What does ReadyBoost do exactly?

[lilwic]

So I have a USB flash drive and i want to know what it does when i put it in ReadyBoost. I know it does something to the affect of making my computer faster but how? Does it use the USB as extra RAM if the amount is exceeded, if so how effective is it? should i depend on it entirely for extra RAM? Also how reliable is it?

[sms1202]

I never experienced a great performance boost so far!

But they say it adds up the ram using USB

[Arty]

I never experienced a great performance boost so far!

But they say it adds up the ram using USB

yes and it works well with usb 3 drives

if you have 1gb-3gb of ram.

[Mug]

Uses a USB drive as a cache (does not add ram as such)

 

Was used in Vista more but it probably slowed peoples' computers down more than it sped them up.

[Kyuubixchidori]

So I have a USB flash drive and i want to know what it does when i put it in ReadyBoost. I know it does something to the affect of making my computer faster but how? Does it use the USB as extra RAM if the amount is exceeded, if so how effective is it? should i depend on it entirely for extra RAM? Also how reliable is it?

its only good for ANCIENT Computers. the purpose is to use usb drives instead of hard drives for caching and such. would only use it on a 8+ year old pc, or 1 gig of ram or less