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December 11, 2008 2:53 PM PST

Use a flash drive as memory in Windows XP

by Tom Merritt
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Got a slower, older Windows XP machine? Got a USB flash drive you're not using? Then you have extra memory to speed up that computer and extend it's life a bit. I'm Tom Merritt from CNET.com, and I'll show you how in this Insider Secret.

We've shown you how Windows Vista's ReadyBoost feature will let you use a USB drive like this as extra cache memory to make your computer faster. Well there's a way to do the same trick in Windows XP. Thanks to Shawn in Quebec for sending along the tip.

First insert a flash drive

Open up the Control Panel.

Go to "System."

Choose the advanced Tab.

In the Performances section, click on "Settings."

Choose the advanced tab there.

In the "Virtual Memory" Section, press "Change."

Select the letter corresponding to your flash drive. (Hint: It's not C.) You can let the system manage the size or customize the amount of space that you want used as virtual memory. I'm not going to use this flash drive for anything else, so I'll let the system manage it.

Make sure to Press Set once you've made your choice.

Press OK, and the changes will take effect.

Then restart your computer.

And now you have a little extra memory at no additional cost.

Topics:

Insider Secrets

Tags:

Windows XP,

memory

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (16 Comments)
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by schiz94 December 23, 2008 11:35 PM PST
can i do this in mac os?

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by bluesky17 December 25, 2008 6:18 PM PST
i added a kingston usb 4 gb drive as told in insider secret for windows xp sp2 ram upgrade the computer has onboard 512 gb when i check in system properties it still shows 512 gb why is that? how do i actually confirm this addded ram is working apart from subjective testing any clues would be highly appreciated thx
Reply to this comment
by Jondalar69 December 25, 2008 11:41 PM PST
Hi bluesky17! The reason it doesnt show up as actual RAM in system properties is because it isnt actually RAM. At least not RAM that a motherboard is designed to recognise.The reality is that by changing where your virtual memory is stored, (from the hard disk to the flash drive), what you get is LIKE extra RAM since the flash drive can be accessed much faster than the hard drive.The truth is, real physical RAM is still much faster than a flash drive in most cases.The real benefit of doing this is that now when your programs need to access virtual memory because physical memory is running low, programs no longer have to access virtual memory from the slow hard drive, instead they have access to VM from the faster flash drive. One thing I did differently than the article was turn off virtual memory on all my other drives so that the only VM available to entire system is on the fast USB drive, thereby never accessing the slow hard disk. Hope this helps.
by bluesky17 December 26, 2008 6:07 AM PST
thx for the help also is it reqd to use any usb drive or only readyboost specific usb as for vista kindly clear this point i am using it for xp sp2 simple 4gb kingston usb
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by Jondalar69 December 26, 2008 2:26 PM PST
You should be fine with your kingston flash drive. 4 gigs is plenty of space for virtual memory. windows xp doesnt know the difference between a ready boost from any other type of usb drive since ready boost is windows vista specific technology. Size matters most, I wouldnt use anything smaller than a gig for a 512mb system so what you have is fine. One more thing, one reason I turned off virtual memory on all my other drives was so I could see if this really works. When I open up task manager with VM on the USB drive only, I still have a pagefile/virtual memory meter in use so it does work.
by Jondalar69 December 26, 2008 4:29 PM PST
I also should add that along with size, the speed of the flashdrive matters as well. You want a USB 2.0 drive, not an older 1.0. Although even the older 1.0 type is still faster than the hard disk. There are newer types of USB 2.0 drives now that are high speed. The faster the drive's transfer rate, the more doing this trick will behave like RAM.
by manubumb December 28, 2008 12:13 PM PST
After reading this article, I went ahead and ordered a 16GB kingston flash drive since it was only $30, and I figured worst case, if it didn't work, I still have a 16GB flash drive to use for whatever.

Turns out the max size for a paging file on XP is 4096, so that's something to keep in mind (unless someone knows a way around this?), and the particular flash drive I got (Kingston 16GB DataTraveler) wasn't compatible with ReadyBoost. Not an issue for me (yet) since I'm not running Vista, but definitely something to double-check if you are. I turned off the paging file for my main harddrive and am only running off the flash drive, so I guess I'll see how it goes.
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by cph January 12, 2009 5:55 AM PST
I followed these instructions exactly several times but the change simply didn't take effect. Each time my laptop restarts I find it is still using the memory in C. Any ideas why this is? I am using a 4GB Kingmax flashdrive with Windows XP.
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by samchambers January 12, 2009 3:32 PM PST
cph: I have the same problem. I've tried this at least 6 times, and the change never sticks. Anyone have any thoughts?
Reply to this comment
by cph January 12, 2009 6:10 PM PST
Hey Tom, reading all these comments it sounds like no one has yet managed to use a flash drive as extra memory following the procedure you outline. If you actually got it to work yourself did you miss a step when you made the Insider video? Or might the 'secret' have something to do with the flash drive itself? Having invested in a flash drive, and a lot of time, trying to accomplish this I would really like to know how it's done.
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by KERKER48 January 13, 2009 5:58 PM PST
Hi Tom i Am also having the same problem as cph even after putting the entire page.sys file on the flash drive it reverts back to the c drive??
Reply to this comment
by cph January 20, 2009 10:30 PM PST
This evidently never did work. "Shawn from Montreal" had a bogus idea that got adopted without being tested. Too bad. This would have been really useful. Anyone want to make an offer on a 4GB flash drive?
Reply to this comment
by mickspace January 21, 2009 6:12 PM PST
This is not adding Ram, but virtual memory, or increasing your paging file?
Which can be accomplished with your hard drive, if you have the space on the hard drive or a second hard drive. My hard drive reading/writing speed is faster than my USB drive. I don?t see how this will help do anything thing but draw energy from the USB port.
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by SaiphX March 19, 2009 3:52 PM PDT
When I try doing this I can't press the set button. Anyone know why?
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by aka2009 April 7, 2009 2:01 PM PDT
can some1 help me
after you add the "memory" do u have to keep the usb into the computer whenever u use the computer
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by jamin1213 August 2, 2009 10:55 AM PDT
Is there a way to do this on a Mac?
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