One of the things that “we” (as tech geeks) get asked a lot is how to speed up my computer. It’s not as easy as most people would like to think in a lot of cases, but in some cases.. it IS actually pretty darn simply. A RAM upgrade, but that usually means that you have to crack open the case, find out what type of RAM you have, buy some, install some, etc..etc..

Truth be told it’s really quite simple and anyone that knows anything at all about computers should be able to do that for you. However, there is a simpler way to increase your ‘RAM’ size without actually going through all that. With Vista and Windows 7 it comes included – with XP it’s available as an add on program.. and all you need? A flash drive.

Come to think of it, I have an extra one sitting at my desk  which I was going to try to put for sale, but since it isn’t being used… as soon I get back to work from lunch I’m going to install the program. It’s called ReadyBoost. Basically what it does is perform the exact same functions as regular RAM – but in a different spot (your memory stick) and at less speed.. USB2 or 1 Speeds are dramatically slower than that of RAM.

Microsoft does a good job of tooting it’s own horn as to the features of ReadyBoost – you can read the full article here if you’d like.

To get into the settings, all you have to do is right click on the plugged in USB drive and go to the ReadyBoost tab. I would recommend you plug in your USB stick in the back of your computer as there are a lot of computers in which the USB slots in the front are of slower speeds (USB1).

You then pop on over to the ReadyBoost tab and click on the Use this device radio button… choose the amount.. and boom.. you’re all set!

You don’t even need to allocate the entire amount to ReadyBoost – you can use half of it, or whatever you want.. and use the rest for your own data if you like.

Does it Work?

Well, I haven`t taken advantage.. but a simple google search on one of the Internets most trusted hardware review page, Tom`s hardware states the following:

The results are impressive: Using both features, Windows Vista shows off how it can effectively reduce application launch times to provide a better performance experience with your everyday software. At only 512 MB RAM, application launch times decrease from 9 seconds (OpenOffice Writer 2.1) and 10 seconds (Outlook 2007) to 2-4 seconds only. Adding our 1 GB USB 2.0 Flash stick helped to shorten launch times for these applications to 2-3 seconds only. The next conclusion is that Windows Vista with only 512 MB RAM is no fun at all, because applications start much faster only by having 1 GB of RAM. In fact, both Outlook 2007 and OpenOffice Writer 2.1 start even faster on a fresh Windows Vista installation than on our SuperFetch-trained and ReadyBoost-enabled system at only 512 MB.

Having 2 GB of RAM reduced application launch times even more, but now we’re talking about fractions of a second. But again: If you study our results carefully, you’ll realize that it makes sense plugging an unused high-speed USB 2.0 Flash device into a USB 2.0 port: Application responsiveness at lauch does still benefit!

Although the technology helps to make best use of what you already have, we recommend having at least 1 GB of RAM before you even think of installing Vista. Enthusiasts and power users should not start the Vista voyage with less than 2 GB RAM, because you’ll not only want to provide memory space for SuperFetch; you should also think of your running applications. Give Vista as much memory as you can, and it will thank you by serving you quicker.

And keep in mind that this conclusion was reached over 2 years ago. I will post in the notes later on if I notice any significant improvement, the reason that I`m blogging about this today however – is that I noticed that flash drives are getting SO cheap nowadays with buy.com for example offering 4 x 4gig Kingston Flash drives for just $36.99 and they had all kinds of others on sale.. it got me to thinking what to do with all of these Flash drives that people are buying.

XP Users

I almost forgot to post that this doesn’t work for XP users, however there is a program called ‘Eboostr’ which claims to do the exact same thing. Unfortunately – it costs money to use (although a free trial may be available) but I’m currently looking for a free alternative.

Small.. and on Sale

Every week, buy.com puts on a sale which always includes a number of things that I may enjoy purchasing.. or things that I may consider as great gifts.

This week I have a number of reviews that I’m going to create, but the first one is on the Kensington CI65M Notebook Wireless Optical Mouse. I never really thought about how handy these things are until you go about using a laptop on a regular basis.

Most of the day I’m in front of my desktop computer having the luxury of a full keyboard and mouse to navigate and type away. The problem with laptops however (in my humble opinion), is that they don’t have a great way to navigate the screen as quickly as one can with a mouse.

It’s ironic that with all the years of technology and advances we’ve made with computers, that we haven’t found or discovered a better way to navigate around the screen than with a traditional mouse! Of course there have been lots of different types of mice brought forth into the marketplace, but I can honestly say that nothing beats a good reliable optical mouse thus far.

And that’s another point, they now have (instead of optical) laser mice which are supposed to be that much more accurate, etc and able to use on any surface.. but really, for the price difference (usually 4x as much), what surface are you trying to use a mouse on that you’d need to spend those extra dollars? Again.. point up for optical.

I also can honestly say the proof is in experience, and as I glance down at the optical mouse I’ve owned for about 6 years.. I think it’s safe to say that I don’t feel the need to go to anything else.

Long story short, buy.com has it on for 44% off and only $14.99 USD.. nice deal for something you’d actually use.

I was browing around Buy.com’s website today, and of course I was driven to their sale page which has all kinds of good sales, the ones that really draw my eye are (as always) the hard drives. However what I like about the sale flyer is that they have all kinds of other items as well such as:

A Coffee Maker – 69.99
A Camera Tripod – 29.99
Wireless or Wired Laser Printer! – 99.99

And of course all kinds of your standard things like laptops, computers, etc.

The wireless printer is something that I would certainly purchase if I was in the market. One less cable to have cluttering around your house, and you could place it up high in your office or anywhere you can find a plug and have all of your printing needs get sent to the printer wireless. What a great idea! Of course, being a laser it’s only black and white, but that doesn’t matter.. especially when for the most part, I get all my photos printed at a shop or kodak, and all I really print at home is black and white text anyhow!

With the US Dollar getting closer to par now, this may be the time to pick up some south-of-the-border deals!

Buy.com is a US company, but with the dollar getting close to par the way it is again.. it’s a really good time to go looking for some deals in south of the border. I know that buy.com has a sale almost every week, and usually they have some great things at likely not much above cost.

This week they have some great deals on a netbook computer for $219 and even better is the ‘passport’ type of external hard drives which don’t need any power cable other than the USB cable which I LOVE.. they have a 320 gig one on this week (Iomega eGo 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive – Midnight Blue) for $74.99.. not bad at all.

Anyhow, I’m going to have to look at the $69.99 Fantom 1TB G-Force Hard Drive – Dual Interface (eSATA & USB 2.0) – External Hard Drive that they have.. (pictured). External hard drives are awesome in that they are so portable, and sort of keep your internal hard drive from filling up, obviously changing out a hard drive inside your computer is a lot harder than just unplugging a usb device!

Actually this may be a good time to remind you to occasionally check your hard drive(s) for errors! I have a MyBook 500gig USB drive which is about to fail.. I say that because when I do a chkdsk on it, it’s giving errors and from what I found online, it’s a sign that the drive may be on it’s way out. Take the two seconds to check it, nothing worse than having all your pictures or something lost just due to you not checking your hard drive every so often (of course I back up my pictures online as I told you back here)