One of the better Windows Vista features I've seen is ReadyBoost. Despite contrary misinformation you will read on other sites, this does not add more memory to your system. The flash memory used is nowhere as fast as RAM, but it is sometimes faster than hard drives. Readyboost works by caching your pagefile on the drive. It does not replace the pagefile, it is just a cache. A faster than hard drive but slower than RAM cache. But this speed can make a difference, especially consider the slowness of many peoples hard drives.
How do I use it?:
* Plug in USB storage device.
* Go to Computer and right click on the removable storage device and select Properties.
* If your device is compatible, you will see a ReadyBoost tab. Click on that.
* Select Use this device and select the amount of space on it you want to dedicate for the ReadyBoost system file.
* Click OK and you are finished.
Some Notes:
* Will removing the drive from the computer break my computer? NO.
* What speed drive do I need? 2.5MB/sec throughput for 4K random reads and 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512K random writes.. which means just get a newer flash drive. Some drives advertise 12mb/sec but thats usually not for random access. Look for readyboost labeled drives or get ones with good reviews.
* What size drive do I need? 256MB to 4GB, where as best performance is gotten at around a 1:1 to a 2:1 flash to ram ratio. So really, you should never try this with a flash drive smaller than 1GB-2GB.