One of the better Windows Vista features I’ve seen is ReadyBoost. Despite contrary misinformation you will read on other sites, this does not add more memory to your system. The flash memory used is nowhere as fast as RAM, but it is sometimes faster than hard drives. Readyboost works by caching your pagefile on the drive. It does not replace the pagefile, it is just a cache. A faster than hard drive but slower than RAM cache. But this speed can make a difference, especially consider the slowness of many peoples hard drives.

How do I use it?: (more…)

1 flash, best performance, flash drive, flash memory, hard drives, misinformation, pagefile, ram cache, random access, readyboost, removable storage device, speed drive, throughput, usb storage device, vista, Windows

As with XP, in Vista you can speed up performance by sacrificing the visual effects. Go to the Control Panel, System and Maintenance, System Properties, Advanced (Tab) and settings. Set the radio button in ‘Adjust for best performance’.

This may produce a marginal improvement on a low spec machine, but it I could not detect a faster response on a machine with a 1.2 Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM. In truth, I was under-whelmed by this Adjust for best performance. A better way to truly speed up your Vista machine is to buy a 1GB USB RAM stick and use Vista’s ReadyBoost feature. (more…)

aero graphics, best performance, control panel system, maintenance system, readyboost, speed, system properties, vista, Windows

I use ReadyBoost in Vista. One day, I went to power up my laptop and when Vista resumed from hibernation I noticed that the light on the USB Flash-memory Device (UFD) was not on. Finding this a bit odd, I jumped into Windows Explorer, double-clicked on the E drive (the letter assigned to the UFD), and was presented with an interesting dialog:

Title: Item Not FoundText: Could not find this itemThis is no longer located in <%3 NULL:OpText>.Verify the item’s location and try again.     Removable Disk

     Try Again     Cancel

So I looked at the back of my laptop to verify the item’s location, and deciding that the item was still there I clicked “Try Again”. (I know, I know - not really what the person who wrote the message for the dialog intended…) I don’t recall if the dialog dismissed and another instance reappeared, or if it was just that nothing happened. Either way, I wasn’t getting anywhere. I unplugged the UFD, and plugged it back in again and things were fine.

A few days later, the same thing happened. I suspect I’ll be dealing with this for a while.

Procedurally, I hate to think that I’m going to have to eject the device prior to hibernating, and then plug the device in again when Vista resumes - that’s too tedious for my tastes. ReadyBoost would have to have a significant impact on performance for me to go through that rigamarole, and at this point I’m just not convinced that’s the case.

Anyone else coping with %3 NULL:OpText? How are you dealing with it?

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• Boost Windows Vista system performance with ReadyBoost (ZDNet)
• Is your flash drive fast enough for Vista’s ReadyBoost? (Ed Bott)
• Optimizing ReadyBoost (HostsNews)
• ReadyBoost: Better Windows Vista Performance In A Flash (InformationWeek)
• Ready Boost Compatible Devices (IeXBeta)
• ReadyBoost Compatibility List (Grant Gibson)
• ReadyBoost Q&A (Tom Archer, MDSN)
• ReadyBoost - Using Your USB Key to Speed Up Windows Vista (Tom Archer, MSDN)
• Turn ReadyBoost on or off for a storage device (Microsoft Windows Help and How-To)
• USB Flash Memory for Windows Vista ReadyBoost (Extreme Tech)
• Using memory in your storage device to speed up your computer (Microsoft Windows Help and How-To)
• Using Windows ReadyBoost to Increase Performance in Vista (Bleeping Computer)
  
• Windows ReadyBoost (Jim Allchin, WindowsVista Blog)
• Windows ReadyBoost (Microsoft)
• Windows Vista and a UMPC: ReadyBoost 101 (jkOnTheRun)
• Windows Vista ReadyBoost Test Round-Up (ActiveWin)
• Windows Vista’s SuperFetch and ReadyBoost Analyzed (Tom’s Hardware Guide)