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I recently got a 8GB flash drive to move around my portable apps, as well as some music, and simple data files. It’s bigger than I probably need for now, but I figure I’ll grow into it pretty quickly. Since I currently have a lot of free space on it, I figured why not put that space to use, and speed up my computer at the same time, so I turned on ReadyBoost. It’s simple, here’s how to do it:
- Right-click on your flash drive icon. In my case, mine is the E: drive. From the menu that appears, choose Properties
- In the Properties window, select Use this device. If you want to change the suggested amount of space to use, move the slider or type in the amount you desire. Mine suggested 4GB, which is fine for now.
- Click the Apply button, or just click OK and ReadyBoost is activated.
You’ll now see a file called ReadyBoost.sfcache (it will just display as ‘ReadyBoost’ if you have your extensions hidden on your flash drive that takes up the amount of space that was set in the Properties window. If you want to free up that space, just return to the Properties window and disable ReadyBoost.
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Comments
Shashikant R.Iyengar
Jun 16, 2007 at 11:23 am
I am using Vista premium. But it is asking for driver even for trancend flash drive, maxtor external HDD(120gb), Sd cards . Please suggest some solution
Blisset
Jul 14, 2007 at 6:52 am
ReadyBoost speed-up the system ???
USB Flash Drives are very SLOW to use as cache.
HDDs are very quicker than USB Flash Drives. Use these as cache, not Flash Drives!
Robert
Jul 20, 2007 at 10:49 am
My laptop, and many current models now, have a built in SD slot which is much more convenient thatn hanging USB drive off the side or back of your laptop.
Anyway, I currently have 2 GB SD memory card dedicated to just ReadyBoost and I just couldn’t use any SD memory card. I guess the SD memory card needs to have fast read and write performance if you plan to use a built in SD card slot. At first I assumed that an 80x SD memory card would be OK but Vista rejected it. I then tried a “high speed” SD memory card recommended for use in digital cameras and digital video recorders (which I think are also 80x) and found it to work.
As to speed improvements, I’ve been running with it since February 2007 and where I’ve noticed the performance has been with the launching of applications that I use on a regular basis; Outlook 2003, MSIE, Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat Reader and OneNote 2007. These apps do load up much faster with ReadyBoost.
Some argue that what I’m experiencing is prefetching performance. If that were the case then why did load times drop by a good full 2 to 3 seconds when ReadyBoost was not being used?
To touch back on the SD memory card, I’ve now begun to see “Vista ReadyBoost Certified” labels and stickers now on many of the SD memory cards on the shelf.
Blisset
Jul 21, 2007 at 3:34 am
Flash card are VERY SLOW comparated with HDD.
HDD is 20-40 Mbytes/s (RAM is 10-20 times faster), but
Flash memory tipically can’t reach HDD speed, then use HDD disk system cache (pagefile).
If did you add a 8Gb HDD instead of 8Gb Flash memory, you think to it as a added RAM ?
Of course you have more free GB on HDD than on USB or SD card !
I disabled ReadyBoost at all because it SLOW the system, with his very slow memory cache.
Blisset
Jul 21, 2007 at 3:38 am
Hi, download this free utility http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html
If you have better speed with flash memory than your HDD speed then you can use ReadyBoost.
Blisset
Jul 23, 2007 at 2:28 pm
According to programmers’ team to have benefit with ReadyBoost you must have a Flash memory with MINIMUM Random (not sequential) Write Speed (512K) of 1.75 MB/s (HDD is about 30-35 MB/s) and Random Read Speed (4K) of 2.25 MB/s (HDD is about 1 MB/s).
You can test all these speeds with free CrystalDiskMark above.
Brandon Atkinson
Sep 14, 2007 at 10:32 am
neat tip but windows tells me that there is a cache already on another drive, how do i force it to use my 1GB sd card (well its a 1GB microsd card in a sd card adapter which i had lying around)
anon
Nov 14, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Readyboost is meant for less powerful systems to handle the stress. But it does add some kick when needed. 1 GB SD card in the slot helps.
Kyle
Aug 13, 2008 at 12:27 am
I wouldn’t recommend using a flash card for extra memory if you don’t absolutely have to. The reason for this is, despite popular belief, that solid state flash cards actually have a limited number of read/write operations that can be performed on them. This will vary greatly between cards, but it is set because these cards are only really meant for basic file transfers – so the manufacturers don’t put a whole lot of effort into making them robust.
The number is pretty high, somewhere around a million read/write operations. This number is totally fine when using the device for basic storage, but as soon as you begin using the device as extra memory there is, all of a sudden, hundreds or possibly even thousands of writes per minute. This will leave you with a dead flash stick in an estimated 4 days of constant use. Some people may get lucky, but I personally wouldn’t gamble with it – especially if you have important information on your removable media.
Warp
Oct 26, 2008 at 7:02 pm
First of all… there is so much misinformation here that it should all be deleted. The ready boost feature is not a “real” data cache in the sense that you are trying to describe above. It is made for prefetching of the prefetch files currently on your hard drive. It will fetch these small short files very fast and concurrently while your hard drive is doing other things. This prefetch data is then transferred to your regular faster memory. Once prefetch data is written for a program it usually will not change unless you move or reload the program so there really are not that many writes – just a lot of reads. Having said that, under normal use a readyboost drive should last a good 10 years before it wears out – perhaps even longer. An SD card flush mounted in a new laptop – is a perfect ready boost device. Just leave it there all the time.
SnowBlind
Dec 31, 2008 at 7:39 am
I agree with Warp 100%.
The readyboost cache is more about random reads which are really fast because flash memory has much lower access times.
HDD +/- 15ms access time
Flash +/- 1ms access time
It does work, I use it on my laptop and frequently used apps do open a little faster with the readyboost cache enabled.
Dhiren
Jan 22, 2009 at 3:27 am
I am using a 1GB flash drive on my Sony Ericson P910i phone. but I see this ReadyBoost.sfcache file on my external memory and consumes 853MB. How should I use it or remove it to optimize my phone. Presently I cannot store any data etc on it. Please advice
brendon
Jan 27, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Dhiren, read the first comment listed right up the page, instead of clicking “Use this device” choose “Do not use this device” in the readyboost tab of your flash drive’s properties.
…you would probably have to attach the drive to a computer to do this (i don’t know much about phones)
Giorgi
Mar 6, 2009 at 10:50 am
With all respect to Vista and HP my 133x SD Card refused to work as ReadyBoost drive. So do not waist your time and money on SD cards.
Cheers
Vista tweaks that work for me may help you also | technology software gadget mobile blackberry
Jul 3, 2009 at 5:42 am
[...] Readyboost - Set up ReadyBoost. Use the fastest flash memory available. Flash memory speed is measured differently for reading and writing; both are in megabytes per second. An excellent target would be 10 MB/s writing and 18 MB/s reading. Rationale: increased performance. Try to get at least 2 GB and preferably 4 GB or more of flash memory dedicated to Readyboost. Rationale: increased performance. [...]
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