can I use flashdrive as page file for enhanced computer performanc

[Guest]

I have been trying to use my flashdrive as the source 4 the pagefile (a
little history: 512meg athlon 64 2.2 mhz 100 gig HD compaq laptop & 512 meg
usb flashdrive) both to increase speed and to reduce wear and tear on the
hard drive. No matter what I set the systems/advanced/pagefile options to,
nothing makes any difference in the way my computer runs, indicated size of
available pagefile space ala windows task manager, or makes the flashdrive
L.E.D. flash like it's actually doing something.
I don't need it to work. I've just been trying for so long to do it. It also
seems like a flashdrive should be related to increasing your computers total
ram just as spraying cologne on yourself is to when you really need a
shower.Not perfect but better than nothing. Does anyone know what I'm saying?
Is there any way to do this ???
Could it be done with a bigger flashdrive?
Could it be done with more flashdrives( my baby's got 4 USB ports)
and finally why the hell am I having such a hard time finding ANYTHING
ANYWHERE abou this topic? I hope it's because it's so revolutionary and not
because it's so stupid!!

 

[Micky]

I have been trying to use my flashdrive as the source 4 the pagefile (a
little history: 512meg athlon 64 2.2 mhz 100 gig HD compaq laptop & 512
meg
usb flashdrive) both to increase speed and to reduce wear and tear on the
hard drive. No matter what I set the systems/advanced/pagefile options to,
nothing makes any difference in the way my computer runs, indicated size
of
available pagefile space ala windows task manager, or makes the flashdrive
L.E.D. flash like it's actually doing something.
I don't need it to work. I've just been trying for so long to do it. It
also
seems like a flashdrive should be related to increasing your computers
total
ram just as spraying cologne on yourself is to when you really need a
shower.Not perfect but better than nothing. Does anyone know what I'm
saying?
Is there any way to do this ???
Could it be done with a bigger flashdrive?
Could it be done with more flashdrives( my baby's got 4 USB ports)
and finally why the hell am I having such a hard time finding ANYTHING
ANYWHERE abou this topic? I hope it's because it's so revolutionary and
not
because it's so stupid!!

Um, the latter, I fear.

a) FlashDrive's do not count towards system RAM. You have 512MB
total, period.

b) USB access is generally slower than hard-drive access, making it
unsuitable for a permanent swapfile (even if it weren't a removable
media).

When only one hard-drive is available, the best place is the most-used
partition (the windows partition). If a second hard-drive is available,
the most-used partition on the least-used drive is the best.

 

[Jonny]

Um, the latter, I fear.

a) FlashDrive's do not count towards system RAM. You have 512MB
total, period.

b) USB access is generally slower than hard-drive access, making it
unsuitable for a permanent swapfile (even if it weren't a removable
media).

When only one hard-drive is available, the best place is the most-used
partition (the windows partition). If a second hard-drive is available,
the most-used partition on the least-used drive is the best.

There's only one viable solution to moving a the swapfile to another
physical hard drive and must meet these requirements. The bus system must
not be the same as the boot hard drive, the alternate bus must be at least
as fast as the boot hard drive's bus, the alternate bus must work
independently of the boot hard drive's bus, must be on the first partition
on the alternate hard drive on the alternate bus, and, the swapfile must be
the only thing using that partition.

 

[Micky]

There's only one viable solution to moving a the swapfile to another
physical hard drive and must meet these requirements. The bus system must
not be the same as the boot hard drive, the alternate bus must be at
least as fast as the boot hard drive's bus, the alternate bus must work
independently of the boot hard drive's bus, must be on the first partition
on the alternate hard drive on the alternate bus, and, the swapfile must
be the only thing using that partition.

Indeed -- if it's not independently controlled there can be no benefit
to using an alternative disk. The first partition is typically the faster
partition since it's closest to the outer edge of the disk, however some
drives compensate for this by varying the rotation speed. And if the
swapfile is the only thing on the partition then it is obviously the least-
used partition (swapfile access notwithstanding).

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Guest]

Johnny, so I have some questions 4 U. 1.Would the flashdrive bus be the same
as the boot hard drive? 2.Is the flashdrive bus as fast as the boot hard
drive bus? Does the flashdrive bus work independently of the boot hard drives
bus? And lastly what is a bus?

 

[Guest]

Mickey: A)Flashdrives do not count toward system ram.Can I use them as a
page file? B)USB access is generally slower. Does that mean I can't do
it at all, or will it just slow down the computer? C)What is the best way
to accomplish the goal of my exercise in terms of number of flashdrives,
capacities, how do i set the software, etc?

 

[Guest]

Let me clarify please. I'm not asking if it's a great idea: I'm trying to
figure out how to do it.

 

[Kawosa]

Mickey: A)Flashdrives do not count toward system ram.Can I use them
as a page file? B)USB access is generally slower. Does that
mean I can't do it at all, or will it just slow down the computer?
C)What is the best way to accomplish the goal of my exercise in terms
of number of flashdrives, capacities, how do i set the software, etc?

:

Here is some googled up reading on the subject. Suggest you read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory


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[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have been trying to use my flashdrive as the source 4 the pagefile

You can't. Putting the page file on a removable drive isn't supported, and
for good reason. The consequences of removing a drive while there is
anything paged out to it could be disastrous.

(a little history: 512meg athlon 64 2.2 mhz 100 gig HD compaq laptop
& 512 meg usb flashdrive) both to increase speed

Flash drives are *slower* than hard drives, not faster. Even if you could do
it, it would hurt performance.

and to reduce wear
and tear on the hard drive.

Reducing wear and tear and the hard drive is a myth. The hard drive is
written to and read from all the time, and there's nothing you can do to
change that. It will last as long as it lasts (generally a long time) and
how long that is is out of your control.

 

[Guest]

You can't. Putting the page file on a removable drive isn't supported, and
for good reason.

The consequences of removing a drive while there is

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The consequences of removing a drive while there is

When you say "disasterous" do you mean destabilize system until
restart diasterous or reformat hard drive kind of disasterous?

It would probably depend on the circuymstances. The first is likely, but I
would expect the second to also be possible.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Alan]

Johnny, so I have some questions 4 U. 1.Would the flashdrive bus be the
same
as the boot hard drive?

No

2.Is the flashdrive bus as fast as the boot hard

drive bus?

No.

Does the flashdrive bus work independently of the boot hard drives bus?

Doesn't your first question answer this?

And lastly what is a bus?

Data pathways.

 

[Micky]

Johnny, so I have some questions 4 U.
1.Would the flashdrive bus be the same as the boot hard drive?
No.

2.Is the flashdrive bus as fast as the boot hard drive bus?

Not likely -- unless your hard-drives are antiques.

USB 2.0 has a maximum throughput of just 480 Mbits/s (60 MB/s),
but sustained throughput is less than this (sorry, I don't have the actual
figure). Although Firewire has a slower maximum at just 400 Mbits/s
(50 MB/s) its architecture is such that its sustained throughput is
actually faster than USB 2.0. Thus it's safe to say USB 2.0 is less
than 50 MB/s.

However, even a "lowly" UDMA 5 IDE (Ultra ATA/100) drive has
a maximum throughput of around 100 MB/s, which is more than twice
as fast as Firewire's maximum, which is itself faster than USB 2.0's
sustained throughput. And 1st generation SATAs were capable of
around 150 MB/s. USB has suddenly become as clunky as a 5 1/4"
floppy.

Does the flashdrive bus work independently of the boot hard
drives bus?

Yes. However, it's more correct to say the hard drive is controlled
independently of USB devices. All hard-drives connected to the
same controller are not independent of each other, so if you
connected all four IDE drives to your motherboard's IDE interface,
they'd all be competing with each other whenever you accessed two
or more of them at once (as would occur if the paging file were on
one drive, and Windows on another).

Installing a separately controlled IDE (PCI expansion card) would
allow for independently controlled drives. Similarly if you had both
SATA and IDE drive interfaces. And since USB isn't controlled by
the IDE interface, it is independent of all hard-drives.

And lastly what is a bus?

A passenger carrying vehicle, short for omnibus (for everyone).

In computing terms, it simply means a set of conductors (wires or
connectors) that connect the functional components of a computer
together, effectively creating "bus routes" or pathways for signals.

In other words, USB devices are on a different bus route to the
IDE drives, and are therefore independently controlled.

The term bus usually refers to the busses within the CPU, as well
as the busses connecting it to peripheral components, memory, etc.
The bus routes between these peripherals and the CPU are
determined by the motherboard routing.

Tip: use Google to define any other terms you're not sure of.

 

[Micky]

Mickey: A)Flashdrives do not count toward system ram.Can I use them as a
page file?

No.
a) They're far too slow.
b) They can be hot-swapped/removed.

The paging file should reside on a fast, fixed disk. Period.

B)USB access is generally slower. Does that mean I can't do
it at all, or will it just slow down the computer?

It will slow down the computer during paging. And if the drive
is disconnected while in use... well, just don't go there...

C)What is the best way to accomplish the goal of my exercise
in terms of number of flashdrives, capacities, how do i set the
software, etc?

It's a pointless excercise. The only way to reduce paging is to increase
RAM, or reduce the number of applications you load at once. Either
way, you still need a paging file to cater for unused allocations, and
since you only have one hard-drive, the Windows partition is the only
logical place to put it.

 

[Micky]

It would probably depend on the circuymstances. The first is likely, but I
would expect the second to also be possible.

I would say the first is highly likely. As you imply, removing the swapfile
unexpectedly isn't something Windows can physically handle without
blowing a fuse (figuratively). And when that happens, loss of data is
almost inevitable. A reformat is probably unlikely, but I certainly
wouldn't want to bet the farm on it. Sod's Law dictates that if it can
go wrong, it will go wrong. But in this case it's a matter of "when"
not "if". IOW, it's an accident waiting to happen...