Readyboost HELP

[koondawg06]

Hello all,
I must say whoever made this web forum did a fantastic job! I'm not sure if I'm in the right subform but I have a question about readyboost.

I have Windows 7 installed on my Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop. My laptop came preloaded with Windows Vista, and I have since then upgraded. I have a built in SD reader slot on my laptop in which I have been trying to use it for Readyboost using an SD card.

Here's the problem. I have four SD cards that I have tried to get to work using ReadyBoost. I have one 1GB SanDisk, one 1GB off brand, one 4GB High-Speed 150x Turbo SD card made by A-Data, and one 4GB Sandisk Ultra II SDHC card with 15 mb/s* specifications. I have seen on various sites that the 150x and Ultra II cards SHOULD work for readyboost. BUT, when I go to event viewer after running some tests I usually get a message such as this:

"The device (Unknown Unknown) will not be used for a ReadyBoost cache because it has insufficient read performance: 1881 KB/sec."

I first thought maybe my A-data card had a bad sector or something because I bought it used on eBay, so I went and bought this Ultra II card at Walmart brand new.

It didn't work on Vista either. However, when I plug a USB flash drive (8GB SanDisk) Readyboost says that it meets the requirements for readyboost. Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to make Readyboost work for my SD slot? I want to use it then so I don't have to pull any drives when I go traveling.

 

[FZ21Z]

Have you updated the drivers for it?

 

[Frostmourne]

Did the card you bought have Readyboost on the package?

 

[koondawg06]

When I view the properties of the devices under the hardware tab, the Update Driver... and Rollback driver... are grayed out. Also, the package does not say anything about readyboost.. But I wasn't aware that any manufacturers advertised that they were readyboost compatible yet.

Here's the specs on the SanDisk Ultra II:
Amazon.com: SanDisk Ultra II SDHC 4GB SD Memory Card (SDSDRH-004G-A11, US Retail Package): Electronics
Speed Class Rating of 4
Up to 15mb/s read/write speeds...

You'd think it'd work? Some of my co-workers in my IT department tell me that just a plain old SD card works on theirs...

 

[noobvious]

Hello all,
I must say whoever made this web forum did a fantastic job! I'm not sure if I'm in the right subform but I have a question about readyboost.

I have Windows 7 installed on my Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop. My laptop came preloaded with Windows Vista, and I have since then upgraded. I have a built in SD reader slot on my laptop in which I have been trying to use it for Readyboost using an SD card.

Here's the problem. I have four SD cards that I have tried to get to work using ReadyBoost. I have one 1GB SanDisk, one 1GB off brand, one 4GB High-Speed 150x Turbo SD card made by A-Data, and one 4GB Sandisk Ultra II SDHC card with 15 mb/s* specifications. I have seen on various sites that the 150x and Ultra II cards SHOULD work for readyboost. BUT, when I go to event viewer after running some tests I usually get a message such as this:

"The device (Unknown Unknown) will not be used for a ReadyBoost cache because it has insufficient read performance: 1881 KB/sec."

I first thought maybe my A-data card had a bad sector or something because I bought it used on eBay, so I went and bought this Ultra II card at Walmart brand new.

It didn't work on Vista either. However, when I plug a USB flash drive (8GB SanDisk) Readyboost says that it meets the requirements for readyboost. Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to make Readyboost work for my SD slot? I want to use it then so I don't have to pull any drives when I go traveling.

Have you tried the cards more than once?

I'm guessing you probably have, but I figured I would ask, because my Corsair 8GB flash drive initially gave me a "this device is not sufficient" message, and just for the hell of it, I tried it a second time, and suddenly it worked.

The device didn't change at all, so I have no explanation as to why it suddenly worked.

 

[Nemix]

Try finding the latest drivers for your reader first. If you can't skip to below step anyway but try to find updated drivers afterward if possible, it will give you better performance and less problems with the ReadyBoost.

Reformat the card in NTFS (do full format) and go to Control Panel\Device Manager\Disk Drives\"Your SD Card or Reader"\, select and right click 'Properties' on "Your SD Card or Reader", select the 'Policies' tab, mark 'Better Performance' and hit 'OK'.

Afterwards enable ReadyBoost like normal (recommend = 'Dedicate this Drive for ReadyBoost'), it should past.

Hope it's not too cluttered but works for me on all my SD/USB drives with no ReadyBoost sticker.

 

[koondawg06]

Yes, I have tried plugging the SD cards in multiple times, and testing them multiple times also.

I went to Dell's website to find the latest drivers but for my model they only have drivers for Windows XP and Vista 32-bit. I am running Windows 7 64-bit. I briefly googled the drivers I needed but couldn't really find anything. I had windows search for the drivers automatically and it said the drivers I had were the latest.

Under device manager it has my reader listed as "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller" When I view the properties I only have four tabs: General, Driver, Details, and Resources... No such policies tab

Any other suggestions? I'm stumped...

 

[Nemix]

You should have the card in the reader before going to device manager.

If I remember correctly in device manager either look for your SD card or reader and right click properties. This worked for me on two different laptops both with Vista and 7 and all cards not being Readyboost certified.

Would you mind snipping the device manager with 'disk drives' expanded and card inserted?

 

[koondawg06]

Ok.. I checked the Policies tab under the properties and better performance was the default option for the device. I've also formatted the drive each of the different ways including FAT32 with no change in readyboost working. I wonder if my reader isn't fast enough itself?

 

[Nemix]

Well then I'm not any help anymore.

I've never heard of a card reader, SD card or USB stick that defaults to performance in Windows XP, Vista or 7.

Either I'm not explainning things right, your card reader is not properly recognized by Windows, your Windows is acting funny or you are doing something wrong.

I've used a 2GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro for ReadyBoost on both Vista and 7, all three Windows XP, Vista and 7 defaults to 'Quick Removal' for data lost precautions when first recognized by the OS; not too mention my 2GB SanDisk Cruzer is not Readyboost approved it is just average in transfer speed but my Transcend 8GB card is 1.5x faster but failed for Readyboost the first time in Windows 7, surprise, surprise?...

Anyhow, I've tried my best...good luck with Readyboost.

 

[koondawg06]

Well thanks I certainly do appreciate your help.. Like I said my 8GB SanDisk Cruzer USB drive works with Readyboost fine.. I guess I just need to quit being lazy and buy a flash drive to use for Readyboost... But here's the screenshot of what I'm seeing under device manager.

 

[Nemix]

Well I'll be damn, that's the first I've ever seen that.

Well the only other thing is drivers. I've used a Sandisk 2GB SD Card Calss 6 with Readyboost and a Transcend 2GB Mini SD Class 6 with Readyboost also.

The card reader was made by Realtek so the updated drivers were really easy to find.

Would you happen to know the model of your laptop? I can look for updated drivers for your reader if you have the model.

 

[whs]

I don't think you are going to get something out of SD cards. Even few USB sticks buy you anything. Run this program ( HD Tune website ) for your HDD and then for your cards and compare the nums. Especially the access time is important. Anything over 15ms is no good because the disk can do better. Also a typical HDD data rate is in the 50 to 60MB/sec range. So what are you gaining.
I would buy more RAM. Scan your system here ( RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com ) and you will know your options.

 

[koondawg06]

Nemix if you could find some updated drivers for my reader that'd be great. I've done some looking but I may be overlooking due to my frustration. It's a Dell Inspiron 1501 (Just updated my system specs if u need more).

whs --- I have just heard people say that readyboost helps and SD cards are so inexpensive any more I thought I would give it a try. I wish my laptop had more than 2 slots for ram cause I feel like since I bought those sticks about a year or so ago that they are kind of going to waste if I get more ram..

 

[Nemix]

Hey,

Here is a list of drivers I found for your card reader which is made by Ricoh:

1 = Original Drivers from Dell website, XP & Vista
2 = Updated Drivers from X-Drivers.com, XP & Vista
3 = Windows 7 Drivers from X-Drivers.com, XP, Vista & Windows 7


All drivers that work with Vista should also work with 7 but you'll have to manually install those ones. It's just in the case the Windows 7 drivers for some reason do not install but I've thoroughly checked the model of the card reader through the original Dell drivers. They are the same model just updated drivers.

Let me know if they install, then make sure you're SD card if NTFS formatted and Card Reader is checked for Performance through Device Manager, then test for ReadyBoost.

 

[whs]

Nemix if you could find some updated drivers for my reader that'd be great. I've done some looking but I may be overlooking due to my frustration. It's a Dell Inspiron 1501 (Just updated my system specs if u need more).

whs --- I have just heard people say that readyboost helps and SD cards are so inexpensive any more I thought I would give it a try. I wish my laptop had more than 2 slots for ram cause I feel like since I bought those sticks about a year or so ago that they are kind of going to waste if I get more ram..

Just make the measurements with HD Tune and you'll see what the nums say.

 

[koondawg06]

Nemix if you could find some updated drivers for my reader that'd be great. I've done some looking but I may be overlooking due to my frustration. It's a Dell Inspiron 1501 (Just updated my system specs if u need more).

whs --- I have just heard people say that readyboost helps and SD cards are so inexpensive any more I thought I would give it a try. I wish my laptop had more than 2 slots for ram cause I feel like since I bought those sticks about a year or so ago that they are kind of going to waste if I get more ram..

Just make the measurements with HD Tune and you'll see what the nums say.

I will if I ever get it to work

 

[koondawg06]

WHich one do you suggest I try first Nemix?

 

[Nemix]

In short the 3rd one for Windows 7.

Run the setup and install, then go to Control Panel/Device Manager to check if the drivers have been updated.

 

[koondawg06]

Well I installed the 3rd one,... and I went to device manager and checked out my reader's driver version and it hadn't changed... butttttttt I plugged my SD card in anyways and after testing it about 10 times it finally worked!!!!!! Thank you so much nemix for not giving up on it... I really appreciate it!!!