Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive and the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select ReadyBoost and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

Since Ready Boost acts as a cache to your virtual/paging file it can engage
in a live system since paging is a normal system activity.
Use of Ready Boost has absolutely nothing to do with adding memory to a
system with a small amount of memory. MS recommends that your your Ready
Boost file size be about twice the size of your main memory so if you have
2GB of ram then you should have 4GB of Ready Boost it possible.
Since Vista uses more non-paged main memory as the size of RAM increases it
is just as appropriate to have Ready Boost on a 4GB system as it is on a 1GB
system.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

All the data stored in a ReadyBoost cache is backed up by a pagefile on a
hard disk. If the flash drive with the ReadyBoost cache is unplugged, Vista
falls back to the hard drive so no data loss takes place. But, it does not
seek to restore the connection if the USB device is plugged back in.

MS Matt Ayers, owner of the ReadyBoost functionality:
Q: How much of a speed increase are we talking about?
A: Well, that depends. On average, a RANDOM 4K read from flash is about 10x
faster than from HDD. Now, how does that translate to end-user perf? Under
memory pressure and heavy disk activity, the system is much more responsive;
on a 4GB machine with few applications running, the ReadyBoost effect is
much less noticable.

Experience from actual users:
http://manicprogrammer.com/cs/blogs/...02/08/375.aspx
3GB RAM, 4GB ReadyBoost, Core 2 Duo, Vista x86
Notice it actually tends to be worse with ReadyBoost in place.
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/sho...spx?i=2917&p=6
Benchmarking with various RAM configurations.
And supports my first comment that ReadyBoost is a waste if you have
more than 1GB of memory.

The best function of ReadyBoost is speeding up boot time.




"JW" wrote in message
...
Since Ready Boost acts as a cache to your virtual/paging file it can
engage
in a live system since paging is a normal system activity.
Use of Ready Boost has absolutely nothing to do with adding memory to a
system with a small amount of memory. MS recommends that your your Ready
Boost file size be about twice the size of your main memory so if you have
2GB of ram then you should have 4GB of Ready Boost it possible.
Since Vista uses more non-paged main memory as the size of RAM increases
it
is just as appropriate to have Ready Boost on a 4GB system as it is on a
1GB
system.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these
files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the
hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista
has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into
a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on
the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive
and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select
ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive
after
docking?

Ready boost does not replace the paging file it only acts as a cache memory
to it so that both reads from the real paging file are not slowed down by
the actual time to read data back from from the real paging file on disk.
"Mark" wrote in message
...
All the data stored in a ReadyBoost cache is backed up by a pagefile on a
hard disk. If the flash drive with the ReadyBoost cache is unplugged,
Vista
falls back to the hard drive so no data loss takes place. But, it does not
seek to restore the connection if the USB device is plugged back in.

MS Matt Ayers, owner of the ReadyBoost functionality:
Q: How much of a speed increase are we talking about?
A: Well, that depends. On average, a RANDOM 4K read from flash is about
10x
faster than from HDD. Now, how does that translate to end-user perf? Under
memory pressure and heavy disk activity, the system is much more
responsive;
on a 4GB machine with few applications running, the ReadyBoost effect is
much less noticable.

Experience from actual users:
http://manicprogrammer.com/cs/blogs/...02/08/375.aspx
3GB RAM, 4GB ReadyBoost, Core 2 Duo, Vista x86
Notice it actually tends to be worse with ReadyBoost in place.
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/sho...spx?i=2917&p=6
Benchmarking with various RAM configurations.
And supports my first comment that ReadyBoost is a waste if you have
more than 1GB of memory.

The best function of ReadyBoost is speeding up boot time.




"JW" wrote in message
...
Since Ready Boost acts as a cache to your virtual/paging file it can
engage
in a live system since paging is a normal system activity.
Use of Ready Boost has absolutely nothing to do with adding memory to a
system with a small amount of memory. MS recommends that your your Ready
Boost file size be about twice the size of your main memory so if you
have
2GB of ram then you should have 4GB of Ready Boost it possible.
Since Vista uses more non-paged main memory as the size of RAM increases
it
is just as appropriate to have Ready Boost on a 4GB system as it is on a
1GB
system.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these
files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the
hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista
has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard
and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with
the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your
computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked'
into
a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on
the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted
again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive
and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select
ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to
prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive
after
docking?

Although USB devices can be inserted/removed with unit running - they do not
function the same between units and during some on/off periods. Reason is
USB ports are initilaized from "scratch" when a device is inserted - which
is primary difficulty in booting from USB.

Interesting comments - First as already stated ReadyBoost is not an adjunct
to RAM - it functions as an aid to "Superfetch" (Former XP prefetch) - boost
in performance depends on type of HD read/writes - sequential read/wrtites
are directed to the HD - non-sequential to ReadyBoost.

In addition - performance depends on HD "speed" making it more ideal for
laptops (or desktops with HD experience index below 4) - data sent to
ReadyBoost is encrypted.

"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked'
into a Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port
on the back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is
removed from the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then
inserted again. When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the
USB drive and the ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive,
select ReadyBoost and tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

I have 4Gb of RAM on this laptop, and when the 4Gb USB drive is working as
ReadyBoost, there is a noticable speed increase... Applications open 3 to 5
times faster when its active. Even booting Vista is faster.

From what I have read from the other comments, the best thing todo is
connect the USB drive to one of the USB ports on the laptop and not use one
of the docking station. I will see how that goes.

What would be neat is if someone could find a way to use DDR RAM as
ReadyBoost as well. I have a desktop running 32bit Vista, but it has 8Gb
RAM (which 3.5Gb is usable). If someone could find a way of using the
memory above the 4Gb limit at ReadyBoost.... This machine never gets turned
off (well, maybe once every six to eight weeks). The BIOS and motherboard
sees the whole 8Gb. Its just a limit on the 32Bit OS.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

I use a USB flash drive for ReadyBoost on my desktop. However, on my laptop
I use a SD Flash Card instead since I have a flash card slot on the side of
my laptop and I never have to worry about it getting in the way or having to
be moved in order to use a docking station.
"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
I have 4Gb of RAM on this laptop, and when the 4Gb USB drive is working as
ReadyBoost, there is a noticable speed increase... Applications open 3 to 5
times faster when its active. Even booting Vista is faster.

From what I have read from the other comments, the best thing todo is
connect the USB drive to one of the USB ports on the laptop and not use
one of the docking station. I will see how that goes.

What would be neat is if someone could find a way to use DDR RAM as
ReadyBoost as well. I have a desktop running 32bit Vista, but it has 8Gb
RAM (which 3.5Gb is usable). If someone could find a way of using the
memory above the 4Gb limit at ReadyBoost.... This machine never gets
turned off (well, maybe once every six to eight weeks). The BIOS and
motherboard sees the whole 8Gb. Its just a limit on the 32Bit OS.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista
has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into
a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive after
docking?

Interesting suggestion ... Did you do anything special to get Vista to see
your SD Flash Card as a ReadyBoost device...? I have not read anything
saying you could do this... everthing talks about ReadyBoost using USB
drives.

The Dell Latitude D830 has a PC-Card slot, an ExpressCard slot, as well as a
SmartMedia slot... One of these should be able to take a ReadyBoost device.

"JW" wrote in message
...
I use a USB flash drive for ReadyBoost on my desktop. However, on my
laptop I use a SD Flash Card instead since I have a flash card slot on the
side of my laptop and I never have to worry about it getting in the way or
having to be moved in order to use a docking station.
"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
I have 4Gb of RAM on this laptop, and when the 4Gb USB drive is working as
ReadyBoost, there is a noticable speed increase... Applications open 3 to
5 times faster when its active. Even booting Vista is faster.

From what I have read from the other comments, the best thing todo is
connect the USB drive to one of the USB ports on the laptop and not use
one of the docking station. I will see how that goes.

What would be neat is if someone could find a way to use DDR RAM as
ReadyBoost as well. I have a desktop running 32bit Vista, but it has 8Gb
RAM (which 3.5Gb is usable). If someone could find a way of using the
memory above the 4Gb limit at ReadyBoost.... This machine never gets
turned off (well, maybe once every six to eight weeks). The BIOS and
motherboard sees the whole 8Gb. Its just a limit on the 32Bit OS.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these
files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the
hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista
has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your computer
is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked' into
a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on
the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive
and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select
ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive
after
docking?

I didn't have to do anything. If you go the store just make sure you get a
flash card that says it is ReadyBoost capable since many of them are too
slow.
I have a SD Ultra II in my laptop and it is fast enough even though the
package at the time I got it did not say Ready Boost on it.
"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Interesting suggestion ... Did you do anything special to get Vista to see
your SD Flash Card as a ReadyBoost device...? I have not read anything
saying you could do this... everthing talks about ReadyBoost using USB
drives.

The Dell Latitude D830 has a PC-Card slot, an ExpressCard slot, as well as
a SmartMedia slot... One of these should be able to take a ReadyBoost
device.

"JW" wrote in message
...
I use a USB flash drive for ReadyBoost on my desktop. However, on my
laptop I use a SD Flash Card instead since I have a flash card slot on the
side of my laptop and I never have to worry about it getting in the way or
having to be moved in order to use a docking station.
"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
I have 4Gb of RAM on this laptop, and when the 4Gb USB drive is working
as ReadyBoost, there is a noticable speed increase... Applications open 3
to 5 times faster when its active. Even booting Vista is faster.

From what I have read from the other comments, the best thing todo is
connect the USB drive to one of the USB ports on the laptop and not use
one of the docking station. I will see how that goes.

What would be neat is if someone could find a way to use DDR RAM as
ReadyBoost as well. I have a desktop running 32bit Vista, but it has
8Gb RAM (which 3.5Gb is usable). If someone could find a way of using
the memory above the 4Gb limit at ReadyBoost.... This machine never gets
turned off (well, maybe once every six to eight weeks). The BIOS and
motherboard sees the whole 8Gb. Its just a limit on the 32Bit OS.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
I don't think ReadyBoost is designed to engage/disengage with a live
system.
It is either in charge, or it is not regarding the storage of these
files
that "boost" performance. When you disengage, Vista starts using the
hard
drive and memory to perform these functions. When you re-engage, Vista
has
no need of the USB drive because all the files are currently onboard
and
engaging may be a loss in performance.

For this to work in your situation, the USB drive needs to move with
the
undocked computer.

That said, ReadyBoost provides little to no "boost" unless your
computer is
running with 1GB or less in memory.


"Some Vista User" wrote in message
...
Good day,

I have a Dell Latitude D830 with 4Gb RAM. I also have a 4Gb USB drive
that
is ReadyBoost capatible. Most of the week, the laptop is 'docked'
into a
Dell docking station, and the USB drive is attached to a USB port on
the
back of this docking station. Once in a while, the laptop is removed
from
the docking station, maybe for an hour or two, and then inserted
again.
When this happens, Vista sometime does not seem to see the USB drive
and
the
ReadyBoost file... I have right mouse click the drive, select
ReadyBoost
and
tell it use this device for ReadyBoost.....

Other then clicking "Undock", is there anything I need to do to
prepare
Vista to undock from the docking station, and to see the USB drive
after
docking?