Speeding up a Windows 10 PC with ReadyBoost?

Self-tutoring about home computer use: the tutor mentions a re-discovery.

The kitchen desktop and my son’s laptop are chop-chop compared to this one. Yet, they’re all Windows 10. This is a discount PC, but still…why is it so much slower?

Today I just happened to be looking at the kitchen PC’s system information: it’s got 12GB of RAM. “Wait a minute,” I thought…”what’s Paul’s got?” I checked: his has 12GB as well. Next I checked this one: 8GB.

I finally wondered: could the extra 4GB of RAM really make the difference between fast and slow? After all, we’re told that 8GB of RAM is a good amount to have for Windows 10, aren’t we? I don’t play games on this computer, nor do photo editing. I admit to having 40 tabs open on a web browser while having 5 other programs open at the same time. However, those are text editors, spreadsheets, Word, etc.

Then I recalled ReadyBoost from the Vista days. Putting it non-technically, the computer could use a “fast” USB drive, if it had extra space available, as a supplement to its RAM. While not so fast as RAM, the USB could be, in some situations, faster than the hard drive, effectively boosting performance.

I wondered – could giving the computer extra RAM really speed it up like the others that have 12GB? Moreover, could ReadyBoost, while not the same as RAM, approach such a solution?

That’s as far as I’ve got today; I plan to follow up tomorrow:)

Source:

techrepublic.com