Use ArcGIS 10 On Your Current PC With ReadyBoost

What is ReadyBoost?  ReadyBoost is a Windows Vista and Windows 7 technology that allows you to plug in a USB flash drive or a flash memory card and use its contents to cache frequently used files.  If you have Vista or Windows 7, you can use a Ready Boost compatible USB 2 flash drive to add flash memory and speed up your system significantly - without spending a lot of money or time, and especially, without having to get a new PC just to run ArcGIS 10. 

We've been using Ready Boost since 2007, and it especially helps with rendering and screen draws.  Here's how to use Ready Boost - just be sure to "Safely Remove Hardware" from the system tray to turn off the USB drive before pulling it out.  Also, a rule of thumb is to add a ReadyBoost drive that is about half as large as your installed RAM; also, Windows 7 can make use of more flash RAM than Vista can.

Is there enough of an improvement to upgrade to Vista or Windows 7 on your current PC rather than getting a new one to run 10?  Probably, especially if you have a decent processor and 2GB of RAM or more.

Here's how to use ReadyBoost, it's quite simple.  Insert the drive in your PC, and then -

1. Click Start, then navigate to Computer.
2. Right click the flash drive or memory card icon and choose Properties.
3. Click the ReadyBoost tab.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Select "Use this device" option.
5. Use the "Space to reserve for system speed" slide bar to adjust amount of memory you want to allocate.
   • The number that originally appears is the maximum amount available to use.
6. Click OK.