Windows 7 Memory Issue on External Hard Drive Installation

chrispanag · Oct 13, 2012

I have a Sony VGN-FZ21M laptop that it lacks an internal HDD. Wanting to use it, I have managed to install Windows 7 x64 on a USB 2.0 External HDD. There is certainly a performance decrease due to the External HDD's speed but I can live on that.

So, although the laptop has 2GB of RAM, I am constantly getting memory shortage errors because PageFile is not enabled. I tried to enable PageFile but I discovered that it can't get enabled on a USB HDD. So I tried to use ReadyBoost on a separate USB Flash Drive to substitute PageFile. But when I try to enable PageFile on the Flash Drive, I get this message:

"Readyboost is not enabled on this computer because the system disk is fast enough that ReadyBoost is unlikely to provide any additional benefit."

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This is very strange cause I have only seen this message on computers with a very fast HDD (for example SSD) which is definitely not my case.

So my question is: Is there a way I can enable either the PageFile or ReadyBoost so as to solve my memory issues?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

cliffordcooley · Oct 13, 2012

I don't know how to answer your specific question.

Have you considered a replacement drive? You can get a WD 250GB for $49. Although if it was me and I had the option to spend $20 more, I'd double the capacity.

chrispanag · Oct 13, 2012

Firstly, thanks for your answer.
I have spent the whole day, googling and searching for a possible solution throughout the web. It is certainly not an easy issue.
I have already considered the solution you proposed, which is certainly the easiest one, but firstly, I want to eliminate every possibility to solve this issue without spending any money.

Windows 7 Memory Issue on External Hard Drive Installation

chrispanag

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cliffordcooley

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chrispanag

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