Boosting Speed with Removable Media

WINV-7.1.1, WINV-7.3.2

You can use Windows ReadyBoost (New!) to speed up your computer by using disk space on certain removable media devices, such as USB flash drives. When you insert a compatible removable media device (one that uses fast flash memory), the AutoPlay dialog box opens and provides the option to use Windows ReadyBoost. Before you can use it, you need to turn it on and specify the amount of space you want to allocate. Windows provides a recommended space amount. In general, ReadyBoost recommends one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer for the best performance results.

Use Windows ReadyBoost

With removable media in the drive, click the Start button, and then click Computer.

Click the drive, and then click the Properties button on the toolbar.

Click the ReadyBoost tab.

Click the Use this device option.

If you want, drag the slider to specify the space to reserve for system speed.

Click OK.

To use ReadyBoost, remove the device, re-insert it, and then use the AutoPlay dialog box to start it.

For Your Information: Changing the Size of Virtual Memory If you are running out of virtual memory (using hard disk space as RAM), you can increase the minimum size of the paging file (a virtual memory). The Initial size is set to installed RAM plus 300 MB and the Maximum size is set to 3 times installed RAM. To increase the size, double-click the System icon in the Control Panel, click Advanced system settings in the left pane, click the Advanced tab, click Settings (under Performance), clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box, click the drive you want, click Custom size, type a new size in the Initial or Maximum size, click Set, and then click OK.