<s>
SoftRAM	B-Application
and	O
SoftRAM95	B-Application
were	O
fraudulent	O
system	B-Application
software	I-Application
products	O
which	O
claimed	O
to	O
double	O
the	O
available	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
hardware	O
upgrade	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1996	O
,	O
the	O
developer	O
of	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
,	O
Syncronys	B-Application
settled	O
charges	O
brought	O
by	O
the	O
Federal	O
Trade	O
Commission	O
of	O
"	O
false	O
and	O
misleading	O
"	O
claims	O
in	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
capability	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
and	O
SoftRAM95	B-Application
were	O
faulty	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
had	O
to	O
file	O
for	O
bankruptcy	O
because	O
they	O
could	O
not	O
afford	O
$10	O
rebates	O
for	O
affected	O
consumers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftRAM	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
out-of-memory	O
errors	O
in	O
Windows	O
3.x	O
were	O
caused	O
by	O
the	O
first	O
megabyte	O
of	O
memory	O
in	O
a	O
computer	O
,	O
the	O
conventional	B-Device
memory	I-Device
,	O
becoming	O
full	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftRAM	B-Application
also	O
claimed	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
virtual	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
available	O
by	O
compressing	B-General_Concept
the	O
pages	O
of	O
virtual	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
stored	O
in	O
the	O
swap	O
file	O
on	O
the	O
hard	O
disk	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
the	O
added	O
effect	O
of	O
reducing	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
swap	O
file	O
reads	O
and	O
writes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
also	O
increased	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
page	B-Architecture
file	I-Architecture
,	O
something	O
easily	O
achievable	O
for	O
free	O
and	O
without	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
additional	O
software	O
by	O
changing	O
system	O
settings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftRAM95	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
and	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
August	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
sold	O
over	O
600,000	O
copies	O
of	O
SoftRAM95	B-Application
at	O
a	O
list	O
price	O
of	O
USD	O
$79.95	O
,	O
GBP	O
£60	O
or	O
170	O
DM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
was	O
launched	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
widely	O
reported	O
that	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
would	O
be	O
"	O
memory	O
hungry	O
"	O
,	O
requiring	O
at	O
least	O
4	O
megabytes	O
of	O
memory	O
and	O
preferably	O
8	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Syncronys	B-Application
positioned	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
as	O
a	O
cheaper	O
alternative	O
to	O
buying	O
more	O
memory	O
for	O
those	O
who	O
would	O
otherwise	O
be	O
unable	O
to	O
run	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
passed	O
through	O
the	O
VxD	B-Application
completely	O
unaltered	O
so	O
that	O
no	O
compression	O
whatsoever	O
could	O
have	O
taken	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Still	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
would	O
try	O
to	O
pretend	O
that	O
it	O
increased	O
system	O
resources	O
,	O
by	O
silently	O
increasing	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
swap	O
file	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
and	O
by	O
giving	O
false	O
information	O
on	O
the	O
current	O
state	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
worse	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
was	O
compiled	O
with	O
the	O
debug	B-Device
flag	O
on	O
and	O
so	O
ran	O
slower	O
than	O
the	O
original	O
driver	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
further	O
test	O
by	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
revealed	O
that	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
took	O
the	O
same	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
to	O
move	O
through	O
systems	O
that	O
contained	O
varying	O
amounts	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
;	O
leading	O
the	O
magazine	O
's	O
technical	O
editor	O
to	O
call	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
completely	O
"	O
devoid	O
of	O
value	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Federal	O
Trade	O
Commission	O
began	O
an	O
investigation	O
in	O
late	O
1995	O
,	O
ultimately	O
concluding	O
that	O
Syncronys	B-Application
 '	O
claims	O
about	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
were	O
"	O
false	O
and	O
misleading	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
concluded	O
that	O
"	O
SoftRAM95	B-Application
does	O
not	O
increase	O
RAM	B-Architecture
in	O
a	O
computer	O
using	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
;	O
nor	O
does	O
the	O
product	O
enhance	O
the	O
speed	O
,	O
capacity	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
performance	O
measures	O
of	O
a	O
computer	O
using	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
investigation	O
prompted	O
the	O
company	O
to	O
recall	O
both	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
and	O
SoftRAM95	B-Application
from	O
the	O
market	O
in	O
December	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Syncronys	B-Application
settled	O
with	O
the	O
FTC	O
and	O
the	O
suing	O
customers	O
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Syncronys	B-Application
filed	O
for	O
bankruptcy	O
in	O
July	O
1998	O
with	O
$4.5	O
million	O
of	O
debt	O
after	O
releasing	O
a	O
dozen	O
other	O
poorly	O
received	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
final	O
release	O
,	O
UpgradeAID	O
98	O
,	O
claimed	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
downgrade	O
from	O
Windows	O
98	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
,	O
duplicating	O
an	O
existing	O
feature	O
of	O
Windows	O
98	O
for	O
$39.95	O
(	O
equivalent	O
to	O
$	O
in	O
dollars	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
its	O
creditors	O
were	O
customers	O
who	O
had	O
not	O
received	O
their	O
rebates	O
for	O
SoftRAM	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Syncronys	B-Application
replaced	O
its	O
board	O
and	O
leadership	O
and	O
operated	O
under	O
Chapter	O
7	O
bankruptcy	O
until	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
SEC	O
revoked	O
its	O
securities	O
and	O
placed	O
Syncronys	B-Application
in	O
default	O
for	O
failing	O
to	O
file	O
any	O
financial	O
reports	O
since	O
their	O
1998	O
Chapter	O
11	O
bankruptcy	O
event	O
.	O
</s>
