python / python/cpython

Failed to find real location of `python.exe` on a RAM disk

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#128,823 14 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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OS-windows topic-installation type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug report

Bug description:
# Add a code block here, if required

Starting with 13.0 Python I get the warning "failed to find real location of python.exe" but only if I run it from a ram disk, never when i run it from a network share. I wrote an editor in Python back in 2017 and it was very fast except for startup, which took as long as 700 msec. I knew Microsoft C was fast in part because its DLLs were preloaded into memory. One day I was watching a Dave Plummer video on YouTube and he mentioned ram drives which I hadn't thought about since the days of MS-DOS. I found and installed IMDISK on Windows 10, and later Windows 11. The editor, and everything else, runs instantly and I've never had any problems with Python running from a ram disk. So, I'm writing to see if you guys could either make an exception for ram drives, or provide a way to turn off that warning message. Thanks in advance.

CPython versions tested on:

3.13

Operating systems tested on:

Windows

Contributor guide

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First steps

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source file or test is named. Start by reproducing the warning with CPython 3.13 on Windows using an IMDISK RAM disk, then locate the code that resolves python.exe and emits the message. Done means the RAM-disk case is handled appropriately or the warning can be disabled without affecting other launch scenarios.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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