Windows 7: Readyboost

[macgyver2]

ceroberts75, I have found that some SD cards and USB flash drives don't work with readyboost. I have 3 SD cards and only 2 works as readyboost drives. So if the memory your using isn't fast enough it won't work. Even my new WD USB HDD is seen by 7 as a possible readyboost drive but when I goto the settings tab it won't take.

 

[SkippyB]

256GB

I know this is an old thread, but something was bugging me. After deciding to install Windows 7 to replace XP on all the computers in my house, some of which are older, I decided to find out more info on the advantages of ReadyBoost for the older systems. I'm all well and good with the concept, and the roughly $40 needed to buy 4 USB thumb drives for the 4 systems that need it, seems well worth it. But as I was doing research, I was shocked to find that Windows 7 supports up to 8 devices containing up to 256GB.

Does anyone have any idea what the thinking behind this was? Why would anyone need 8 devices? Why would anyone need or want to spend $500+ on 256GB of USB flash? Why would this even be engineered to handle such a configuration? Could any system even utilize such a configuration?

Just curious, but I've been scratching my head since I read about it, and wondered if anyone had any clue.

 

[seekermeister]

Maybe it's just a reversal of Gates physcology. Back in the Windows 95 days, he thought that nobody would ever need more than ~64MBs of RAM.

 

[chrysalis]

readyboost is ok, but more actual ram is better.

If you going to spend 40usd just so you can readyboost then you better of spending the 40usd on ram instead.

 

[speedyq]

Slap in your flash drive. Open "my computer", right click on the flash drive and the readyboost tab is there.
I recommend you don't use all the space on the stick, keep a bit empty otherwise it shows up as 99% fragged

 

[Hydrology]

What if The Drive is missing?

What happens if the flash drive is missing when you boot your computer. I tried something foolish in hindsight. I made a ram disk a readyboost drive. Of course, the ram disk will not be there at boot, it will only be ther after the OS has started up and is probably close to finishing loading. The next time I rebooted my machine, I can't even get it to POST. Nothing gets to the screen. I had no problems before this.

I am just getting Phoenix BIOS POST beeps 1-3-3-1. I get the beeps instantly when I turn on the power. I think that this is a memory error, but Tyan web site won't give me access to the manual. Could POST be looking for the memory I dedicated to readyboost on my ramdrive? Or is readyboost memory only used when the OS starts to load. This thing is stopping long before the OS starts to load.

Any help would be appreciated because I am dead in the water.

 

[seekermeister]

I know nothing about Tyan, but it seems very strange that they won't allow you to download the manual. What BIOS does your motherboard use? BIOS beep codes are usually standardized by the BIOS brand, and can be Googled. You need more than the sequence that you posted, because the codes are usually composed of long and short beeps, so you need to listen more closely.

 

[Hydrology]

I have a Tyan S5397 motherboard. The manuals are on the Tyan site, but the site is screwed up and for some reason, when I click on the get manual link, I get a page saying "Website Declined to Show This Page". I get this message for any of the tyan support documents.

I have Phoenix BIOS and all the beeps seem to be the same length, but they come in groups. 1 Beep, a pause, 3 beeps in quick order, a pause, 3 beeps in quick order, a pause, 1 beep. Occasionally, the sequence will begin again after about 1 to 2 minutes. There is an LED on the motherboard with the code E4 on it.

I havent been able to find a manual in a google search, but i did find a reference to a 1-3-3-1 beep code for Phoenix BIOS on a different machine. They said that the code means that your memory is in the wrong slot for a single dimm configuration. I have 4-4gig DIMMs spread across the available 16 slots as per the manual's recommendation (the manual that I now cannot find). That configuration has been working well for about a year.

 

[seekermeister]

I'm just thinking out loud, with no real conclusion, but while itseems obvious that there is a memory issue, I doubt that it is either ReadyBoost or the RAM disk causing the problem, because as you said, they don't exist during the BIOS run. I have no idea of what that E4 code is about, but it would be helpful to know, if you can Google that. As it stands, if the problem is one of memory, it would seem that either you have a RAM disk that went south, or dust or corrosion had built to the point of effecting the system. Even though it was working properly prior to your last reboot, it may just be a coincidence of timing. I would remove, inspect and reinstall the RAM, then run Memtest 86, letting it run a number of passes to see what it says.

 

[Hydrology]

Thanks for the response, I was wondering if Readyboost somehow gets the memory controler to map memory to the disk that it thinks is available, and now that that disk is not available at boot, I am getting memory erors. I don't know if readyboost works at this low a level.

A google of E4 and Tyan did not produce anything helpfull. I have the memory watercooled, so removing it is a REAL hassle. I regret ever watercooling them, it makes the case cramped, and working on the memory a real pain. I don't think that I gained much by it either, I still ended up putting a fan in the center of the case. But I think that you are right, that should be my next step.

 

[seekermeister]

As far as I know, the OS makes no change at that low of a level in anything, unless possibly through some option within the chipset driver, but I'm not aware of that either.

EDIT: You might avoid the hassle with the RAM chips by running Memtest 86 first. If you let it run 6 or more passes without any errors, then it probably wouldn't be necessary to remove them at all.

 

[Hydrology]

You know its strange, after a day of not booting, it seems to be working now. I didn't change anything, so maybe there is a component that is right on the edge of failure. I am suspecting the power supply or the memory. The power supply is 1000W and Tyan recommends 850W so I think it has the capacity. But I do have 9 disks and a high end Graphic card. I will run the memory test and see what pops up. This is my work computer so I want to know what is failing now before crunch time gets here.

 

[seekermeister]

With that many components wired together, it reminds me of a principle of flight safety...which is safer, a single or twin engine aircraft? The usual response would be the twin, which may be true, but with two engines has twice the chance of a failure (which is more difficult to fly). With the single engine aircraft, an engine failure means a certain forced landing, but in either case, the ultimate fate lies in the pilot's skill...along with a sprinkling of luck.

I would consider that Tyan power figure to be minimal. Have you run a power calculator which includes all of your "engines"? Here is one that I have found useful before:

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

 

[cubano3219]

When you plug in a flash drive in the autoplay that pops up click autoplay. hope it helps someone

 

[macgyver2]

The ram sticks are water cooled and after a day of non use the systems seems OK. Sounds to me like a leak that dried up.

 

[Bushman5]

i highly disagree that those of us with more than 4Gb of ram will not benefit from readyboost. I currently am running a 16gb SDHC card enabled 100% for Readyboost, and a 32GB USB drive enabled 100% for Readyboost.

GIMP absolutely flies thru a complex rendering now, in 20 - 30 seconds VS several minutes without readyboost. Security scans takes seconds compared to minutes before.

I also just changed the virtual memory to almost 500GB (used a whole drive). currently testing that out for kicks and giggles.

games are also much faster , esp Crysis.

and yes, i was using all the RAM for some applications before i discovered readyboost. I often run multiple renderings in multiple windows at once. (Gimp)

I do intend to max out my RAM soon, to 16GB, and possibly upgrade the motherboard to one that will accept up to 32GB of ram.

 

[wilywombat]

Has anyone (if it is possible) used readyboost on a netbook running win 7 starter? (I have a samsung nb30 touch)

 

[wkw427]

I just got a 4gb SDHC card for my netbook with 7starter on it. It seems faster, but I havn't done any tests with it yet..

 

[Rhammstein]

From what I understand, ReadyBoost is a cache that extends the pagefile. When the system runs out of Memory, it will use ReadyBoost, which can be faster than the HDD. However, I never run out of Memory, 8GB in both of my machines, and neither see's any improvement using ReadyBoost for that reason.

Although, a while back when I had a notebook with Vista, I saw some improvements using ReadyBoost, but that system only had 1GB of Ram. I'm sure it helps with certain systems, and it's nice that they improved it so well for Win7.

 

[Everlong]

If you have a decent HDD then you won't notice much difference. I'm using an old micro SD card in a USB adapter for some ReadyBoost, and there's not much difference apart from loading times in a few games have increased.