The year was 1995. Buying a complete computer was an event that no family member could miss, and something as simple as upgrading its RAM demanded a true fortune. This gave rise to all kinds of programs that exploited the placebo effect, promising magical performance boosts in exchange for a fixed sum. One such program was SoftRAM, created by Syncronys Softcorp. The idea of doubling RAM with a piece of software tempted thousands of users, and it became a multi-million dollar scam...
Taking a computer's RAM from 8 to 16 gigabytes now costs about 50 euros, though the final price depends on the module type and specifications. However, there was a time when we had to pay the same amount for 8 megabytes. Storage and volatile memory were two of the most painful upgrades for users in the '80s and '90s (not to go too far, a portable 20 MB hard drive cost $1,325 in 1985), and that situation lasted for many years.
Users had only two options: use more efficient software and keep their current configuration, or hand over a kidney and get a memory module... but in 1995 a company called Syncronys Softcorp appeared, which made a fabulous promise: double the available RAM using software. Their elixir was named SoftRAM, and it was compatible with Windows 3.x, while also offering an update for Windows 95. 4 megabytes became 8, 8 megabytes became 16. And with a suggested price of $80 (or $29.95 for the 3.x edition), some didn't think twice, but...
SoftRAM: "Double your RAM today!"
… it was a scam. The SoftRAM documentation contained information about the paging file, virtual memory, and how it combined a proprietary compression system with a "RAM defragmentation" to duplicate physical memory. Now, the concept of "compressing memory" is legitimate. Without going too far, when looking at the Memory section of Task Manager in Windows 10, we notice that part of the memory is usually compressed (unless we disable it), but SoftRAM didn't do anything like that. A pretty interface, a couple of gauges, some buttons... all fake.
PC Magazine was one of the first publications to expose SoftRAM. A German portal called "c't" destroyed it with its detailed analysis, proving that the only relevant change was increasing the size of the paging file. The worst part? Syncronys Softcorp sold more than 700,000 copies of SoftRAM (both versions) between May and December 1995.
Naturally, the scandal demanded the intervention of the US FTC, and the "company" reached an agreement with that agency in July 1996, accepting a refund of... $10 per license. Syncronys Softcorp declared bankruptcy in 1998 with a loss of $4.5 million, and tried to return to the market that same year with another piece of software, but the damage was already done.
https://old.neoteo.com/bonzibuddy-el-malware-mas-amigable-de-la-red/
