WHAT IS USB FLASH DRIVE?

A flash drive is a small, ultra-portable storage device which, unlike an optical drive or a traditional hard drive, has no moving parts.

Flash drives connect to computers and other devices via a built-in USB Type-A or USB-C plug, making a flash drive a kind of combination USB  device and cable.

Flash drives are often referred to as pen drives, thumb drives, or jump drives. The terms USB drive and solid-state drive (SSD) are also sometimes used but most of the time those refer to larger, not-so-mobile USB-based storage devices like external hard drives

What does RAM stand for?

RAM is short for “random access memory” and while it might sound mysterious, RAM is one of the most fundamental elements of computing. RAM is the super-fast and temporary data storage space that a computer needs to access right now or in the next few moments.

Are you aware, you can use USB Flash Drive As RAM on your Windows 10, 8.1 and win 7 systems to optimize and boost your computer’s speed? Yes, it’s a Very helpful Trick to use USB Flash Drive As RAM to speed up your system performance. You Can use The USB drive As  Virtual memory or ReadyBoost technology To Increase RAM and optimize windows performance.

Notice: If you use a flash drive for Ready Boost and want to use more than 4GB, then you need to format the flash drive to NTFS instead of the original FAT32  format as this will allow up to 256GB for Ready Boost, FAT32 only allows up to 4GB.

TYPES OF RAM

What is internal memory and how is it different from external memory?

Computer memory is generally classified as either internal or external memory.

Internal memory, also called “main or primary memory” refers to memory that stores small amounts of data that can be accessed quickly while the computer is running.

External memory, also called “secondary memory” refers to a storage device that can retain or store data persistently. They could be embedded or removable storage devices. Examples include hard disk or solid state drives, USB flash drives, and compact discs.

What are the types of internal memory?

There are basically two kinds of internal memory: ROM and RAM.

ROM stands for read-only memory. It is non-volatile, which means it can retain data even without power. It is used mainly to start or boot up a computer.

Once the operating system is loaded, the computer uses RAM, which stands for random-access memory, which temporarily stores data while the central processing unit (CPU) is executing other tasks. With more RAM on the computer, the less the CPU has to read data from the external or secondary memory (storage device), allowing the computer to run faster. RAM is fast but it is volatile, which means it will not retain data if there is no power. It is therefore important to save data to the storage device before the system is turned off.

What are the types of RAM?

There are two main types of RAM: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Static RAM (SRAM).

• DRAM (pronounced DEE-RAM), is widely used as a computer’s main memory. Each DRAM memory cell is made up of a transistor and a capacitor within an integrated circuit, and a data bit is stored in the capacitor. Since transistors always leak a small amount, the capacitors will slowly discharge, causing information stored in it to drain; hence, DRAM has to be refreshed (given a new electronic charge) every few milliseconds to retain data.
• SRAM (pronounced ES-RAM) is made up of four to six transistors. It keeps data in the memory as long as power is supplied to the system unlike DRAM, which has to be refreshed periodically. As such, SRAM is faster but also more expensive, making DRAM the more prevalent memory in computer systems.

What are the common types of DRAM?

• Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) “synchronizes” the memory speed with CPU clock speed so that the memory controller knows the exact clock cycle when the requested data will be ready. This allows the CPU to perform more instructions at a given time. Typical SDRAM transfers data at speeds up to 133 MHz.
•  Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) takes its name after the company that made it, Rambus. It was popular in the early 2000s and was mainly used for video game devices and graphics cards, with transfer speeds up to 1 GHz.
• Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) is a type of synchronous memory that nearly doubles the bandwidth of a single data rate (SDR) SDRAM running at the same clock frequency by employing a method  called “double pumping,” which allows transfer of data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal without any increase in clock frequency.
• DDR1 SDRAMhas been succeeded by DDR2, DDR3, and most recently, DDR4SDRAM. Although operating on the same principles, the modules are not backward-compatible. Each generation delivers higher transfer rates and faster performance. The latest DDR4 modules, for example, feature fast transfer rates at 2133/2400/2666and even 3200 MT/s.

What is the main function of a RAM in a computer?

The main function of Random-access memory or RAM is to act as a temporary storage of data and program instructions that can be accessed quickly by the CPU when required. Let’s discuss primary functions of RAM in a computer.

Reading files: This is one amongst the primary works RAM performs. Hard drives on your system store a vast number of files and cause delay functioning. It becomes hassle job to retrieve any file from the hard drive as files stored on hard drive remains scattered and to different locations. To access these files, drives require to move its mechanical read/write arm back and forth and need to wait until the spinning platters spin into the correct position. Despite the fact, drives spin at higher speed (thousands of rotations per minute) this process causes a serious delay when reading files. To deal with this situation and to lessen the slowdown, your system store files in RAM once the files are first to read from the drive. Apart of it, RAM doesn’t have moving parts and runs at faster speed thus it loads information quickly during subsequent uses.

To recover some precious disk space and to reduce a load on RAM while searching files on your system, you can use PC cleaner tools to remove all unnecessary files. It will help you clean and organize your data in the much better way.

Temporary storage: This is another function of the RAM which allows temporary storage of the data on RAM while program or files are in use. In addition to storing files read from your system hard drive, RAM also stores information or data that programs are using actively. This data includes that data which need not be stored permanently as it remains temporary on RAM. When your system keeps temporary data on RAM to run it temporarily it allows the system to work fast and efficient. It improves speed and responsiveness of the system.

Apart from these functions, more RAM space can help you improve your system speed and performance significantly. You can increase RAM space as per your system configuration for better results.

Summary: Random Access Memory (RAM) plays an important role to improve your system speed and performance. Let’s discuss about RAM and its functions on your system.

Advantages of RAM and ROM

Some of the advantages of RAM are –

• It increases the computer system speed, and the higher the system speed, the greater the RAM.
• The CPU can read data quicker than the RAM. (Compared to hard disk, CD, DVD, FLOPPY, DISK, and USB)
• There is very little use of battery life.
• It can write and delete operations.

Some of the advantages of ROM are –

• It is non-volatile and is cheaper than RAM
• As they are static they do not need refreshing everytime.
• Circuits are simple and ROM is more reliable than RAM.
• Data can be stored permanently
• It helps to start the computer and loads the OS.

Disadvantages of RAM and ROM

Some of the disadvantages of RAM are –

• If the CPU wants to read the data from the RAM, then the data access from the registers and the cache is slow in comparison
• RAM is volatile, i.e. it is difficult to store data forever.
• It is expensive.
• It has limited space.

Some of the disadvantages of ROM are –

• ROM is read-only, cannot be modified.
• If changes are required, it is not possible.

Use USB As Virtual RAM

Virtual RAM or Virtual Memory is an inbuilt functionality of your Windows machine. To use USB flash drive As RAM on your Windows 10 computer Fallow bellow steps.

• First Insert your Pen drive into any working USB port.
• Then Right-click on my computer (This PC) select properties.
• Now click on Advanced system settings from the left of the Properties window.

• Now move to Advanced tab from the top of System Properties window,
• And Click the Settings button under the performance section.
• Again move to the Advanced tab on the Performance Options window. Then click on the change button under Virtual memory.

• Now uncheck option Automatically manage paging file size for all drives and select your Pen drive from the list of drives shown.
• Then click on Customize and Set the Value As your USB drive space.

Note: the value should be lesser than the value shown against space available.

• Now click on Set and Click ok, Apply to save the changes.
• Then Restart windows to take effect the changes and enjoy faster system performance.

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