For Those Frustrated with Vista (Free MEMORY trick!)

[Quag]

Anybody sick of the slow performance of Vista?

Well, we all probably know of Readyboost technology, the technology that uses a simple USB memory stick to dub as RAM.  But it has to be a special memory stick, and it is pricey and hard to find.

This is a way to use any memory stick, and let me tell you, it works wonders!  Don't believe me? Try it and I promise you won't be disappointed!

1.  First things first. Plug the Stick in. Ignore AutoPlay if you have the enabled, and go to Computer in the start menu. When it pops up, right-click the USB stick and select properties.

2.  Click on the Readyboost tab on the properties menu and check Do not restest this device. Click okay and unplug the stick from your computer.

3.  Next, you need to open regedit, by opening the start menu and typing regedit, then enter. The registry window should load up.

Using the left-hand pane, work your way through the following folders: HKLM (Local Machine) -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows NT -> CurrentVersion -> EMDgmt. You'll have a list of USB devices the computer has encountered, one of which should be your USB stick. Click on it.

Here there's a few details you need to edit. Double click on Device Status and change the value to 2, then ok. Do the same for ReadSpeedKBs and WriteSpeedKBs, changing their values to both 1000. Exit the regedit.

4.  Now all that's left to do is put the stick back in and once again go to the device properties (Computer > Right-click on drive). If you look under the Readyboost Tab, you'll be able to now select Use this device.

Now enjoy your faster PC!!!

 

[Rocketryan]

This work only with Vista?

 

[Quag]

This work only with Vista?

Yes unfortunately.  It only is capable of the Readyboost technology...

Personally, I would stick with XP.  Just my HO, though.

 

[geo]

Heh... my "new" PC came with Vista preinstalled.... XP was not an option

 

[geo]

ReadyBoost is a disk caching technology first included with Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. It aims to make computers running Windows Vista more responsive by using flash memory on a USB 2.0 drive, SD card, CompactFlash, or other form of flash memory, in order to boost system performance.

ReadyBoost is also used to facilitate SuperFetch, an updated version of Windows XP's prefetcher which performs analysis of boot-time disk usage patterns and creates a cache which is used in subsequent system boots.[1]

Using ReadyBoost-capable flash memory (NAND memory devices) for caching allows Windows Vista to service random disk reads with performance that is typically 80-100 times faster than random reads from traditional hard drives. This caching is applied to all disk content, not just the page file or system DLLs. Flash devices are typically slower than the hard drive for sequential I/O, so to maximize performance, ReadyBoost includes logic to recognize large, sequential read requests and then allows these requests to be serviced by the hard drive.[2]

When a compatible device is plugged in, the Windows AutoPlay dialog offers an additional option to use the flash drive to speed up the system; an additional "ReadyBoost" tab is added to the drive's properties dialog where the amount of space to be used can be configured.[3] 250 MB to 4 GB of flash memory can be assigned. ReadyBoost encrypts, with AES-128, and compresses all data that is placed on the flash device; Microsoft has stated that a 2:1 compression ratio is typical, so that a 4 GB cache could contain upwards of 8 GB of data.[1]

According to Jim Allchin, for future releases of Windows, ReadyBoost will be able to use spare RAM on other networked Windows Vista PCs.[4]

For a device to be compatible and useful it must conform to the following requirements:

The capacity of the removable media must be at least 256 MB (250 after formatting)
Devices larger than 4 GB will have only 4 GB used for ReadyBoost
The device should have an access time of 1ms or less
The device must be capable of 2.5 MB/s read speeds for 4 KB random reads spread uniformly across the entire device and 1.75 MB/s write speeds for 512 KB random writes spread uniformly across the device
The device must have at least 235 MB of free space
NTFS and FAT32 are supported
The initial release of ReadyBoost supports one device
The recommended amount of memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer

The performance improvement seen by using this idea with low-cost (<$100) flash drives is questionable. In the cases where a system has 512 MB of RAM (the bare minimum for Windows Vista - not advisable), the largest gains are 47% (the test benchmark included Adobe Photoshop CS3 along with 22 images, iTunes, Microsoft Word 2007, Adobe Reader 8 and an Explorer Window). However, on systems with 1 GB or more, ReadyBoost has a negligible effect (small enough to be explained as experimental error)[citation needed].

The core idea of ReadyBoost is that a flash drive has a much faster seek time (less than 1 millisecond), allowing it to satisfy the requests fairly quickly compared to a hard drive when booting or reading certain system files. It also leverages the inherent parallelism of having two sources to read data from. Unfortunately, low-cost flash drives are very slow in terms of sequential reads and writes, compared to modern desktop hard drives -- fast 7200 rpm hard drives can sustain 60-80 MB/s, which is 6 to 8 times faster than the 10 MB/s sustained by the fastest low-cost flash drives. The only advantages these flash drives have are a seek time of around 1ms, compared to the 8-12ms typical on modern SATA drives.

On laptop computers the performance shifts more in the favor of flash memory, laptop memory being priced relatively higher than that for desktop systems, and with many laptops using relatively slow 4200 rpm and 5400 rpm hard drives. Additionally, on a laptop, the ReadyBoost caching can reduce hard drive access, allowing the hard drive to spin down for increased battery life.

The performance of NAND flash caching (in the form of Intel's Turbo Memory technology) has also been called into question by some computer manufacturers.

However, it has to be considered that high-cost ($1,000-$50,000) flash memories currently have speeds up to 3 GB/s as random sustained external throughput with latency under 0.015 ms and up to 400,000 random IO/s

 

[Jorkapp]

Be advised, however that NAND flash in all forms (CF, SD, USB Mass Storage) has a limited amount of read/write cycles, and caching is very read/write intensive. I would not recommend storing any data on a flash drive which is being used by ReadyCache.

 

[TheWildOne]

Jorkapp, i agree with you about read/write cycles and that a flash drive used for readyboost technology should not be use for anything else. However, even with a limited amount of read/write cycles, this number is pretty high so a memory stick will last long enough to justify buying one just for that.

Another trick that will boost performance is disabling the Gadget bar and the Aero interface. I know it's cool features but it's eating up so much memory. It is also recommended to disable both when you use a laptop on battery. I'm doing it and my battery last twice the amount of time.

 

[Quag]

ReadyBoost is a disk caching technology first included with Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. It aims to make computers running Windows Vista more responsive by using flash memory on a USB 2.0 drive, SD card, CompactFlash, or other form of flash memory, in order to boost system performance.

ReadyBoost is also used to facilitate SuperFetch, an updated version of Windows XP's prefetcher which performs analysis of boot-time disk usage patterns and creates a cache which is used in subsequent system boots.[1]

Using ReadyBoost-capable flash memory (NAND memory devices) for caching allows Windows Vista to service random disk reads with performance that is typically 80-100 times faster than random reads from traditional hard drives. This caching is applied to all disk content, not just the page file or system DLLs. Flash devices are typically slower than the hard drive for sequential I/O, so to maximize performance, ReadyBoost includes logic to recognize large, sequential read requests and then allows these requests to be serviced by the hard drive.[2]

When a compatible device is plugged in, the Windows AutoPlay dialog offers an additional option to use the flash drive to speed up the system; an additional "ReadyBoost" tab is added to the drive's properties dialog where the amount of space to be used can be configured.[3] 250 MB to 4 GB of flash memory can be assigned. ReadyBoost encrypts, with AES-128, and compresses all data that is placed on the flash device; Microsoft has stated that a 2:1 compression ratio is typical, so that a 4 GB cache could contain upwards of 8 GB of data.[1]

According to Jim Allchin, for future releases of Windows, ReadyBoost will be able to use spare RAM on other networked Windows Vista PCs.[4]

For a device to be compatible and useful it must conform to the following requirements:

The capacity of the removable media must be at least 256 MB (250 after formatting)
Devices larger than 4 GB will have only 4 GB used for ReadyBoost
The device should have an access time of 1ms or less
The device must be capable of 2.5 MB/s read speeds for 4 KB random reads spread uniformly across the entire device and 1.75 MB/s write speeds for 512 KB random writes spread uniformly across the device
The device must have at least 235 MB of free space
NTFS and FAT32 are supported
The initial release of ReadyBoost supports one device
The recommended amount of memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer

The performance improvement seen by using this idea with low-cost (<$100) flash drives is questionable. In the cases where a system has 512 MB of RAM (the bare minimum for Windows Vista - not advisable), the largest gains are 47% (the test benchmark included Adobe Photoshop CS3 along with 22 images, iTunes, Microsoft Word 2007, Adobe Reader 8 and an Explorer Window). However, on systems with 1 GB or more, ReadyBoost has a negligible effect (small enough to be explained as experimental error)[citation needed].

The core idea of ReadyBoost is that a flash drive has a much faster seek time (less than 1 millisecond), allowing it to satisfy the requests fairly quickly compared to a hard drive when booting or reading certain system files. It also leverages the inherent parallelism of having two sources to read data from. Unfortunately, low-cost flash drives are very slow in terms of sequential reads and writes, compared to modern desktop hard drives -- fast 7200 rpm hard drives can sustain 60-80 MB/s, which is 6 to 8 times faster than the 10 MB/s sustained by the fastest low-cost flash drives. The only advantages these flash drives have are a seek time of around 1ms, compared to the 8-12ms typical on modern SATA drives.

On laptop computers the performance shifts more in the favor of flash memory, laptop memory being priced relatively higher than that for desktop systems, and with many laptops using relatively slow 4200 rpm and 5400 rpm hard drives. Additionally, on a laptop, the ReadyBoost caching can reduce hard drive access, allowing the hard drive to spin down for increased battery life.

The performance of NAND flash caching (in the form of Intel's Turbo Memory technology) has also been called into question by some computer manufacturers.

However, it has to be considered that high-cost ($1,000-$50,000) flash memories currently have speeds up to 3 GB/s as random sustained external throughput with latency under 0.015 ms and up to 400,000 random IO/s

OK? That's just huge a lifted exerpt from Wikipedia?!?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

Good information though for those wanting to know what Readyboost is / is capable of.

Anyway it is true.  The lower speed / lower price USB flash drives aren't the best, and that is why you have to use this trick to allow Vista to use it.

Regardless, it works excellent for my Laptop, if only it increases performance by 47% (not a bad figure!).

I just wanted to pass on the info to those looking for a fast and easy fix (without buying new RAM).

Cheers!

 

[dapaterson]

There's another great optimizer for Vista systems.

It's called FDISK  >

 

[Jorkapp]

Jorkapp, i agree with you about read/write cycles and that a flash drive used for readyboost technology should not be use for anything else. However, even with a limited amount of read/write cycles, this number is pretty high so a memory stick will last long enough to justify buying one just for that.

Another trick that will boost performance is disabling the Gadget bar and the Aero interface. I know it's cool features but it's eating up so much memory. It is also recommended to disable both when you use a laptop on battery. I'm doing it and my battery last twice the amount of time.

Exactly. Around these parts, a 1GB flash drive costs less than $20. Easy and cheap enough to buy one for caching, and one for data storage.

 

[retiredgrunt45]

There's another great optimizer for Vista systems.

It's called FDISK 

I must agree!

I've been using Microsoft since the DOS days, including, win3.1, 95, 98, XP and then I bought Vista. I found the same problem with all of them, they all "Sucked". The memory hogs winners are XP and Vista. It seems everytime Microsoft comes out with a new OS, they add more useless junk that looks good to the layman, but for those of us who know better, it's a just another bunch of useless utilities that hog memory. Even with 4GB of the fastest  DDR625 it's still slow, Vista is like and eight cylinder running on only four cylinders, sometimes, worst than win95 running on an old 486. The "MSCONFIG" utility in Vista is a joke to say the least. I still can't figure out why it's even there, because it certainly doesn't disable anything.

Vista is Cheaper and a bit more secure. Otherwise stick with XP. Vista Home Basic doesn't offer anything new except a bit more security. I get the feeling a lot of people are going to be disappointed to find out they won't even have Aero on Home Basic.

And buggy, don't get me started on the bugs, but what windows OS doesn't have them, but Vista has them in droves. I thought XP was bad. Patch this, patch that. somethings never change.

Last year my bother-in-law put me on to Linux, I was skeptical at first, but soon found that my machine ran smoother, faster and "No virus's" Wow to say the least, I has finally ridden my self of the giant virus magnet called the Windows OS.

To sum up it takes abit more a learning curb to run Linux, but after the initial break in period, my Windows OS soon went the way of the recycle bin. It's been eight months now and I couldn't be happier, I run all the same programs as a windows machine, play the same games, but the biggest bonus, is I always have the same consistent performance I initially built my machine for and much fewer bugs to worry about.

I realize Linux is not for everybody, for those who like the concept of "out of the box computing" stick with windows. Linux doesn't come without it's problems and glitches either, but I would say after having used both, Linux has about 70% less problems than any windows OS.

But for those who have a broader knowledge base and are bit more adventurous and want the power of their PC to be consistent, Linux is the way to go. And you don't have to buy a flash drive to speed up your machine.

 

[mysteriousmind]

There's another great optimizer for Vista systems.

It's called FDISK  >

An other way to optimize Viste : dont use it...use a mac like me    :blotto:

 

[George Wallace]

I just purchased a backup Laptop recently with MS Vista Premium on it.  Just today I have started running into little annoying problems, such as the mouse nolonger functioning in the normal manner.  I can no longer highlight a line and right click and copy.  I won't even talk about that often used line on the Apple commercials, about "Do you Allow, or not". 

Who thinks MicroSoft once again sold us a bill of goods?  Vista, has caused me lots of grief in the little time I have had it.  It doesn't load many of my previously owned games.  It is hard to find upgrades or patches for other periferies and programs.  Will MS solve our problems or just ignore our wishes?

 

[smitty66]

I used the Beta 2 version of Vista, I haven't had a chance to use the full release. It seemed to be really cool looking, but the hardware requirements seemed to be excessive to say the least. I've seen servers with less RAM. Some of the controls they've added (i.e. the Apple commercial), get annoying, but I guess it's a change from their previous method of allowing everything!  ;D
I think the growing pains are just beginning, so I've pulled out the Vista HDD and put my XP Pro HDD back in. I'll wait a year or so and see how the dust settles.
As for Microsoft listening, I guess they know that they have a "captive audience" and seem to care little.

 

[Proud Dad]

I have had little trouble with my Dell laptop and Vista Prem. However I would agree with Smitty that the more ram the better, this one has 2 gig, but there was a problem in early release where Vista couldnt use more than 2gig anyways. A lot of its annoyances should disappear after Service Pack 1 which is in Beta right now. So December/January maybe?. I had a lot of those Allow/Deny popups early but I adjusted one of the settings and that problem is rare now. I am more annoyed with Norton on this machine.

 

[George Wallace]

Well, you are right about it being a memory hog.  If you have less than 1 Gig of Ram, you are going to run into mega problems once you start using any 'serious' applications.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

It's a bloated hog. A system running Linux, or even W2K, runs lightning fast. WV will only do that with nothing but the system files, on the same system. NO........NO, home computer, used for word processing and cruising the internet, should require 2 Gig of RAM. Micosoft knows how to ADD programme code, but their gazzillion dollar a year techies don't know how to condense it. MS no longer puts out a perfect OS, but launches, waits for the complaints & security breeches, and then supplies a bandaid fix. Then another, and another and another..........They are in business because of the amount of machines running their software. Not because it's good. It's crap. Personally, I refuse to buy into "We are now launching the greatest operating system ever developed" bullshit. DOS 3.1  with a GUI was good. You just had to think a bit and learn the language . My suggestion to anyone with WV is to format C: and install W2K........ if you want to stay with Bill Gates.

BTW, WV doesn't like illegal, unlicenced software or files. It will eat them, lock up, report you, etc. It searches your machine, in the background, everytime you boot. Let your trial copy expire, you won't be able to access any drive on your system. Bill Gates owns you ..........and your machine.

A tip of my Red Hat to everyone.

 

[smitty66]

WRT the security "bandaids" and the other fixes yet to come, you better buy a stand alone hardrive because by the time they get them all, you'll need the storage!
I'm a fan of Linux myself (Open SuSe 10.2 right now). It's amazing how much quicker things are when the machine doesn't have to go through a couple of billion lines of code to change the time.  >
Yeah the background processes looking over your shoulder is rather "Big Brother-ish" isn't it. Guess Bill has to make another Gazillion dollars this year.

 

[Scott]

I was perfectly happy with XP.

Vista can kiss my arse for all of the time I have spent trying to figure out it's bugs, played with the language feature that all of a sudden sees me typing french characters (ala TN2IC) ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ, getting re-booted because this crap system can't seem to handle more than three pages open in IE (I changed to firefox, thought I had that fixed but was sorely mistaken) and the frigging thing still won't let me play Sim City 4.

Windows Vista? Boooo.

 

[Rocketryan]

This topic reminds of this

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=741891990