SanDisk Cruzer 4.0 & ReadyBoost

[Rick Johnston]

I am having a problem with this flash drive which was labeled "Enhanced for
ReadyBoost".

On my Vista notebook it works fine as a storage device but as soon as you
activate ReadyBoost, the LED on the flash begins flashing irregularly and
the hard disk becomes very busy for about one minute and then the device
crashes and disappears from Vista. I have no other problems with this
notebook.

I would appreciate any advice as I have not been able to get this resolved
with SanDisk tech support.

Thanks in advance.

Rick Johnston

 

[Guest]

Rick,

Here is one troubleshooting step you can take to help identify the
problem. Start by examining a Vista report that logs problems and recommends
solutions. To look at the report, click on Start > All Programs >
Maintenance > Problem Reports and Solutions. Look through the report and
note any issues therein and focus on the corrective action recommended in the
report. Vista logs problems, and let's hope it logged something on this one
that we can use. Let us know what you find.

 

[Curious]

Does the drive still have the U3 application on it?
Have you reformatted it in Fat32 format?

 

[Rick Johnston]

Thanks freddy,

Although the crash has occurred numerous time, I find only 2 reports that
seem relevant to the issue. Both are for the "LaunchPad Application" which
is the basic Cruzer interface. Here they are.

LaunchPad Application

Description
A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: AppHangB1
Application Name: LaunchPad.exe
Application Version: 1.4.0.2
Application Timestamp: 455c355b
Hang Signature: c851
Hang Type: 0
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Hang Signature 1: 44f61df8c9ebeaf7598bdaa0f8ecc984
Additional Hang Signature 2: a538
Additional Hang Signature 3: 6bfaaf9547ee67915703b06599623f2c
Additional Hang Signature 4: c851
Additional Hang Signature 5: 44f61df8c9ebeaf7598bdaa0f8ecc984
Additional Hang Signature 6: a538
Additional Hang Signature 7: 6bfaaf9547ee67915703b06599623f2c

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 22239058

*****************************************************************

Description
A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: AppTermFailureEvent
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem (some files may no longer be available)
LaunchPad.exe.atk.kdmp
LaunchPad.exe.mu.dmp
LaunchPad.exe.xml
Version.txt

View a temporary copy of these files
Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a
copy of the files could harm your computer.

Extra information about the problem
Server information: 6b5ac92b-8be4-4e2a-a927-7e489369358b

 

[Rick Johnston]

Yes - It still has U3

No - I have not reformatted it.

Rick

 

[Guest]

Rick,

I was ready to start work on the error report when I read your comments
about U3 on the device. I suppose it's best to blame that because it's hard
to diagnose the problem with U3 on the stick. We need a clean stick to be
sure of what we're accomplishing. Do you want to remove U3? If you do, you
have to download the removal tool from sandisk website. Also, I think the U3
is incompatible with Vista, so if you want to remove it, I think you should
do it on WinXP. If you have better information, post back. The sandisk
website should have the complete information on this should you want to check
it out.

 

[Guest]

Rick,

I forgot to mention that should remover U3, the removal tool formats the
drive in FAT something, supposedly 32. If you do this, you don't need to
format it further. Just thought you'd like to know.

 

[Rick Johnston]

Thanks freddy, getting rid of U3 and formatting did the trick. There still
seems to be a lot of hard disk activity but the Cruzer no longer crashes
using ReadyBoost.

One note, in Device Manager under Policies for the Cruzer, I noticed that
write caching was not enabled even though I enabled ReadyBoost. I went
ahead and enabled write caching. Hope I did the right thing there. Didn't
really notice a performance difference.

Rick

 

[Guest]

Rick,

Write caching is good. You'll get a performance boost, but it's not so
earth shaking that you'll say WOW! It's there in more subtle forms,
particularly when you already have a good performing PC.

 

[Charles W Davis]

You will find a performance boost only when continually working in
exteremely large files that take more RAM than you installed. CAD files will
be processed considerably faster. The difference is the speed of writing to
and reading from the Cruzer as opposed to writing and reading to and from
the hard drive.