Can "Access Phyiscal Memory" option be better named?

[Pigitus]

It seems to me that "Access Physical Memory" is a misnomer for an OPTION.

Don't all programs and all data files need to access RAM in order to run? How can a program run other than in RAM?

Coud DiamondCS find a better phrase to describe that option?

[some made up name]

I believe no change is needed.

Yes programs need to access RAM to run ... but the option isn't called "Access RAM"

To operate in RAM, programs access it indirectly via 'Virtual Memory' which is a concept that OSs use to allow all programs put together to use more memory than is physically available. A small description that Windows provides (system properties -> advanced -> performance settings -> advanced) is "A paging file is an area on the hard disk that Windows uses as if it were RAM"

Beyond the OS (to provide the Virtual Memory) very few programs, if any, need to access the RAM directly (Physical Memory). Once a program does have access to Physical Memory though, it bypasses any protection / checking / etc. provided by the OS in its implementation of the Virtual Memory.

[Paranoid2000]

The word "Physical" is quite understandably going to cause confusion with this option. A less confusing (and arguably more accurate) term would be "Low-level memory access" or "Direct memory access".

[redwolfe_98]

sure, you can call it whatever you want to call it.. :)

actually, the more that i think about it, the more perfect the present phraseology seems to be.. "access physical memory" is exactly what the phrase implies that it is..

[StriderSkorpion]

I have to agree with Paranoid2000 as technically all programs do have access to memory, but not all try to get access directly. Direct access allows programs to alter the memory of other programs. An example of this would be a game trainer which will alter the memory of another running program, the game.

[Gavin - DiamondCS]

That sort of thing is nearly always a DLL injection. That's not a PhysicalMemory attack, and is detected by PG as a process modification.

Direct Memory Access sounds OK, but DMA is a hardware setting too, and stands for Direct Memory Access. Too confusing.

[Hermescomputers]

-{ Quote: "It seems to me that "Access Physical Memory" is a misnomer for an OPTION.

Don't all programs and all data files need to access RAM in order to run? How can a program run other than in RAM?

Coud DiamondCS find a better phrase to describe that option?" }-


I think this reference has more to do with access to specific memory address space within a protected range than to "Physical" memory...