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Are you ready for ReadyBoost?
ReadyBoost was the Vista technology that caused me the most confusion until it was explained properly (see below), and now I've finally got to try it out.
What surprised me was that Vista only considered one one of the three new USB keys I had received last week to be fast enough. No preference was given to the press release on the key that was and worried companies should be reassured that as USB keys can be used for both file storage and ReadyBoost, no press releases were harmed in the making of this post.
To be honest I didn't feel that the computer was much faster than before but I haven't done much testing, partly because I nearly broke the USB key while moving the notebook. One step forward, two steps back....
The source of the confusion.....
Microsoft described ReadyBoost as a way of upgrading the memory in a computer using a USB key. This is not really very accurate, in actual fact, it improves hard disk performance. Files are written to the USB key as well as the hard disk so they can be accessed quickly. USB keys outperform hard disks when reading lots of small files, although they suffer when copying large amounts of continuous data. Microsoft assures us that no data is lost if the USB key is removed unexpectedly and is encrypted to prevent data being stolen
Posted by Tim Smith on May 30, 2007 | Permalink
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Comments
Is this available on every version of Vista since when I inserted my memory stick I got no option to use this feature?
I am using Windows Vista Business, on a high-performing pc, and have a memory stick that can hold what I think is 128MB.
Posted by: Kiya | May 31, 2007 6:29:27 PM
Hi
According to the ReadyBoost FAQ at http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/06/02/615199.aspx
The smallest size for ReadyBoost is 256MB. Without wishing to be negative, I would imagine a 128MB stick to be too old to be fast enough. As I found, the bar seems to be set quite high for what is acceptable.
I found a series of USB keys designed specifically for Readyboost called TurboBoost
http://www.corsairmemory.com/products/turboflash.aspx
I found a 1Gb model for just over £10 at http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=57&FilterCategories=158&Thumbnails=yes
Now that's a low enough price, even I could be tempted.
Posted by: Tim Smith | Jun 4, 2007 5:42:01 PM
Thanks for that. I might seriously consider that seeing as this stick is actually too small for the sorts of things I want to store on it anyway.
Thanks for your advice.
Posted by: Kiya | Jun 9, 2007 12:37:25 PM
