ReadyBoost or Swap File on flash drive?

I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive. However, it
occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea. It's
going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.

Any comments?

I'd recommend using the drive for Readyboost, rather that the swap drive.
Windows will use Readyboost to it's advantage. It really is efficient at
managing memory.

--
Dustin Harper
dharper@vistarip.com
http://www.VistaRIP.com | Vista Resource & Information Page


"Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive. However,
> it
> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea. It's
> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>
> Any comments?
>

The swap file is what ReadyBoost puts on the device. It is written to the
hard drive as well so that you can remove the device without harm to your
work. Vista will use the copy on the device for faster access, that's all.

"Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive. However,
> it
> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea. It's
> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>
> Any comments?
>

Keep in mind the transfer speeds of the device.

If you have a 1-4 gig swap file, do you really want your computer reading
that data at 5-30 megs a second off a memory stick, or 30-150 megs a second
off your hard drive??


"Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive. However,
> it
> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea. It's
> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>
> Any comments?
>

Where are you getting your numbers on the memory stick?

"Xenomorph" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:8713E806-EB61-440F-A07B-3443347238E1@microsoft.com...
> Keep in mind the transfer speeds of the device.
>
> If you have a 1-4 gig swap file, do you really want your computer reading
> that data at 5-30 megs a second off a memory stick, or 30-150 megs a
> second off your hard drive??
>
>
> "Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
> news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
>> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive. However,
>> it
>> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea. It's
>> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>>
>> Any comments?
>>
>

The speed is a factor, but flash drives are notorious for corrupting data.

"Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:A209371D-B5DC-4539-8B0C-233A6E61AE92@microsoft.com...
> Where are you getting your numbers on the memory stick?
>
> "Xenomorph" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
> news:8713E806-EB61-440F-A07B-3443347238E1@microsoft.com...
>> Keep in mind the transfer speeds of the device.
>>
>> If you have a 1-4 gig swap file, do you really want your computer reading
>> that data at 5-30 megs a second off a memory stick, or 30-150 megs a
>> second off your hard drive??
>>
>>
>> "Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
>>> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive.
>>> However, it
>>> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea.
>>> It's
>>> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>>>
>>> Any comments?
>>>
>>
>

Search for any benchmarks for USB drives.


http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/flash2005.ars/8

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=2006&page=3

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/08/...ves/page9.html


"Colin Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:A209371D-B5DC-4539-8B0C-233A6E61AE92@microsoft.com...
> Where are you getting your numbers on the memory stick?
>
> "Xenomorph" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
> news:8713E806-EB61-440F-A07B-3443347238E1@microsoft.com...
>> Keep in mind the transfer speeds of the device.
>>
>> If you have a 1-4 gig swap file, do you really want your computer reading
>> that data at 5-30 megs a second off a memory stick, or 30-150 megs a
>> second off your hard drive??
>>
>>
>> "Nigel Molesworth" <reply@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:m4huq318tssm7iait626qlhg809pa9qoa8@4ax.com...
>>> I've just bought a 4GB flash drive to use as a ReadyBoost drive.
>>> However, it
>>> occurred to me that putting the swap file on might be a better idea.
>>> It's
>>> going to be mounted inside the case of the PC, so not easily removable.
>>>
>>> Any comments?
>>>
>>
>

Not only does it depend on the speed of the flash drive, but also how much
RAM you currently have on your PC. Using the exact same 4 GB flash drive, I
used Readyboost with 2 GB and 4GB RAM on my PC. There was no improvement
with the 4 GB installed, but quite an improvement with only 2 GB.
(Readyboost does accomplish not only the Page File usage, but also all disk
caching).

In message <5E9A143A-43DC-4E7D-B50A-24DF88A5C653@microsoft.com> "Colin
Barnhorst" <c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:

>The swap file is what ReadyBoost puts on the device. It is written to the
>hard drive as well so that you can remove the device without harm to your
>work. Vista will use the copy on the device for faster access, that's all.

*sigh*

First off, there is no swap file, there is a page file. Pedantic? Yes.
However, there is a difference.

Second, what ReadyBoost does is not a pagefile (and definitely not a
swapfile), ReadyBoost is an extension/supplement to the filesystem
cache.

In message <#Qzf4USbIHA.5364@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl> "jobox"
<jobox_99@yahoo.com> wrote:

>The speed is a factor, but flash drives are notorious for corrupting data.

Older or exceptionally cheap ones might, but I haven't seen anything
purchased in the last three or four years corrupt a single file (and
before that, I avoided USB based storage, so I have little personal
experience to draw from)

On Thu, 1 May 2008 17:44:00 -0700, BEidsvold
<BEidsvold@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>with only 2 GB...
^^^^

How quickly things change :)