How to speed up your computer using a USB Flash Drive

Over time, most computers will slow down – not because they’re faulty, just because all the extra software we install fills the hard drive and uses more and more memory – until you get to the point where it’s so slow that you’ll probably replace your computer. One fix is to open your computer up and add more RAM – the memory that your programs use to run. While this isn’t a particularly difficult or expensive process, opening up a computer and replacing components is unthinkable by most people.

Surprisingly, Microsoft have come up with a solution and although it’s been part of Windows Vista (and Windows 7) since it launched,  not many people are aware of it. The solution is called Windows ReadyBoost and it allows you to add more RAM/memory for programs by using a standard, everyday USB Flash Memory Pen.

Setting it up is extremely simple – All you need to do is insert your USB Flash drive as normal. Once your computer has recognised the drive, open ‘My Computer’ and right click on the icon for your flash drive and select ‘Properties’.

When the properties window opens you’ll see a tab at the top of the window called ReadyBoost – Click it. , If the USB drive is supported you’ll have options to configure the drive, if it doesn’t you’ll see the message “This device does not have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up your system”.

To enable ReadyBoost on your flash drive, check the radio button for ‘Use this device’ and then adjust the slider to tell windows how much extra memory you want your computer to use.  Once you’re finished, click ‘Apply’, then ‘OK’ and you’re done.

Microsoft say that this option is available regardless of the version of Windows Vista or Windows 7 that your computer is running, but it is dependant on some of the hardware in your computer, so it might not be an option for everyone – particularly those who have upgraded their PC from an older version of Windows.

Most current USB Flash Drives will work with Windows ReadyBoost as long as they meet the following criteria:

• The device should have an access time of 1 ms or less.
• The capacity of the USB flash drive must be at least 256 MB (250 after formatting).
• The largest cache file size is 4GB.
• 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 recommended amount of flash memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer.

The USB Flash Drives listed below are our most popular USB Flash drives that are supported by Windows ReadyBoost:

If you want to see what other devices are available, head over to our USB memory section.