Use Flash Memory (USB) as Virtual RAM in Windows 7 and Vista

If you feel your computer is lacking enough RAM, you can increase it by using USB memory as virtual Random Access Memory. This technology is called ReadyBoost and  Microsoft enabled it on Windows 8, 7 and Vista. When you connect a flash memory card, Windows will ask you if you want to use the unused portion to speed up your PC. If you click OK, Windows converts the unused portion to virtual RAM. We cannot use all kinds of USB memories to speed up our computers. It should meet some minimum requirements to enable ReadyBoost technology.

System Requirements to Use USB Memory as Virtual Primary Memory

• It should be at least 256 MB
  
  
• It should have an access time of 1 ms or less.
  
  
• It should have at least 2.5 MB/s read speeds and 1.75 MB/s write speeds

Convert USB Flash Drive to Virtual RAM

It is not very hard to convert USB flash drive to virtual RAM using ReadyBoost technology. If you have a Vita or higher version on your PC, it is very simple. You cannot use this technology on Windows XP computers.

1. Connect USB Drive to Universal Serial Bus port
   
   
2. Right click on USB drive and click properties
   
   
   
3. Click on tab ReadyBoost and apply

Now, if your Flash memory meets all the requirements mentioned at the beginning of this guide, it will be converted to virtual RAM and you can see a considerable improvement in system performance.

Points to Remember while using ReadyBoost

In Windows Vista, it is limited to 4 GB while Windows 7 can support up to 256 GB of additional memory by connecting maximum 8 different flash drives. Windows OS older than Vista don't support ReadyBoost technology. Currently, Windows Server 2008 is also not supporting it.

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