USB as Power Boost? Vista Tips Discuss USB as Power Boost? in the Windows Vista forums; That's interesting. Good to know. Thanks....

[Znod]

That's interesting. Good to know. Thanks.

[felix8406]

MS suggest a USB drive of equal or up three times the amount of RAM to get the best performance. So if you are using a 512MB USB drive and your PC has 1GB (typical), is it worth it to use the 512MB USB drive as ReadyBoost? If I read between the lines the answer is definitely “no”, but what do you think?

[Znod]

Originally Posted by dondim

ZNOd, Felix8406 and Snuffy,
Thank you all for your help.
Don

You are very welcome.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by felix8406

MS suggest a USB drive of equal or up three times the amount of RAM to get the best performance. So if you are using a 512MB USB drive and your PC has 1GB (typical), is it worth it to use the 512MB USB drive as ReadyBoost? If I read between the lines the answer is definitely “no”, but what do you think?

Hi felix:

Were you replying to me? My answer, honestly, is that it might help a tad, but I am positive that one would never notice the tad SOP-wise, and I am highly confident that a measurable difference could not be found consistently enough to conclude that a 512k drive, under the circumstances you describe, provided a statistically significant benefit. And, I am using a two GB SD card on a two GB laptop. I don't notice any benefit.

[felix8406]

While contemplating this issue I let something escaped through my limited thinking faculty. If Vista minimum requirement is 512MB, and MS recommend the USB capacity to be at least equal to the amount of RAM, then why set the minimum requirement of the USB drive to be 256MB.

[Znod]

Well, I would think that being below what is recommended might, in theory, add some benefit--as in poor (0), good (256), better (1x = 512), better yet (> 1x = > 512 < ?x), ..., and optimal (?x). I really wonder how sound the at least 1x recommendation is. That is, did they really do tests to come up with at least 1x? I really doubt that the difference is 256 on a 512 vs 512 on a 512 would be measureable statistically.

[Snuffy]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/foreveryone/performance.mspx

you need superfetch activated and your OS must recognize your memory stick
Windows Vista is designed to help make you more productive as you work with your PC throughout the day with new features like Sleep, Windows SuperFetch, Windows ReadyBoost, and Windows ReadyDrive.

Windows SuperFetch helps manage memory to get the most out of available RAM while Windows ReadyBoost helps make PCs more responsive by using flash memory devices (like USB thumb drives) to boost performance. Windows ReadyDrive takes advantage of new hybrid hard disks—hard disks with integrated flash memory—to help improve battery life, performance, and reliability. With Windows Vista, your system is ready when you are.

[felix8406]

Originally Posted by dondim

I have PNY 1G and Emperex 1 G neither work.
Thanks for your help

Dondim, I still find it hard to believe that the two mentioned USB drives are the culprits. Is your USB port working fine with other peripherals like printers, video cameras, etc? Is it possible to test those two drives in another PC running Vista?

[Snuffy]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...ancements.mspx

In reference to SD or CF stick...??? maybe others do not work..
snip -
Click the ReadyBoost tab. If you don't see a ReadyBoost tab, then the USB drive you've selected doesn't meet the minimum specifications to be used as a Windows ReadyBoost device. Try a different device.
Click Use This Device, and set the amount of memory to reserve on the device for use by Windows ReadyBoost.
Click OK.
snip -
USB2 devices are required for use this way because of the greater speed of USB2;
snip -

While ReadyBoost will work with other devices – such as SD Card, CompactFlash, etc. – I’ve only used it with a USB key and here are the baseline requirements the team gave me regarding what ReadyBoost will work with:

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

Q/A blog that should answer many questions.
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/arch...02/615199.aspx

[echotalon]

Originally Posted by dondim

What do I need to perform in order for my Computer with vista can utilize USB storage as Ram?
Thanks for any help.
dondim

You can get a "readyboost" from newegg.com

this one is supposed to work, I haven't confirmed it but have read a review and it said that it works...

Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PEF4G200USB - Retail $69.99 after $15 mail in rebate

IF that one doesn't work, the Corsair is sure to work...

CORSAIR Voyager 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model CMFUSB2.0-4GB - Retail $79.99