William Computer Blog

Windows Vista: ReadyBoost

One of my favorite feature of Windows Vista is a new feature called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost allows you to use removable flash memory device (i.e. USB flash drive, SD card, Compact Flash, etc) as system memory to improve system performance.

When a flash memory device is plugged in, the “Autoplay” dialog box will appear and ask you what you want to do with the device. A new option called “Speed up my system using this device” is available. When you select this option, you can choose much memory to use for ReadyBoost.

ReadyBoost requirement:

• The USB Key must be at least USB 2.0
• The device must be able to do 3.5 MB/s for 4 KB random reads uniformly across the entire device and 2.5 MB/s for 512 KB random writes uniformly across the device.
• The USB Key has to have at least 64mb of free space

This feature is useful for people whose computers have no memory expansion, preventing them from adding more RAM. Another reason to use ReadyBoost is for those who don’t know what type of memory is compatible with their computer.

For more information visit Tom Archer’s blog: Using Your USB Key to Speed Up Windows Vista and his ReadyBoost Q & A.

• October 2, 2006