Flash drive queries

My laptop is currently running Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit, and I plan to buy two USB flash drives to provide ReadyBoost capabilities. Is it true that I can add up to 256GB of flash memory over eight different devices, and when prompted should I choose ‘dedicate’ or ‘use’ this device for ReadyBoost to work? [ PETER CLAXTON ] Alex Cox replies: ReadyBoost is a good choice for a 32-bit laptop such as yours, Peter — you’ll notice it may help to reduce loading times for larger applications. Note, however, that you can’t assign more than 4GB of flash drive storage to ReadyBoost in 32-bit versions of Windows. The 256GB figure you mention refers to 64-bit versions of Windows, where it can be spread across eight devices (each carrying a maximum of 32GB for ReadyBoost). Therefore, unless the flash drive is 4GB or less, we’d suggest that you select the ‘use’ option when prompted, so you can continue to use the spare capacity for other purposes. Finally, while ReadyBoost can help boost performance even on laptops with 4GB of RAM installed, it’s no substitution for doubling your RAM if possible. We’d also suggest that you swap your laptop’s existing hard disk for a solid state drive (SSD). This will boost your laptop’s performance far more than ReadyBoost can, rendering the feature obsolete.