Remember the famous law of Moore? Of course, the past years have proved its actual inconsistency, but the power of the computer equipment we use is actually increasing at a very fast pace.
Unfortunately, not all of us keep pace with progress. Someone "at the service" continues to have
old computers, whose power is already far from as significant as we would like. ReadyBoost can somewhat fix the situation. What it is? It is the consideration of this issue that our article is devoted to.
Basic information
For the first time, Microsoft announced support for this technology immediately after the release of Windows Vista. This option was supposed to be a “feature killer”, but this did not happen immediately for several reasons. Interest in technology has returned only in recent years. The fact is that modern software requires a lot of RAM for its normal operation, the limits of which are practically absent on 64-bit systems.
This is where ReadyBoost comes into play. What does it mean? The fact is that this option allows you to use a USB flash drive as a kind of substitute for RAM.
Ready Boost allows you to simultaneously connect up to eight drives to a computer. Important! If you are planning to use a removable disk in such a role, it is not necessary to delete important information from it: for system purposes, all free space on it will be reserved.
Removable Disk Specifications
Many users at one time were “burned” precisely because the flash drive was necessary for the full-fledged operation of this option. Simply put, the device should have decent speed, so the USB whistle bought in the nearest stall will probably not pull.
The minimum read speed is from 2.5 Mb / s, in blocks of 4 kb. At a speed of 1.75 Mb / s, the device should be able to write blocks of 512 kb. The minimum amount of free space on a removable disk is at least 256 MB. Manufacturers recommend correlating the recommended drive size based on a simple 1: 1 formula. Simply put, 1 GB of RAM should equal the size of a flash drive using ReadyBoost technology. What does it give?
In this case, the Windows system writes a file called ReadyBoost.sfcache to a removable disk, and the document is protected by encryption with the AES-128 key, so that even if the USB flash drive is stolen or lost, no one can do anything.
We turn on ReadyBoost through "Autostart"
We connect the device to the computer, click on it with the right mouse button, and then select the item "Speed ​​up the system using Windows ReadyBoost" in the pop-up context menu .
The system in this case will automatically determine the amount of space used. If the amount of disk space is less than 256 MB, then you cannot use this function until you delete the extra files from the device.
Turn on yourself
To do this, we right-click on the connected Flash-drive, and select the “Properties” item in the pop-up context menu . Go to the ReadyBoost tab, and then select the "Use this device" option. It should be noted that all these items will be active only if the flash drive itself supports ReadyBoost technology. How to enable technology using only a certain amount of flash drive?
To do this, you must specify the amount of disk space that will be used to speed up the system. Click on the "OK" button. Next, the system automatically configures the cache. Depending on the characteristics of the device, this process takes from 10 to 15 seconds. After that, the system connects the prepared device to work. The success indicator of all your actions is just the ReadyBoost.sfcache file, which must appear on the disk used.
Remember to disable ReadyBoost correctly. What does it mean?
Proper technology shutdown
The removable disk that you use for these purposes must be connected to the computer. Again, right-click on the desired removable disk, and then select the "Properties" item in the context menu. Select the ReadyBoost tab.
Before removing ReadyBoost from a USB flash drive, select the "Do not use this device" option. Click OK. Attention! In some cases, after disabling the option, the device displays a warning about a data reading error. In this case, you need to click on the "Test device" button, which is in the dialog box that appears. As a rule, the system automatically corrects all available errors, after which the disk can again be used to store data.
Since deleting ReadyBoost from a USB flash drive in this way is rather tedious, many prefer to simply erase the disk cache file, as a result of which they often encounter numerous errors in the system. Do not do that!
Windows says drive cannot use Ready Boost
Important! If you see this message, then it’s best not to get around this system limitation. In any case, you carry out all further steps solely at your own peril and risk.
To make the wrong flash drive work, you will have to edit some registry keys. To do this, you must first connect a removable disk. After that, click on the "Start" button, look for the "Run" item in the drop-down menu, and then enter the RegEdit command there. A registry editor window will open in which you need to find a branch of the form: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ EMDMgmt].
It is there that all the parameters that are responsible for the ability to use a flash drive as RAM are stored. In particular, CacheSizeInMB shows how much disk space the option can "bite" under the cache. If you plan to use a 2 GB flash drive, then you should enter the value 2048 in this field. Set CacheStatus to 1. In the DeviceStatus field, enter the number 2.
In DoRetestDevice, you must specify the value 0, since this parameter is responsible for testing the speed performance of the disk (by default, it starts every time it is connected). This is especially important when it comes to ReadyBoost in Windows 7, since in Windows Vista the requirements for the speed of the drive used are not so strict.
ReadSpeedKBs and WriteSpeedKBs - these parameters need special attention. In the corresponding fields, you can specify values ​​that are slightly higher than the minimum recommended for ReadyBoost. We advise you to put the number 3600 for ReadSpeedKBs, and for WriteSpeedKBs choose 2500. Important! All numeric fields must be specified as Decimal. That's it, the basic setup is over.
What if you no longer need acceleration? We have already talked about how to remove ReadyBoost. All the above recommendations are also valid for this case.
Other tuning recommendations
Go to the ReadyBoost tab again: after your actions there should be displayed all the changes for which you "shamanized" the registry. If everything is in order, select "Use this device", then click on "OK".
Important: despite the modifications you made in the registry, the real characteristics of your removable disk have not changed. Roughly speaking, what a slow flash drive it was, it remained that way, since miracles do not happen. Do not count on real acceleration of the system.
Therefore, do not use drives that are too slow, because the effect of them will be exactly the opposite: the speed of the OS due to Windows ReadyBoost will slow down, and you will be wondering where the resources go.
Is it possible to use a removable hard drive as a flash drive?
To answer this question, click on the device icon, and then select “Properties”. If the ReadyBoost option is active in it, then you can connect it.
Of course, you can try to connect a removable disk using the “workaround”, which we described above. But in this case, you need to clearly understand that you will not get any system acceleration as a result. In practice, professionals advise not using removable hard drives at all, since the speed of reading and random access to files is low. Simply put, you only slow down the system.
ReadyBoost for Windows XP
If you carefully read all of the above, then you probably might have an idea about how to use this technology to breathe a second life into an old computer running Windows XP. Alas, the dreams in this case are far from reality, since ReadyBoost for Windows XP is not officially supported by developers.
Firstly, you have to download a third-party utility that will add the above option to the system, since initially it was not there. Secondly, access to the disk will occur through a third-party program, and not through the functions of the system itself. This will inevitably lead to a decrease in speed and the general uselessness of ReadyBoost for XP.
Important! Initially, the developers did not provide this functionality for the system, and even in SP3 they did not implement its support. Therefore, you should not try to increase productivity in this way, because you still won’t get the real effect. In short, ReadyBoost for Windows XP is a chimera whose effectiveness is a myth.
conclusions
So what is the final verdict? In which cases is this technology truly justified? Alas, practice shows its actual futility. The fact is that a real performance increase can only be seen in a system where a powerful processor is installed, but there is little RAM. Given the current cost of the latter, it is virtually impossible to find something like this in real conditions.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account the high performance characteristics of the flash drive required in this case. Its cost may be such that it is easier to add RAM.