truth or myth

[sabre39j]

I currently do not own or use Vista; but a co-worker claims that you can use a usb jump drive as a memory module in vista? is this true and if so how the heck is that done..


I love my XP but I am looking for knowledge

Thanks

 

[VoidNull]

Its true.

One of the many neat little features of Vista.

 

[notherdude]

Agreed, very true. How is it done? You just plug in the drive and Vista offers to turn it into a 'readyboost' drive.

Readyboost has been proven to be a real boost on systems with low ram, such as 512 or 1 gig systems. Less so on systems with 2 or more gig.

Even better is 'superfetch' which is a very aggressive precahing of commonly used code into RAM. Puts to good use all the RAM you get on systems these days.

 

[speedbird]

The feature is called 'Ready boost', but it's not a replacement for System Ram like some people seem to think. Unless your running Running Vista on the bare minimum, buying a Flash drive especially for this purpose is not worthwhile.

Full explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

Benchmarks and review found here:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2160&page=1

For memory configurations 1GB or higher, ReadyBoost does not improve system performance, at least not enough for you to notice it.

So there you have it. ReadyBoost can slightly improve performance for users with minimal amounts of system RAM, particularly when it comes to application and boot time

 

[br3nd064]

It's true and it's called readyboost. It lets windows store temporary files on the usb drive, just like it would for normal ram. You'll see a boost in performance if you barely meet the hardware requirements, but if you have 2gb of ram or more, you won't notice the difference.