Can I use my Win7 SSD as a ReadyBoost Drive for Win8?

FuturDreamz

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I have a 60GB SSD with Windows 7 installed, and a 1TB HDD that I intend to install Windows 8 on.

My understanding of ReadyBoost is that it creates a XGB-sized file in the root of the flash drive, without disrupting any data.

I believe I can create an 8-16GB RB file with no problems.

Is this correct? or is this bad juju?


And is there a way that I can somewhat "Hide" the drive, while still having it mounted for RB?

thanks.
 

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Nah, Readyboost is only for external type of storage. Besides, you don't want to use a SSD for any type of memory management since the frequent writes will shorten its life span significantly. That's why I don't even recommend putting the pagefile on it either.
 

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GMan is right (except for the pagefile deal). Why don't you install Win8 in a Virtual Box partition on your SSD. Runs like an application under Windows7 and you can switch seamlessly between Win7 and Win8. This is the ultimate way of operating Win8 at this stage of the game.

I have that exact installation on my 60GB SSD. Have a look how fast it boots - this is real time: Start Win8 in vBox1.wmv - YouTube

Btw: There is a tutorial on this forum how to install Win8 in Virtual Box. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2241-virtualbox-install-windows-8-consumer-preview.html?ltr=V
 

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Inclusive of the pagefile deal. It is not advisable at all ever to have a pagefile on SSD. Don't you know about how there are a finite number of writes until the drive fails?
 

My Computer

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    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
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Inclusive of the pagefile deal. It is not advisable at all ever to have a pagefile on SSD. Don't you know about how there are a finite number of writes until the drive fails?
1. this 'finite number' is so large that it will last more than 10 years.

2. With a RAM of 4GB and more (which most modern PCs have), you have a page fault maybe once per year. The ones you see in e.g. Resource Monitor are false hard faults.

So moving the pagefile off the SSD is a complete nuisance. If you want, reduce it to 1GB or less. Some people even delete it all together.
 

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    Vista and Win7
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    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
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    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Deleting the pagefile is a terrible idea since when the machine bsods, nobody can help at all since no crash dump is created. There are also rare applications that depend on it to work at all.

Irrespective of the amount of RAM installed in a machine, there are numerous writes to the pagefile often. It just simply makes no sense to me to prematurely destroy something valuable on purpose. You wouldn't lose data because it would still be able to be read if and when the drive fails, though.

If I had one, I'd try to make it last as long as physically possible and performance is kept to highest standard as possible over the longest amount of time. They're not lasting 10 years with a pagefile on them, that's for sure.

If you run virtual machines, it is even further advisable not to disable the pagefile.

Here's a little page that describes how pagefile.sys is always used irrespective of RAM amount:

RAM, virtual memory, pagefile, and memory management in Windows

"In modern operating systems such as Windows, applications and many system processes always reference memory by using virtual memory addresses. Virtual memory addresses are automatically translated to real (RAM) addresses by the hardware. Only core parts of the operating system kernel bypass this address translation and use real memory addresses directly.

Virtual memory is always being used, even when the memory that is required by all running processes does not exceed the volume of RAM that is installed on the system."

And with that, I'm not really sure how clicking a few buttons and rebooting is a complete nuisance to set something up when it takes most people weeks or months to set up a machine to their likings.
 

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I had decided to keep the pagefile on my system (but I have reduced the size a bit). By the time my SSD dies you will be able to get a more reliable SSD for cheaper.

I did disable readyboost though, as it didn't make much of a difference.

And why am I not installing this in a Virtual Machine? I'm currently trying to use Windows 8 as my main system (while keeping Windows 7 intact) so I can see what it is like. So far I found it to be useable, but it will be much better once the Metro applications improve (and I get Metro versions of specific apps, such as Chrome, Media Browser, and a basic DVD/BD playback app)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Tansformer Book Flip TP500LN
    CPU
    Intel i5-4210U
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GT 840M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" Touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    1TB Hybrid
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000
True, Readyboost does absolutely nothing for a system with 8GB.

Ya, I don't understand why people bother with VMs. The only reason I could think of at all is if you were like on a job supporting multiple OSes and you needed access to all at once to help others...or similar things.

But even then, a dude like that should have 2, 3 or more computers at his desk.

To me, it is completely pointless to run another operating system inside one that is already working. I could see running a new OS for a day or so in it to see if you have any interest at all about it, then installing it for real if you do.
 

My Computer

System One

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    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
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    P4 3.4 GHz HT
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    MSI-7211
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    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
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    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
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    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
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    Acer x223w
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    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
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    Cybertron
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HI THERE
ON w8 I'm surprised you even NEED readyboost.

Even without an SSD W8 seems to perform just fine (even on a small ACER netbook). I'd install at least 4GB RAM -- cheaper and IMO a lot better option.

If your 60 GB SSD is a spare drive why not use it as a super fast "Windows to Go" installation -- very useful tool BTW.

And @ GMAN -- you must really have a total misunderstanding of the real world if you can't understand why people bother with VM's.

1) legacy EXPENSIVE hardware -- sometimes equipment costing several thousand dollars -- still very much in use needs an older OS --either the manufacturer no longer exists or there's no W7 / W8 driver available -- or even the applicatiuon software itself won't run on the newer OS. There's literally loads and loads of this stuff around. You can't always have a dedicated computer for this stuff either. In any case it's actually getting harder and harder to run XP or Windows 2000 natively on a modern machine !!.

2) Many commercial servers are all Virtualized for their customers -- for example one powerful machine can be virtualized into many different "Virtual Servers" all serving different customers with different hardware configurations.##

3) A good platform for testing applications etc before migrating it to your "running" machine

4) "Stress testing" networks / other stuff

5) so many other scenarios that I really don't know why I'm even bothering to reply. Just because YOU can't think of any good reason to use VM's doesn't mean that there aren't any.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    2 X 3 TB sata
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    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
1) legacy EXPENSIVE hardware -- sometimes equipment costing several thousand dollars -- still very much in use needs an older OS --either the manufacturer no longer exists or there's no W7 / W8 driver available -- or even the applicatiuon software itself won't run on the newer OS. There's literally loads and loads of this stuff around. You can't always have a dedicated computer for this stuff either. In any case it's actually getting harder and harder to run XP or Windows 2000 natively on a modern machine !!.

lol just install the driver to main OS

2) Many commercial servers are all Virtualized for their customers -- for example one powerful machine can be virtualized into many different "Virtual Servers" all serving different customers with different hardware configurations.##

I said people, not Enterprise or organizations.

3) A good platform for testing applications etc before migrating it to your "running" machine

Nah, I test everything on my running machine

4) "Stress testing" networks / other stuff

Don't need no VM for that, that's for sure

5) so many other scenarios that I really don't know why I'm even bothering to reply. Just because YOU can't think of any good reason to use VM's doesn't mean that there aren't any.

Maybe you should have figured why you bothered then, first? :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
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    P4 3.4 GHz HT
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    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
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    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
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    Acer x223w
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    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
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    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
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Hi there
1) ABSOLUTE TWADDLE -- some of these drivers won't install --especially if the main os is a 64 bit system. I don't suppose you've ever had enough experience to have run some programs which give "Compatability error" or similar failures. You are talking absolute HOGWASH (as per usual I might add) on this particular issue.

2) So "People" don't run servers -- many do -- I know loads that host web sites etc from a server running at home --often the server is virtualized too.

3) some people don't necessarily have the luxuries of having a spare machine for this --- sometimes if your machine is being used to make money such as tracking stock exchange index then you don't want to have it shutdown .

4) Stress / Volume testing is also a legitimate scenario before large scale applications are put into production.

5) just replying to the amount of total Bovine Scatology that appears under your auspices.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
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    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
jimbo, there is no point arguing with GMan. He does not even read his own quotes. Once he has his mind set, that's it. We are just wasting our time.
 

My Computer

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    Vista and Win7
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    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
jimbo, there is no point arguing with GMan. He does not even read his own quotes. Once he has his mind set, that's it. We are just wasting our time.

Thanks for confirming that for me LOL.
 

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I feel like I am having a conversation with dumb and dumber.

Are you guys missing out somehow on all I do on this website? Apparently, or these types of statements would not be made.

"1) ABSOLUTE TWADDLE -- some of these drivers won't install"

Learn how to use Windows and computers. I've told you this before. Haven't ever had my computer "shutdown" by the definition of what you mean. Why? Because I know how to use Windows. Jimbo, please do not try to tell me about networks. I'll make you look foolish before you type your next sentence.

WHS, apparently Microsoft's explanation isn't good enough for you?

Chev, do you feel better for trying to jump in on their bandwagon that was set to crash down the hill before the horse was even attached? lol

You guys can continue arguing with me, sure. Or you can up your game and learn something instead.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
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    Acer x223w
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    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
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    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
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    Logitech M510
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GMan, the MS explanation is good enough for me, but you have to know how to read it. See the bolded part here:

In modern operating systems such as Windows, applications and many system processes always reference memory by using virtual memory addresses. Virtual memory addresses are automatically translated to real (RAM) addresses by the hardware. Only core parts of the operating system kernel bypass this address translation and use real memory addresses directly.

What does that mean - it means that those virtual addresses are not being translated into a hard page fault but are mapped to available RAM addresses. And if you have 4GB or more RAM, there are available RAM addresses in 99% of the cases.

And Btw: I am always eager to learn something new, but in this case I fail to see the new news.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Vista and Win7
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    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
"Memory, Pages/Sec: This counter is one of the most misunderstood measures.

A high value for this counter does not necessarily imply that your performance bottleneck stems from a shortage of RAM. The operating system uses the paging system for purposes other than swapping pages because of memory over-commitment."
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
I feel like I am having a conversation with dumb and dumber.

Are you guys missing out somehow on all I do on this website? Apparently, or these types of statements would not be made.

"1) ABSOLUTE TWADDLE -- some of these drivers won't install"

Learn how to use Windows and computers. I've told you this before. Haven't ever had my computer "shutdown" by the definition of what you mean. Why? Because I know how to use Windows. Jimbo, please do not try to tell me about networks. I'll make you look foolish before you type your next sentence.

WHS, apparently Microsoft's explanation isn't good enough for you?

Chev, do you feel better for trying to jump in on their bandwagon that was set to crash down the hill before the horse was even attached? lol

You guys can continue arguing with me, sure. Or you can up your game and learn something instead.
So... you're saying it absolutely impossible for drivers to not work with OS versions they weren't designed for?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Tansformer Book Flip TP500LN
    CPU
    Intel i5-4210U
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GT 840M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" Touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    1TB Hybrid
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000
So... you're saying it absolutely impossible for drivers to not work with OS versions they weren't designed for?

Feels like I'm being set up here with such a double negative question. Whatever you're intending, I didn't say it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
So... you're saying it absolutely impossible for drivers to not work with OS versions they weren't designed for?

Feels like I'm being set up here with such a double negative question. Whatever you're intending, I didn't say it.

Basically not every OS can run native on current hardware and have proper driver support.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Tansformer Book Flip TP500LN
    CPU
    Intel i5-4210U
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GT 840M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" Touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    1TB Hybrid
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000
So... you're saying it absolutely impossible for drivers to not work with OS versions they weren't designed for?

Feels like I'm being set up here with such a double negative question. Whatever you're intending, I didn't say it.

Basically not every OS can run native on current hardware and have proper driver support.

That's why it's a very good idea to run operating system(s) that the hardware was designed for.

Other than that, it is far more likely than not that old drivers can work on new OSes, especially for "EXPENSIVE" legacy hardware where the drivers were made by competent engineers. I would assume something so "EXPENSIVE" had excellent support.

Heck, my Windows 8 and 7 are loaded with legacy drivers for certain legacy hardware I use on them and it's all for cheap stuff.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
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