Windows Vista has several features that affect how disks are used, including the following:
With Windows
ReadyBoost, USB flash devices with sufficiently fast memory (flash
devices can be read up to 10 times faster than physical disk drives) are
used to extend the disk caching capabilities of the computer’s main
memory. Using flash devices for caching enables Windows Vista to make
random reads faster by caching data on the USB flash device rather than
on a disk drive. Because this caching is applied to all disk content,
not just the page file or system dynamic link libraries (DLLs), the
computer’s overall performance is boosted.
USB flash devices that can
be used with Windows ReadyBoost include USB 2.0 flash drives, Secure
Digital (SD) cards, and CompactFlash cards. These devices must have
sufficiently fast flash memory and be at least 256 MB or larger in size.
Windows Vista can use an amount of flash memory equal to twice the
amount of physical memory (RAM) on the computer.
When you insert a USB flash
device into a USB 2.0 or later port, Windows Vista analyzes the speed of
the flash memory on the device. When you click Speed Up My System Using
Windows ReadyBoost, Windows Vista extends the computer’s physical
memory to the device. The default configuration enables Windows
ReadyBoost to reserve all available space on the device for boosting
system speed.
To use Windows ReadyBoost
with a USB flash device that you either already inserted or that you
previously declined to use with Windows ReadyBoost, follow these steps:
1. | Click Start, and then click Computer.
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2. | Right-click the USB flash device in the Devices with Removable Storage list, and then choose Properties.
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3. | On the ReadyBoost tab, select Use This Device, and then click OK.
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4. | For
USB flash devices that do not support ReadyBoost, you cannot enable the
device. The only option you’ll have is to stop retesting the device
when you plug it in. The Stop Retesting This Device When I Plug It In
option is selected by default.
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If the USB flash drive
has both slow and fast flash memory, you will not be able to use the
slow flash memory portion of the USB storage device to speed up the
computer performance. As a result, you might not see all the memory of
the USB device when it is added to your physical memory.
Windows ReadyDrive
improves performance on mobile computers equipped with hybrid drives. A
hybrid drive is a drive that uses both flash RAM and a physical drive
for storage. Because flash RAM is much faster than a physical disk,
mobile computers running Windows Vista write data and changes to data to
the flash memory first and periodically sync these writes and changes
to the physical disk. This approach reduces the spinning of the physical drive and thus saves battery power.
The flash RAM on hybrid
drives can be used to provide faster startup and resume from sleep or
hibernation. In this case, the information needed for starting or
resuming the operating system is written to the flash RAM prior to
shutting down, entering sleep, or going into hibernation. When you start
or wake the computer, this information is read from the flash RAM.
You do not need to enable ReadyDrive. ReadyDrive is enabled for use automatically on mobile computers with hybrid drives.
