kilobytes) used on the computer. The value for "minfilecache" is the minimum size of the VCACHE, "maxfilecache" is the maximum size value that cannot be exceeded. Below are examples of what could be specified:

32 MB of memory = 32768
50 MB of memory = 51200
128 MB of memory = 131072
512 MB of memory = 524288*
Note

When optimizing your computer, the VCACHE values should be 10% to 25% of your total memory size.

* The maxfilecache size should not exceed 524288, even when the computer has more than 512 MB of memory.

Users may experience Fatal Exceptions 0E with VCACHE during the installation of a program or when first running a program for the following reasons:

  1. Program running in the background is causing the computer to crash. Close all TSRs running in the background.
  2. Disable write-behind caching for all drives by clicking Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, Performance, File System, and Troubleshooting. Check the Disable write-behind caching for all drives. Click OK and close all windows and restart the computer.
  3. Reboot the computer into Safe Mode. If the issue doesn't occur in Safe Mode, your issue is caused by a software issue, we recommend reinstalling the software causing the issue or reinstall Windows. However, if the issues persist, it is likely due to bad computer memory.

If you're getting out of memory errors with large amounts of memory, for example, over 512 MB, set the maxfilecache=524288.

Memory terms, System.ini