[comp.windows.ms.programmer] Linker Spooling takes a LONG time. Suggestions and Explanations?

burgoyne@eng.umd.edu (John R. Burgoyne) (01/28/91)

The application we are developing has gotten to the point where the
linking operation by itself takes more than 20 minutes due to
extensive disk spooling.
 
We're using MS C 6.0 update, SDK version 3.0, Gateway 2000 386/20
with a 65 MB HD, 10 MB free.
 
We made a 2 MB RAM drive using RAMDRIVE.SYS, copied all the source to
the RAM drive, and compiled from there. The link time is now about 5
minutes, which is OK.
 
Rather than having to resort to using the RAM drive, we would like to
return to compiling from the hard disk.
 
The computer has 4 MB RAM, with no memory management software.
 
Will additional RAM speed up the link operation?
 
What RAM does the linker use? (640K only, Expanded, Extended?)
 
Do the above apply to the compiler also?
 
What is happening when the linker needs to spool and what are some of
the other tricks people have used to speed up linking when the program
starts getting big?
 
Many thanks netters.
 
Robert