Theoretically

[kookooshortman55]

Oh, but my original question was to install an external HDD on a USB 2.0 interface. So the flash drive would end up being faster right? I suppose I could get another internal hard drive, they would be cheaper and faster than the external ones. But still, is putting the page file on a flash drive possible?

 

[vix]

I still don't understand whats so important about moving your page file to another drive... Are you completely out of room on your main drive? If so, adding another HDD would be a MUCH better solution.

(Personally, in XP I simply disable the paging file... haven't had it enable in years and never any problems)

 

[kookooshortman55]

No I have about 128GB free. Moving the page file to another drive wasn't my original intention. Okay I'll start over.

Basically I was wondering if it would improve system performance by moving all of my programs to an external (or an additional internal) HDD so that way my HDD won't be a bottle neck at startup because it would boot up from 2 hard drives (main internal loads OS, secondary loads startup programs). People were saying that I wouldn't improve performance, and I should put the page file on the secondary HDD. And now I'm wondering if it would just be better to put the page file on my flash drive and, if it works, either back up my main or move program files onto my secondary. Nothing is wrong with my computer, I'm just wondering if I can improve it. I will most likely get a second HDD (whether internal or external) to backup my computer so that's where the first question came from. Since flash drives are so cheap now, I was wondering if I could use one for my page file. Thanks!

 

[Okedokey]

No and no. Keep you system as it is. If you have a second hard drive, put the page file on that to reduce defragmentation, but a flash drive is slower than a hard drive. Look here http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-bus-speeds.asp and refine your question if needed.

 

[kookooshortman55]

Okay well yeah, I will most likely get a second for backup. It's most likely easier to set up an external than an internal though, so I will probably get an external. Well this is the drive I was looking at, but if it's still too slow I'll just go with another HDD for backup.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220251

Apparently says it has a fast read/write speed @ 180X but I don't know what standard is.

 

[vix]

I think you're worrying too much about the paging file. Like i said, I disable mine and I run fast because I don't have paging file HDD access as a bottleneck.

I also don't understand why you have everything split onto two separate hard drives if you have 128 GB free. Are they two physical drives, or are you talking about two logical drives on the same disc?

Why not just load everything onto your main hard drive and use the second drive as a backup? OS/Programs on your main drive, paging file and backup files on the second drive.

Also, WHAT OS ARE YOU USING?

 

[kookooshortman55]

No I'm saying I don't have the second one yet. I was considering getting an external to use as a backup because I have a lot of important docs on here. On the topic of getting a second hard drive to use as backup, I was just curious to see if I could improve system performance by putting program files on the external drive so Windows boots from 2 HDD's at once (OS on one and startup programs on the other). I really don't know how we got to page file haha, but then I was just wondering if I can put page file on a flash drive, and someone said put it on the external HDD.

Edit: The page file isn't a big issue, just curious. Same with the boot time improvement. If nothing works out I'm probably going to get an external for backup only which is pretty much all they're used for. I'm running Vista.