Increasing the memory of a computer for free, means expanding the RAM, without buying an additional memory bank . In reality this is an old trick, which still works on all Windows PCs and which is worth remembering, especially for those who have an older PC and for those who use many programs and are always running out of resources.
The only thing you need to have to expand the PC RAM for free is a USB stick or an SD card, which can be transformed into an additional memory, not as fast as normal RAM would be, but efficient enough to allow a computer upgrade, even if only virtual.
So if you had a 32-bit PC on which you cannot mount more than 4GB of RAM or if you wanted to have an upgrade at no cost, there are two alternative ways to expand the memory of the PC using a USB stick, on Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows 10 .
READ ALSO: How to increase the Ram and add new memory to the PC
Method 1: Expand RAM by moving virtual memory to a USB stick
Virtual memory or " paging file " is a way for Windows to expand computer memory dynamically if necessary and if real RAM is running low.
Basically a part of hard disk is used as memory.
RAM is the computer's memory, the one that empties every time the PC is turned off and that allows the system to keep a window or a program open, after loading it from the disk.
The problem is that to increase RAM memory (which is the fastest component of a computer) the hard disk is used which is instead the slowest component of a computer.
Even on PCs with SSDs instead of the hard disk, the paging file is a problem because it makes too many writes that can decrease its life.
This is why in the past we have written about how to set up the paging file and virtual memory or even disable it.
If, however, we move the paging file to a USB 2.0 or 3.0 pen, which is much faster in loading than the hard disk, here is that virtual memory can be much more effective and not become a bottleneck.
To do this, proceed as follows:
- Open Control Panel then open System and Security> System .
- Open the advanced system settings from the menu on the left.
- Go to the Advanced tab, then press Settings under the Performance item.
- Go to Advanced and click on the Change button under the Virtual Memory entry.
- Unchecked the box that says to automatically manage the paging file .
- Select the disk where the page file is active and click on " no paging file ".
- Select the USB stick drive and set the custom size by setting the same value on both initials and maximums.
This value must be almost as large as the total space of the USB stick, for example, for a 4GB pen drive, we would put 3700 MB.
The USB stick may also not be empty, the important thing is that you set a value lower than its free space.
- Click on Apply, restart the computer and check if there is a performance improvement after opening many programs together.
Just be careful now not to remove the USB stick without turning it off, as it will be in constant use and could be damaged.
At any time you can go back and restore the automatic paging file by removing it from the USB stick.
Method 2: ReadyBoost on Windows 7, 8 and 10
ReadyBoost is a system created by Microsoft and introduced in Windows 7 that allows you to use a USB stick as additional memory.
On how to activate ReadyBoost on Windows I had already written a guide so here we go very concise.
- Insert the USB stick and, from Windows Explorer, click on it with the right mouse button to open the Properties .
- In the properties you can activate ReadyBoost from the tab with this name.
ReadyBoost may not be activated if the system detects adequate computer speed.
In the end this is not really a real increase in memory, but it can be useful to improve the performance, as mentioned above, of an older and slower PC.
