okay so the skinny jeans didn't work out for me so well …

This is a short primer for non techies looking to use their Windows Vista computer without crashing with 2 or less GB of ram. Microsoft isn’t too ready to admit this, because it shows that they realized that there were obvious memory consumption issues with Vista, but they made adding ram through USB flash drives idiot proof for non techies through an implementation known as Windows ReadyBoost.

This implementation has been around since the beginning of time on Windows systems, but you had to know how to do it. This is how it works; purchase a USB flash drive with more than 256 MB of memory and a dialog box will open up asking you what you want to do with it. The 5th tab of the box actually says Windows ReadyBoost.

Click on the 5th tab. Click on the Use This Device radio button and then move the slider all the way to the right. Windows will then use up the entire USB flash drive minus 200 mb as extra RAM. Click on Apply and then click on OK. If you keep the device plugged into the back of the computer you will not have to set these properties again; Windows retains these settings.

Now for the stupid answers to stupid questions. Is this literally extra RAM; no, but it is a way to use Windows SuperFetch to boost the time that it takes for your computer to anticipate what you normally do with it in order to help you use your computer faster. To me as an end user, is it as good as extra RAM; it could be if you just want the computer to work without crashing. Keep in mind that Windows Vista crashing isn’t the worst thing in the world; I’ve done it with 1 GB of RAM on a 320 MB hard drive all the time and haven’t lost any information yet, but it is aggravating. As soon as I installed a 2 GB USB flash drive and set up Windows ReadyBoost it worked like a charm. It doesn’t work with just any USB flash drive though; if it isn’t at least 256 MB and it isn’t USB 2.0 don’t even waste your time.

Most drives will detonate themselves as being ReadyBoost compatible. I copped this cheap 2 GB SanDisk drive for $18 at a major retailer that did the trick. You can buy extra memory for your computer and pop the lid and have a go at it. You can even buy a bigger hard drive or an extra one and try that as well. But increasing your page file won’t give you the benefits that ReadyBoost will and it’s best to just continue to allow windows to manipulate that.

If you’re using less than 2 GB of RAM Windows Vista is killing your hard drive; the light is on all of the time from the time the computer is turned on until it is turned off which isn’t good for your PC. Since Vista is going to use the memory anyway why not use cheap interchangeable components to do the trick. If you don’t want a flash drive sticking out of the back of your computer you can also use memory cards to do the trick. Keep in mind though that memory cards are 2 to 3 times as expensive as flash drives though.

What you will notice, is that the light on your flash drive will blink slowly while you are using ReadyBoost; it isn’t a steady amber, so it isn’t necessarily being used persistently but you can see where it is making a difference. My computer hasn’t locked up, and I am back to opening up multiple programs and switching back and forth between applications quickly and yes I am running Windows Defender as well as Spybot Search and Destroy and AVG anti-virus all scanning the memory constantly and it’s running as though I haven’t set any of those programs to be memory resident.

Actually the slow performance was the only reason for putting Spybot Search and Destroy back on the computer, Defender seemed to be working fine I may take it off I don’t know. On some level though Microsoft simply took ownership of a procedure that other software companies were offering through different implementations and put a fancy name to it and dumbed it down. However regardless of what anyone says I don’t think the need to extend memory has been as prevalent on other versions of Windows as it has been on Vista.

One last thing about ReadyBoost; it caps out at the same 4 GB that Windows Vista does. You really don’t need more than 4 GB on Vista anyway, most dual core 2 GB systems will do the trick although on a single core 2 GB system you’ll be reaching for a way to extend your memory. A non techie is hard pressed to find a way to use more than 4 GB, though once gaming becomes popular on Vista that may become a serious concern. So I sort of have 3.8 MB on this system now, and I sort of don’t; but what I do know is that it works, finally. It was really bad I had to wait like 5 to 10 minutes for an application to respond …