USB drive too slow for ReadyBoost

As I'm sure you're aware, Windows Vista introduced a feature called ReadyBoost which allows the operating system to make use of storage space on a USB drive or SD card to extend the available system memory. So if you have, for example, a 1GB USB drive handy you can plug it into your system and get a corresponding performance boost.

Now the problem with this is that all USB drives / SD cards aren't created equal and some may be too slow to be usable. If you do a quick search of the internet you'll find lists of compatible devices but I thought it worth mentioning something else you can try, mainly because I just tried it and managed to get over the "this device does not have the required performance characteristics" message. Simply try reformatting it using a different option (ie by right-clicking on the drive in Explorer and selecting "Format..."). Sometimes it seems to like you choosing NTFS as the file system, sometimes FAT32. And you can try playing around with the allocation unit size too.

For the 1GB drive I have just plugged into my machine FAT32 and 4096 bytes of allocation size did the trick. But it took a few attempts with different format settings to get it to work. So is my machine significantly faster? I''ll get back to you on that, at the moment I haven't noticed.

Alternatively, and if you're desperate, Windows Vista magazine has a slightly more radical approach that involves playing around with the registry. But be warned that a hack like this might not actually result in a faster system...

Comments

• Anonymous
  September 17, 2007
  i dont quite understand the concept, as usb drive/ sd card is typically a lot slower than modern hard drives, how could that be a boost?

• Anonymous
  September 17, 2007
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  September 17, 2007
  So in essence, what you're saying is that you've tried various formatting options on a 1GB USB stick in order to get the best performance and having done so, you've no idea if its any faster than before? Genius. I think you should have a few days off after such a sterling effort.

• Anonymous
  September 17, 2007
  Hmmm isn't quite what I said. The world didn't instantly become a better place, no. But ReadyBoost does absolutely improve performance so it's worth persevering with it. At least, that was my take and what I was trying to do is let people know that if the first response they get is "your USB drive isn't fast enough" they shouldn't give up straight away. I may just take those few days off anyhow, thanks.

• Anonymous
  September 25, 2007
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 08, 2007
  Thanks fkautz