Short form: I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY?? More detail: The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T. I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it. When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive. The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092". Main Question: Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM? (Does the flash drive need to be formatted?) Does the values for C: need to be changed? I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive. Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also) http://prntscr.com/336ocy Question 2: Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower? Question 3: Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM? Thanks! edit to add: What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP": http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps: ... Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted. ... To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB. For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory , such as graphics programs or games. What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M. And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092 . The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM . I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps. Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot): Drive C Space available: 725194MB *Custom Size Initial Size: 2046 Maximum Size: 4092 Total paging file size for all Drives Minimum allowed: 2MB Recommended: 3019MB Currently Allocated: 2046MB Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092) "The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size." Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ? That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs. "Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C." Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum? I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs. edit 2: I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr. A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it. So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings. Any answers or tips would be appreciated. Am I on the right track?

Okay, so selecting "Image to CD", as we did, to burn the image file to the cd should have worked. This is what I did to create my mem diagnostic cd. And, your explanation just answered a question that I would have in changing the BIOS, in that "if it doesn't find a bootable CD then it will skip the CD device and go to the second device (your hard disk) and boot it." I will do this, on the desktop. I have installed the new memory stick in slot B. Both mem sticks are now in the machine, in the reverse order from where they were previously. Or, should I leave the new one out, and run the diagnostic with the 'old' stick in, only? (First, I have to get the cd to work, I suppose). The less handling of the RAM cards, the better.

If nothing happened and you don't see a prompt for a boot menu then you must go in the BIOS and place the CD device a the top of the boot order otherwise the BIOS will just boot the hard drive which is now at the top of the boot order without even checking the CD device. With the CD device at the top of the boot order the BIOS will check to see if there is a bootable CD in the drive, if it doesn't find a bootable CD then it will skip the CD device and go to the second device (your hard disk) and boot it. The only thing that you need to make the CD is the .iso image file that was saved to your disk by the utility that you downloaded. Your burner software has to know how to handle the file, it has to have a "Burn Image" function, with most burner software this is not really the same thing as "Create a bootable CD". There is really only 2 steps to burning an ISO image: 1- Select the ISO file. 2- Put a blank CD in the drive and tell the software to start the burn. John

What do you mean "nothing happened"? Did it try to boot from the CD? Or did it just ignore the CD and boot right up to Windows? To boot to the CD you usually have to press a key like F12 or something to access a boot menu and bypass the BIOS boot order, you usually get a prompt right after the BIOS POST telling you which key to press. If you don't see such a prompt go in your BIOS and put the CD drive as the first boot device and put your hard disk as the second. If the computer is attempting to boot the CD and fails then the CD is not burned properly, burning an ISO file is not just like a regular file copy to the CD, the burning software has to prepare and burn the El Torito boot sector to the CD then copy the other files to the CD, if this is not done properly the CD will not be bootable. The ISO file works, I tried it here before I gave you the link. John "nothing happened" in relation to the cd. The system booted right up to Windows. Both computers did the same thing. There was no prompt to run the cd on either one. I burned the cd using Toshiba's 'Image to cd' Cd Creator. There is a screenshot of that. Honestly, I don't see how the system would boot the cd, because it is not a bootable cd. The cd creator would not recognize the file as a valid file for use in creating a bootable cd. It was fine with burning the image file to cd, which I did. I saved the file to my hard drive from the website, then to disc using "Image to CD", as we discussed. Was there something in the folder besides the iso file, which is also required to be copied to the cd? I can try to change the BIOS boot order, if necessary... I agree that both memory sticks are probably 'not both defective by exactly the same amount'. It has to be something to do with the board, for both sticks to register the same values when used in that slot. Now, why did the system act so strangely with both sticks installed, and why am I unable to get this diagnostic to run? edit to add: I'll put in a query at ASUS about the question on the motherboard/memory. It may help us, or at least answer that question for us.

What do you mean "nothing happened"? Did it try to boot from the CD? Or did it just ignore the CD and boot right up to Windows? To boot to the CD you usually have to press a key like F12 or something to access a boot menu and bypass the BIOS boot order, you usually get a prompt right after the BIOS POST telling you which key to press. If you don't see such a prompt go in your BIOS and put the CD drive as the first boot device and put your hard disk as the second. If the computer is attempting to boot the CD and fails then the CD is not burned properly, burning an ISO file is not just like a regular file copy to the CD, the burning software has to burn the El Torito boot sector to the right place on the CD then copy the other files to the CD, if this is not done properly the CD will not be bootable. The ISO file works, I tried it here before I gave you the link. John

It's unlikely that both sticks would be defective by exactly the same amount. It may just be a peculiarity of the board, or maybe a 32MB memory hole for on-board graphic + 2MB for BIOS, something the Help & Support folks at your motherboard website could clarify and answer. Run the memory test and see what it reports. John

Having trouble: Adding RAM with a USB memory stick to a Windows XP desktop that has 4GB installed

Anonymous

Short form:

I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY??

More detail:

The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T.

I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it.

When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive.

The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092".

Main Question:

Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM?

(Does the flash drive need to be formatted?)

Does the values for C: need to be changed?

I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive.

Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also)

http://prntscr.com/336ocy

Question 2:

Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower?

Question 3:

Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM?

Thanks!

edit to add:

What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP":

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us

To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps:

...Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted.

...

To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB.
For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory, such as graphics programs or games.

What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M.

And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092.

The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM.

I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps.

Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot):

Drive C

Space available: 725194MB

*Custom Size

Initial Size: 2046

Maximum Size: 4092

Total paging file size for all Drives

Minimum allowed: 2MB

Recommended: 3019MB

Currently Allocated: 2046MB

Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092)

"The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size."

Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ?

That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs.

"Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C."

Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum?

I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs.

edit 2:

I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr.

A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it.

So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings.

Any answers or tips would be appreciated.

Am I on the right track?

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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149 answers

Anonymous

2014-03-31T20:04:49+00:00

Okay, so selecting "Image to CD", as we did, to burn the image file to the cd should have worked. This is what I did to create my mem diagnostic cd.

And, your explanation just answered a question that I would have in changing the BIOS, in that "if it doesn't find a bootable CD then it will skip the CD device and go to the second device (your hard disk) and boot it."

I will do this, on the desktop. I have installed the new memory stick in slot B. Both mem sticks are now in the machine, in the reverse order from where they were previously.

Or, should I leave the new one out, and run the diagnostic with the 'old' stick in, only? (First, I have to get the cd to work, I suppose). The less handling of the RAM cards, the better.
Was this answer helpful?

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Anonymous

2014-03-31T19:21:32+00:00

If nothing happened and you don't see a prompt for a boot menu then you must go in the BIOS and place the CD device a the top of the boot order otherwise the BIOS will just boot the hard drive which is now at the top of the boot order without even checking the CD device. With the CD device at the top of the boot order the BIOS will check to see if there is a bootable CD in the drive, if it doesn't find a bootable CD then it will skip the CD device and go to the second device (your hard disk) and boot it.

The only thing that you need to make the CD is the .iso image file that was saved to your disk by the utility that you downloaded. Your burner software has to know how to handle the file, it has to have a "Burn Image" function, with most burner software this is not really the same thing as "Create a bootable CD". There is really only 2 steps to burning an ISO image:

1- Select the ISO file.

2- Put a blank CD in the drive and tell the software to start the burn.

John
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-03-31T18:29:12+00:00

What do you mean "nothing happened"? Did it try to boot from the CD? Or did it just ignore the CD and boot right up to Windows? To boot to the CD you usually have to press a key like F12 or something to access a boot menu and bypass the BIOS boot order, you usually get a prompt right after the BIOS POST telling you which key to press. If you don't see such a prompt go in your BIOS and put the CD drive as the first boot device and put your hard disk as the second.

If the computer is attempting to boot the CD and fails then the CD is not burned properly, burning an ISO file is not just like a regular file copy to the CD, the burning software has to prepare and burn the El Torito boot sector to the CD then copy the other files to the CD, if this is not done properly the CD will not be bootable.

The ISO file works, I tried it here before I gave you the link.

John

"nothing happened" in relation to the cd. The system booted right up to Windows.

Both computers did the same thing. There was no prompt to run the cd on either one.

I burned the cd using Toshiba's 'Image to cd' Cd Creator. There is a screenshot of that.

Honestly, I don't see how the system would boot the cd, because it is not a bootable cd. The cd creator would not recognize the file as a valid file for use in creating a bootable cd.

It was fine with burning the image file to cd, which I did.

I saved the file to my hard drive from the website, then to disc using "Image to CD", as we discussed.

Was there something in the folder besides the iso file, which is also required to be copied to the cd?

I can try to change the BIOS boot order, if necessary...

I agree that both memory sticks are probably 'not both defective by exactly the same amount'. It has to be something to do with the board, for both sticks to register the same values when used in that slot.

Now, why did the system act so strangely with both sticks installed, and why am I unable to get this diagnostic to run?

edit to add:

I'll put in a query at ASUS about the question on the motherboard/memory. It may help us, or at least answer that question for us.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-03-31T18:02:46+00:00

What do you mean "nothing happened"? Did it try to boot from the CD? Or did it just ignore the CD and boot right up to Windows? To boot to the CD you usually have to press a key like F12 or something to access a boot menu and bypass the BIOS boot order, you usually get a prompt right after the BIOS POST telling you which key to press. If you don't see such a prompt go in your BIOS and put the CD drive as the first boot device and put your hard disk as the second.

If the computer is attempting to boot the CD and fails then the CD is not burned properly, burning an ISO file is not just like a regular file copy to the CD, the burning software has to burn the El Torito boot sector to the right place on the CD then copy the other files to the CD, if this is not done properly the CD will not be bootable.

The ISO file works, I tried it here before I gave you the link.

John
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-03-31T17:43:27+00:00

It's unlikely that both sticks would be defective by exactly the same amount. It may just be a peculiarity of the board, or maybe a 32MB memory hole for on-board graphic + 2MB for BIOS, something the Help & Support folks at your motherboard website could clarify and answer. Run the memory test and see what it reports.

John
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