Use ReadyBoost to Speed up Your Computer ReadyBoost is a caching technology integrated into the Windows Vista Operating System. The idea is to use a flash drive (commonly called a thumb drive) as secondary RAM for your computer.  Since a computer’s performance is often dictated by the amount of physical memory installed in the computer, adding additional memory is an easy and inexpensive way to improve your PC’s speed.

Your computer uses RAM, which is volatile memory that doesn’t permanently write data, to run program and applications. When the amount of the memory you have in the computer is used up, Windows will go to a “page file” on the slower hard drive to swap out the space need to keep your computer running. Since the hard drive is so much slower than your RAM, users tend to see a temporary slowdown in speed when the swap file is used. The theory with ReadyBoost is that a thumb drive is much faster than hard drives. So when the amount of physical memory is used up in the computer, Windows Vista will begin using the ReadyBoost flash drive as its cache. Computers that have less than 1GB of RAM should see an immediate performance increase when adding a ReadyBoost flash drive.  When purchasing a drive for the purpose of utilizing it as a ReadyBoost device, be sure to buy one that has ReadyBoost ready printed on the package, as some thumb drives will not be fast enough or large enough for Windows to use it. When you first plug in the drive, Vista will determine if the flash drive is capable of being used for ReadyBoost.  If it is, then Windows will display a message asking if you would like to “Speed up my system.” If you say “yes” Windows will show the drive and ask how much space you’d like to allocate for ReadyBoost caching; use as much as you can spare. Since these drives are so inexpensive, you may want to consider getting one for the sole purpose of using it for caching. If you have any questions about memory or Windows Vista, be sure to join our free computer repair message board today!

1. Partition Using FDISK
2. Repair Windows XP Installation
3. Vista Backup and Restore Center
4. Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
5. How to Uninstall Vista
6. Remove Microsoft Updates in XP and Vista
7. Different Windows Vista Versions
8. Command Line Utilities
9. Vista Network Center
10. Data Backup Options
11. View Startup Programs Using Software Explorer
12. Vista Performance Rating and Monitoring
13. Internet Explorer 7 Security Features
14. Network Access Protection
15. Migrate Settings Using Windows Easy Transfer
16. Parental Controls in Windows Vista
17. Vista BitLocker Drive Encryption
18. Recover Windows Product Key
19. DirectX Management Tool
20. User Account Control
21. Last Known Good Configuration
22. The Pro Way to Install XP Pro
23. How to Customize MMC and Schedule a System Log
24. Improve Windows Vista Performance
25. Enable Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode
26. Tips to Avoid the PC Repair Shop
27. How to Download Flash