ReadyBoost is a Microsoft technology first introduced in Windows Vista, improved in Windows 7 and also present in Windows 8 and Windows 10, which allows you to take advantage of a flash drive (e.g. a USB stick or an SD card) for memory caching .
In more understandable words, an increase in memory is simulated by exploiting the higher speed that a Flash memory has compared to a hard disk thus causing an improvement in the performance of the computer .
The effect is evident especially on computers with 1 Gigabyte or less of installed RAM memory whose slowdowns are frequent due to the paging file and the depletion of RAM.
Readyboost technology in Windows supports a maximum cache size of 32 Gigabytes (in Windows Vista the limit is 4 GB) and up to eight devices connected and configured with Readyboost are supported, which can also improve the boot performance of the computer .
To activate ReadyBoost on your Windows 7 PC and on laptops, just connect a USB stick formatted in FAT32 but not necessarily empty.
After inserting the USB stick into the PC, if the Autoplay function is active, you can choose the ReadyBoost option from the list.
Alternatively, you can open the Computer window from the Start menu, right-click on the removable disk icon relating to the inserted USB stick and select the ReadyBoost tab.
To activate this performance increase, one of the two options must be selected with the mouse: Dedicate the ReadyBoost device or Use the device .
In the first case, the maximum available space on the unit or on the flash memory card is used.
Windows does not delete the existing files on the pen and will not prevent saving other files inside it, only a part of space is reserved for ReadyBoost and remains locked.
For example, if you use an 8 GB USB stick, you can reserve 4094 MB for ReadyBoost and the remaining space remains available to store your files as you normally do.
If you select " use the device " you can move the lever of the space to reserve for ReadyBoost and therefore devote less memory to it.
ReadyBoost requires that the Sysmain service, ie startup optimization, is active in Windows 8 and 10.
To activate ReadyBoost so that your computer actually benefits from it, you need a flash drive or memory card of at least 1 GB of available space .
If the device does not have enough space for ReadyBoost, a message is displayed saying to free up space if you want to use the device to speed up the system.
It would be advisable to keep a USB stick or a memory card always connected to the computer and to be dedicated exclusively to ReadyBoost so as not to have to configure the USB device every time you attach it.
For best results the trick is to use a flash drive or flash memory card with available space of at least double the amount of memory (RAM) on the computer or, even better, four times more than memory.
For example, if your computer had 1 GB of RAM, you can connect a 4 GB USB stick by dedicating at least 2 GB to ReadyBoost or, even better, reserving the whole space for it.
From 2 GB to 4 GB of space on a USB stick or memory card formatted with FAT32 can be dedicated to ReadyBoost.
If you want more, it is better to connect multiple Flash devices, whose memory does not exceed 32GB, up to a maximum of 256 GB in total.
The increase in performance should be more or less visible depending on the use of the computer and the installed hardware power.
ReadyBoost works best if you connect the flash drive to a USB 2.0 port, directly on the computer, rather than an external USB hub (a multiplier) shared with other USB devices.
Some USB sticks carry the word " Enhanced for ReadyBoost " to say that that device supports the Windows 7 performance improvement feature but it is only self promotion because almost all flash drives are fine for this job, including CompactFlash and memory cards Secure Digital (SD).
If your computer has a hard drive that uses solid state drives (SSDs) there may be no option to speed up your computer with ReadyBoost when connecting a USB flash drive or flash memory card.
This is because some SSDs are very fast and would have no benefit from ReadyBoost.
If you detach the flash drive without ejecting the disk regularly, the ReadyBoost.sfcache file may remain on the disk; you can delete it by hand later without problems and it will be recreated when you use ReadyBoost again.
I personally believe that ReadyBoost gives added value to the performance of the computer and, at the price of a small USB stick, you can rejuvenate an old and slow computer or at least keep the new one snappy thanks to this little push.
In more understandable words, an increase in memory is simulated by exploiting the higher speed that a Flash memory has compared to a hard disk thus causing an improvement in the performance of the computer . The effect is evident especially on computers with 1 Gigabyte or less of installed RAM memory whose slowdowns are frequent due to the paging file and the depletion of RAM.
Readyboost technology in Windows supports a maximum cache size of 32 Gigabytes (in Windows Vista the limit is 4 GB) and up to eight devices connected and configured with Readyboost are supported, which can also improve the boot performance of the computer .
To activate ReadyBoost on your Windows 7 PC and on laptops, just connect a USB stick formatted in FAT32 but not necessarily empty.
After inserting the USB stick into the PC, if the Autoplay function is active, you can choose the ReadyBoost option from the list.
Alternatively, you can open the Computer window from the Start menu, right-click on the removable disk icon relating to the inserted USB stick and select the ReadyBoost tab.
To activate this performance increase, one of the two options must be selected with the mouse: Dedicate the ReadyBoost device or Use the device .
In the first case, the maximum available space on the unit or on the flash memory card is used.
Windows does not delete the existing files on the pen and will not prevent saving other files inside it, only a part of space is reserved for ReadyBoost and remains locked.
For example, if you use an 8 GB USB stick, you can reserve 4094 MB for ReadyBoost and the remaining space remains available to store your files as you normally do.
If you select " use the device " you can move the lever of the space to reserve for ReadyBoost and therefore devote less memory to it.
ReadyBoost requires that the Sysmain service, ie startup optimization, is active in Windows 8 and 10.
To activate ReadyBoost so that your computer actually benefits from it, you need a flash drive or memory card of at least 1 GB of available space .
If the device does not have enough space for ReadyBoost, a message is displayed saying to free up space if you want to use the device to speed up the system.
It would be advisable to keep a USB stick or a memory card always connected to the computer and to be dedicated exclusively to ReadyBoost so as not to have to configure the USB device every time you attach it.
For best results the trick is to use a flash drive or flash memory card with available space of at least double the amount of memory (RAM) on the computer or, even better, four times more than memory.
For example, if your computer had 1 GB of RAM, you can connect a 4 GB USB stick by dedicating at least 2 GB to ReadyBoost or, even better, reserving the whole space for it.
From 2 GB to 4 GB of space on a USB stick or memory card formatted with FAT32 can be dedicated to ReadyBoost.
If you want more, it is better to connect multiple Flash devices, whose memory does not exceed 32GB, up to a maximum of 256 GB in total.
The increase in performance should be more or less visible depending on the use of the computer and the installed hardware power.
ReadyBoost works best if you connect the flash drive to a USB 2.0 port, directly on the computer, rather than an external USB hub (a multiplier) shared with other USB devices.
Some USB sticks carry the word " Enhanced for ReadyBoost " to say that that device supports the Windows 7 performance improvement feature but it is only self promotion because almost all flash drives are fine for this job, including CompactFlash and memory cards Secure Digital (SD).
If your computer has a hard drive that uses solid state drives (SSDs) there may be no option to speed up your computer with ReadyBoost when connecting a USB flash drive or flash memory card.
This is because some SSDs are very fast and would have no benefit from ReadyBoost.
If you detach the flash drive without ejecting the disk regularly, the ReadyBoost.sfcache file may remain on the disk; you can delete it by hand later without problems and it will be recreated when you use ReadyBoost again.
I personally believe that ReadyBoost gives added value to the performance of the computer and, at the price of a small USB stick, you can rejuvenate an old and slow computer or at least keep the new one snappy thanks to this little push.
