Anyone Get ReadyBoost to Work?

[Richard Urban]

I have 3 different model SanDisk USB memory sticks. Each one of them can be
used for ready boost.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Roger]

I've purchased 2 different USB2 Memory Keys and in each case when I put it
in Vista says do you want to use to speed up system, say yes but it then
comes back saying device does not have the necessary performance
characteristics?

How can I find out what performance characteristics its supposed to have or
what do I need to do to get a device to work?

Thanks

Roger

 

[MICHAEL]

I've purchased 2 different USB2 Memory Keys and in each case when I put it in Vista says do
you want to use to speed up system, say yes but it then comes back saying device does not
have the necessary performance characteristics?

How can I find out what performance characteristics its supposed to have or what do I need to
do to get a device to work?

ReadyBoost can be a tricky thing to get working
on some flash drives, and a lot of flash drives
just aren't fast enough for ReadyBoost.

Sometimes formatting the drive can do the trick.
Either FAT or FAT32.

Try this also;
Go into Device Manager>Disk Drives
Find your flash drive. Double click it.
Policies tab.
Make sure "Optimize for performance" is checked.

Test again.

Make sure it's not plugged into a USB hub.
Or, try plugging it into another slot.


ReadyBoost - Using Your USB Key to Speed Up Windows Vista
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/04/14/576548.aspx

 

[Sascha Benjamin Jazbec]

LG Silverline 512MB and Sandisk Store'n'Go 2 GB both working as
ReadyBoosters in my Vista Ultimate 32bit

Those sticks must be fast enough ( read/write rate ) and be connected to a
USB 2.0 port directly to the PC, not per a Hub -

SJ / Germany

 

[Roger]

Hi Richard

Good to know that it des work then - not sure what I'm doing wrong be
grateful if you could advise any specific model I should get - my laptop has
2Gb of ram as as I understand it I need to get 2Gig+ to get the best out of
ReadyBoost?

Thanks

Roger

 

[Richard Urban]

My favorite is a plain vanilla SanDisk 2 gig Micro without the U3 crap. Is
says "Enhanced for Ready Boost" right on the case.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[AJR]

There are some "difficulties" with ReadyBoost. Try testing the flash drives
several times. You can find the reason for rejection via the Events viewer
as follows: Right click My Computer>Manage>Event Viewer>Applications and
Services>Windows>Microsoft>ReadyBoost>Operational.

I have a three pack of 1 gig PNY units - one unit works well as ReadyBoost
(BTW - once recognized it is not necessary to "retest" even after removing
drive) - two others do not - also drive that functions as ReadyBoost on a
laptop flunks the test on a desktop - go figure!!

 

[Dale]

Do you see any performance boost when you use ReadyBoost?

Dale

 

[Richard Urban]

It's hard to tell Dale. I have 2 gig of RAM so the pagefile isn't used much
anyway. Until I can get some of my more intense programs installed and
working I may not have a definitive answer.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[MICHAEL]

Typically, if a user has over 1GB RAM, they will not
notice much difference. When you have 2GB+, it really
is a waste of a stick.

Although- I have 2GB RAM, and when I use a virtual machine,
ReadyBoost does seem to help a bit.


-Michael

 

[Jack R]

FWIW, I'm running ReadyBoost through a USB 2 hub just fine.

 

[MICHAEL]

The hubs do seem to keep many users' sticks from
passing the ReadyBoost test.

Your ReadyBoost might work even faster if it
wasn't plugged into a hub.

Take care,

Michael

 

[Rock]

Hi Richard

Good to know that it des work then - not sure what I'm doing wrong be
grateful if you could advise any specific model I should get - my laptop
has 2Gb of ram as as I understand it I need to get 2Gig+ to get the best
out of ReadyBoost?

You may not see much increase in performance with 2GB of RAM. For systems
that are less than and up to 1 GB there is a greater impact.

These are the specs required:

1. The USB Key must be at least USB 2.0
2. The device must be able to do 3.5 MB/s for 4 KB random reads uniformly
across the entire device and 2.5 MB/s for 512 KB random writes uniformly
across the device.
3. The USB Key has to have at least 64mb of free space

See for more info:
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/04/14/576548.aspx

 

[bp]

I've purchased 2 different USB2 Memory Keys and in each case when I put it
in Vista says do you want to use to speed up system, say yes but it then
comes back saying device does not have the necessary performance
characteristics?

How can I find out what performance characteristics its supposed to have or
what do I need to do to get a device to work?

That's funny I just put in some cheap old 256 meg (I think free) key
and it was accepted.

However the system acted funny with it in.
I had programs that tried to access any files hang for minutes and the
drive hd light was always flashing I thought Vista was hitting my disk
drives like crazy until I figured out it as the system accessing the
key.

Took it out and the hangs cleared up anf the drive light quitted
down.

I don't see any difference in performance but then again MS says you
should use a much bigger cache.

I think it is just part of the technology they are going to use for
the hybrid drives that are coming.