How to enable Readyboost that is disabled in error

Anonymous
2014-01-01T15:02:17+00:00

My laptop came pre-installed with Windows 8.1 on a 500GB 5400RPM HDD. It has 4GB memory.

Over the holidays someone gave me a 64GB m-SATA SSD, which I put into the laptop's m-SATA slot.

On the BIOS, the info shows that the SSD occupies the SATA 0 slot. I had to re-adjust the boot order to boot normally into my system disk, which is on the SATA 1 slot.

I wanted to use the m-SATA SSD as a Readyboost cache. When I carried out the steps to enable Readyboost on the SSD, it wouldn't let me. The error message is:

This device cannot be used for ReadyBoost.

ReadyBoost is not enabled because this computer is fast enough that ReadyBoost is unlikely to provide additional benefit.

There must be some mistake because the SSD is not the system disk. It only occupies SATA slot 0 (which I cannot change). The system disk is a typical HDD.

How do I go about enabling Readyboost on the SSD? Any tweaks or commands? I have tweaked the registry many times before so if need be I could do that.

[Note: Those who want to suggest other things like sell the SSD, leave it alone, or whatever, please just heckle some other thread.]

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2015-05-06T22:06:26+00:00

Insert the flash drive or card, then right-click on it in This PC and select properties.  Open the ReadyBoost tab.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-14T22:11:02+00:00

    HatsoffSec,

    Brilliant. Worked for me, thanks!

    I found it at: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\rdyboost\AttachState

    The key was to notice which item had a (2) value (mine was +4~4~~) and to change that to a zero.  

    For those still arguing that ReadyBoost doesn't do much they should try a bit of testing first.  With the systems I work on (Win 7, Win 8, 2-8GB memory, etc.) I see at least a 50% and regularly 200% increase in random read speed (using for example Defragglers Benchmark).  This just makes the system more responsive and quicker to do system maintenance (updates, defragging, backups, installs/uninstalls, etc.).  It is not huge, but it is noticeable when working on a typical system.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-01T11:05:57+00:00

    I have a Dell XPS laptop with 8Gb of RAM, but in my development environment I sometimes have to run three Tomcat instances with 1Gb+ applications. I often get the "out of resources" error when my RAM usage is higher than 95%.

    I bought a 32Gb USB thinking I would use ReadyBoost when handy, and now I find that Windows knows better and tells me my machine is fast enough.

    Is there really no way to force ReadyBoost? I checked HatsoffSecblog, but I don't find the same entries in my computer.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-15T08:11:05+00:00

    another thing to consider is this, Memory is memory. regardless if it is called virtual memory, RAM, or Readyboost. having more memory, no matter how new your system is, can never, ever, be a bad thing.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-01-02T08:25:55+00:00

    Hi Anannya

    Thanks for replying but your answer does not fit this scenario.

    In my laptop, I have a normal HDD on SATA slot 1, which is my system disk. This HDD is a normal drive. It is not hybrid.

    I have SSD on SATA slot 0. I am trying to activate Readyboost on the SSD, but I am blocked from doing so because of the error message.

    TECH NOTE:

    Readyboost cannot be activated on SSD if it is the primary disk, according to the technical note on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff356869.aspx

    THIS LAPTOP:

    This is different. The SSD is not the system disk. It only occupies SATA slot 0. Readyboost should not be blocked on this drive.

    During the whole time, even now, the service Superfetch is set to "automatic", and the status is "running". I have done nothing to change or influence this.

    So now, how can I tell the OS that it should go ahead with Readyboost on the SSD that is not a system disk?

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