Vista - ReadyBoost Indicator?

I tried using Vista's ReadyBoost feature with a new Vista Ready 2 GB
USB key and it seems to be working, or at least the properties menu
for the USB drive shows I'm using 1920 MB for ReadyBoost.
Unfortunately, when I use various system utilities, it doesn't show
any increase in memory, nor do I get an increase in my "Windows
Experience Index" score. Is there a system tool or benchmark utility
to determine if the Readyboost is doing anything positive or is it
just smoke and mirrors?

ReadyBoost isn't RAM. It stores your paging file, which otherwise would be
on the hard disk. As a rule, the system can access stuff from the flash
drive much faster than it can from the hard drive because hard drives are
dreadful at random I/O. So any activity that requires pulling data from the
paging file will be quicker. The overall effect is a smoother, quicker
experience without the little time lags you get from using the hard disk for
you paging file.



The amount of performance improvement you get depends on the random I/O
speed of the flash drive you're using as compared to the random I/O speed of
your drive, and how often you do things that require accessing the paging
file.



I don't know of any tests or benchmarks. But it's definitely not bs. Flash
memory is much better for storing a paging file. They couldn't fool
everyone. There are consumers who actually understand these things.



"markbyrn" <markbyrn@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1172877412.169459.141560@z35g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>I tried using Vista's ReadyBoost feature with a new Vista Ready 2 GB
> USB key and it seems to be working, or at least the properties menu
> for the USB drive shows I'm using 1920 MB for ReadyBoost.
> Unfortunately, when I use various system utilities, it doesn't show
> any increase in memory, nor do I get an increase in my "Windows
> Experience Index" score. Is there a system tool or benchmark utility
> to determine if the Readyboost is doing anything positive or is it
> just smoke and mirrors?
>