How to Use Pen Drive As RAM [Guide]

How to Use Pen Drive As RAM

Nowadays, many programs take lots of memory during operation, which is a nightmare for low RAM systems. So to avoid this make your pen drive/USB of large size as RAM, which will allow your system to handle more operations and tasks. To know how to do this, follow the steps below.

Method 1 of 2: Using a USB Pen Drive as RAM in Windows XP

Step 1 Delete all the stuff on your pen drive.

• Insert it and let the PC read it (minimum 2 GB).

Step 2 Right click on My Computer.

• Click on Properties from context menu.

Step 3 Click on the Advanced tab.

Step 4 Click on Settings under Performance.

Step 5 Click on the Advanced tab.

Step 6 Click on the Change button under Virtual memory.

Step 7 Select your USB drive.

Step 8 Click on custom size radio button and give the values as follows;

• Initial Size:1020
• Maximum size:1020
• The size depends upon your free memory capacity of your pen drive. So you can change this limit according to your pen drive size.

Step 9 Click the Set button, then click on OK.

Step 10 Restart the computer with pen drive inserted.

• The speed of your computer will be increased.

Method 2 of 2: Using a USB Pen Drive as RAM in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and 8

Step 1 Insert your pen drive and format it.

Step 2 Right click on your pen drive and click on “Properties”.

Step 3 Click on ‘Ready boost’ tab and then on ‘Use this device’.

Step 4 Choose maximum space to reserve system speed.

Step 5 Click on OK and Apply.

Done!

Tips

• You must be logged in as Administrator to do this task.
• If you are using Windows 7, start by doing steps 1 and 2, but then a different window will pop up. Click “Advanced system settings” on the sidebar and continue the steps.

Warnings

• It may significantly shorten the life of the USB. Normal flash drives have limited numbers of writes. For normal usage, it takes a long time for the writes to run out. However, if used as RAM where millions of transfers are done every minute, the life of the drive may be significantly shortened.
• Do not remove the USB. It’ll crash your system. However, simply plugging the USB back in and rebooting will fix the crash.