Windows ReadyBoost?

[daves66nova]

Windows Vista introduces Windows ReadyBoost, a new concept in adding memory to a system. You can use non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to improve performance without having to add additional memory "under the hood."

The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness. this sounds good,but is there anything like this for xp,whether from M.S. or aftermarket?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

http://lifehacker.com/352887/get-readyboost-speed-on-xp-with-eboostr
The responders seem to think that buying RAM is a better solution than using ReadyBoost on XP. However, XP architecturally will not pre-load programs into memory cache so this program may be useful if you like the Ready Boost functionality. With Vista, it's part of the O.S.

ReadyBoost is essentially useless when your system has 2GB or more of RAM. On 'memory-starved' systems, ReadyBoost can substantially increase application load times. Bottom line, give your Vista box 2GB or more of RAM and ReadBoost becomes a moot point.

 

[daves66nova]

What if you're maxed out on ram and your max is 1gb? would a 4gb flashdrive equal 4gb of regular ram? If i want to try this on xp,how do i go about?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

You'll have to buy a USB flash drive, then try out that program. USB 2.0 is the only way to go, if you don't have that, USB 1.1 won't help you much...

Let us know if this works for you if you decide to try it.

 

[daves66nova]

but how do i get ReadyBoost? do i d/l it? this is for xp.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

It's not called ReadyBoost, it's a non-MS product for XP called ebooster: http://www.eboostr.com

 

[daves66nova]

freeware?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Free to try...

 

[daves66nova]

THANKS!!!

 

[uc50ic4more]

It's been a while since I've stuck my grubby little hands in a Windows machine, but you could always just set the USB volume to be your swap partition, no?

 

[daves66nova]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
It's been a while since I've stuck my grubby little hands in a Windows machine, but you could always just set the USB volume to be your swap partition, no?
huh? j/k. how do you do that?

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
It's been a while since I've stuck my grubby little hands in a Windows machine, but you could always just set the USB volume to be your swap partition, no?
huh? j/k. how do you do that?


Control Panel -> System -> [Advanced tab] Performance (click Settings) -> [Advanced tab] Virtual Memory (click Change)

This is how I'd get there in XP. If your USB drive is plugged in, I would *assume* that it'd be listed along with your current swap file location. If so, you can select it and enter in a value (~the value of the USB drive, or less if you wish...). You can also then enter "0" as the custom value for the swap file on C:.

Be aware, though, that if you do this, your system will likely not boot at all if the USB drive is not inserted at boot time!

When I was using Windows in an audio production environment, I had a system hard drive, an audio drive on another IDE channel, and a 4GB SCSI drive set up as my swap.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
It's been a while since I've stuck my grubby little hands in a Windows machine, but you could always just set the USB volume to be your swap partition, no?
huh? j/k. how do you do that?


Control Panel -> System -> [Advanced tab] Performance (click Settings) -> [Advanced tab] Virtual Memory (click Change)

This is how I'd get there in XP. If your USB drive is plugged in, I would *assume* that it'd be listed along with your current swap file location. If so, you can select it and enter in a value (~the value of the USB drive, or less if you wish...). You can also then enter "0" as the custom value for the swap file on C:.

Be aware, though, that if you do this, your system will likely not boot at all if the USB drive is not inserted at boot time!

When I was using Windows in an audio production environment, I had a system hard drive, an audio drive on another IDE channel, and a 4GB SCSI drive set up as my swap.


It'll boot.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
It'll boot.


Right on... I just remember pagefile.sys being wiped by a video editor on a NT 3.51 system a little over 10 years ago (he had to clear some room an a 8GB SCSI drive, and thought a great place to start was "some 512MB something-or-other file"), and it didn't boot again.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
It'll boot.


Right on... I just remember pagefile.sys being wiped by a video editor on a NT 3.51 system a little over 10 years ago (he had to clear some room an a 8GB SCSI drive, and thought a great place to start was "some 512MB something-or-other file"), and it didn't boot again.


I've pulled the drive with a 2k pagefile and XP pagefile on them many times, and other than complaining, it works fine.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

What I don't understand is why my two Vista computers work better when I use ReadyBoost? My Acer has 4 gig of Ram and my Toshiba laptop has 3 gig of Ram. Both have a flash drive with 4 gb for ReadyBoost. I notice a difference in performance, but maybe it is due to something else?