Boost your system memory without installing more RAM
Windows Vista and Windows 7

With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced a little-known, but very useful feature called "ReadyBoost". Without getting into a big technical diatribe here, what ReadyBoost does is allow you to use the storage space on a USB flash drive as computer memory. In other words, you can increase the amount of memory your computer has just by plugging in a ReadyBoost capable flash drive.

Not all USB drives are "ReadyBoost ready" though. Only certain USB flash drives are.

Microsoft explains Windows ReadyBoost this way:

"...The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness.

It's easy to use Windows ReadyBoost. When a removable memory device such as a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card is first inserted into a port, Windows Vista checks to see if its performance is fast enough to work with Windows ReadyBoost. If so, you are asked if you want to use this device to speed up system performance. You can choose to allocate part of a USB drive's memory to speed up performance and use the remainder to store files..."

So, if you're running Windows Vista you can boost your system memory simply by inserting a ReadyBoost capable flash drive. Windows will detect the flash drive and give you the option to use some or all of the space available on the flash drive as system memory. You can choose the amount of memory you want to add to your system.

As soon as your insert the USB flash drive you will see the following options. To use ReadyBoost, select "Speed up my system". See the image below:



So if you have a ReadyBoost ready USB flash drive, you can add memory to your system and speed up performance by inserting a ReadyBoost capable USB flash drive into a USB port on your laptop or desktop computer.

We have some 4.0 GB ReadyBoost capable, USB Flash Drives on hand. We will send one of these special, ReadyBoost ready, 4.0GB USB flash drives to anyone who donates $30.00 or more, until we run out of these drives. So, if you help us, we'll help you speed up your Windows Vista system.

Remember:  Windows 7 will be ReadyBoost capable too and  you'll be able to use your ReadyBoost ready flash drive if/when you upgrade to Windows 7