It can if you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista. Chances are that you have not heard much if anything about ReadyBoost. Windows 7/Vista ReadyBoost is a not-so-well known technology that uses free flash memory or external USB space in order to speed up the processor. ReadyBoost can improve your computer’s performance and efficiency by increasing the amount of RAM your computer can access. ReadyBoost essentially allows you to treat non-hard drive storage devices as internal memory. If your computer is running slowly, or you don’t have enough RAM to do the tasks you need to do, try ReadyBoost and see if it improves your computer’s performance. If it doesn’t make that much difference, you can just turn it off and be done with it.

Below are the steps you need to take to get ReadyBoost running on your computer. Not to worry. It is super easy!

Step 1: You need a flash drive or external hard drive

The drive should have at least 1 GB of free space. Microsoft recommends the amount of memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of RAM installed on your computer. So as an example, if your computer has 1GB of built-in RAM, a flash/hard drive with 2-4 GB of free space is sufficient. Plug in the drive. The “AutoPlay” menu should appear when Windows recognizes the new hardware. The option you want to click on is the one at the bottom, “Speed up my system”. If AutoPlay doesn’t come up, go to Start/Computer, then find your flash drive. Right-click on the name of the drive (for our example, “Kingston”), then click “Open AutoPlay” That will bring up the AutoPlay menu; click the “Speed up my system” option.

Some USB storage devices contain both slow and fast flash memory. Windows can only use fast flash memory when it comes to using ReadyBoost. So if your device contains both slow and fast memory, keep in mind that only the fast memory portion of your device will be used.

Step 2: Select ReadyBoost options

When you click “Speed up my system”, it brings you to the Properties menu of the ReadyBoost hard drive. There are three options. The first option, “Do not use this device” will turn off ReadyBoost. The second radio button says, “Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost”, will use ALL of the available space on the drive for RAM.

It shows you the total amount allocated. (in this case, 1278 MB is available, which equals 1.27 GB.) The third option, “Use this device,” allows you to adjust the amount of space used. If you want to have free space left on the drive, set the amount lower than the total free space on your drive. After clicking “OK” or “Apply”, there will be a popup informing you that ReadyBoost is configuring your cache. After a few moments you can use your computer and should see an increase in your speed from using ReadyBoost.

Step 3: Turn Off ReadyBoost

Once you have set up a drive to use ReadyBoost, ReadyBoost won’t release the hard drive space until it is turned off. Even if you take that drive and plug it into another computer, the space that was set up for ReadyBoost will be inaccessible. To turn it off, get to the Properties menu like before. You won’t see the “Speed up my system” option like you did before. Now you will want to select the first of the three options, “Do not use this device”. Click “OK” or “Apply” and it is done. You now have your full drive back.

Perhaps your first question is, “What is a wireless access point (WAP) and don’t I already have one with my wireless modem or wireless router?” The answer is “yes”, your wireless router or wireless modem IS a wireless access point. A wireless access point (WAP), whether it is a wireless router, wireless modem, or an actual wireless access point device, is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network (your internet service) using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards. The WAP connects to a router or modem using an Ethernet cable and relays data between the wireless devices (computers, printers, etc.) and wired devices on the network.

If you have a spare wireless (Wi-Fi) router laying around, and you are not happy with your current Wi-Fi signal, here is a low cost project for you that can boost your Wi-Fi signal and or bring a signal to a part of your house that was previously inaccessible.

Below are instructions for setting up your spare wireless (Wi-Fi) router as a wireless access point. If you don’t own a spare, wireless routers are readily available at all large retail stores at very low prices. There is really no need to track down an actual wireless access point device that is sure to be more expensive. Adding a wireless access point to a wired network already in place, or to one where the main NAT (Network Address Translation) router is provided by the ISP, is usually the easiest solution. This is what modems and routers do. So we will be making configuration changes to your spare wireless router so that we are not adding a second NAT router on the network. This would only create communication issues on your network

What we will do is configure the new wireless router/access point so that it uses a LAN IP address in your network range (the same subnet as used by your other devices).

Step 1: Find the IP addresses of your current modem/router and other devices that use the Internet

If you are using Windows, the best way to find the internal IP address of your current modem/router that connects your LAN to the Internet is to open the Command Prompt. (Start > Run > type: cmd (enter)) then type: ipconfig

This image shows: My ISP-provided gateway/router (the “Default Gateway” referring to your current modem/router that provides your path to the Internet) is set to 192.168.1.1. My client computer is at 192.168.1.10. (The IP address of the computer you are using) Write these numbers down. Most routers have an IP address in the 192.168.x.x range.

Step 2: Login to your router’s administration page to find the DHCP range

By default, LAN clients are typically set to obtain their IP address automatically. That means that the router is acting as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, and serves IP addresses dynamically (as needed) to the client computers.

Login to your router’s admin interface by typing its IP address in your web browser. Then find the DHCP range. You need to find the range of IP addresses used for DHCP so you can set your access point to use an IP address outside of that range later in the steps. The IP address you assign will be outside the DHCP range but on the same subnet.

This image shows that the DHCP range is from 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.100. Record this range. DO NOT make any changes.

Step 3: Connect a computer, using an Ethernet cable, to the wireless router/AP

You will need to connect a computer to one of the LAN ports of the new wireless router that is to be your new access point. From now on I will simply refer to it as the AP. To do this:

1. Set your client computer to obtain its IP automatically. This is a default behavior on Windows based computers.

2. Connect it to a LAN port on the AP using a Cat5 network cable. Be sure you do not use the “Internet/WAN” port on the AP.

3. Open your Command Prompt and type “ipconfig /renew” at the prompt and press enter to force your computer to get an IP address from the AP. Leave your Command Prompt open for step 4.

4. Log into the admin interface of the AP just like you did in step 1 by typing “ipconfig”. Locate the IP address of the AP and type it in your browser.

Step 4: Configure the AP

Now that you are logged into the admin interface of the AP, you will perform two duties. First, you will need to change its internal/LAN IP address to an unused address in the same range/subnet as all your other LAN devices. This will change the IP address that you just used to access the AP. Secondly; you need to disable the DHCP server on your new AP, so there is only one DHCP server on the network. In my case, my main gateway/LAN router is set to 192.168.1.1, and it is serving dynamic IPs via DHCP in the range 192.168.1.10 – 192.168.1.100. I have to use any other address in the 192.168.1.x range for the access point.

If while making changes to your AP, you get the AP in a situation where you need to start over, simply reset it. Most routers have a small reset hole. What you do is push a ballpoint pen or paperclip in to the hole and hold it there about five seconds. You can then start over again with your configuration attempt.

This image shows that my AP’s IP address is set to 192.168.1.2 and the DHCP has been disabled so that it will not interfere with the DHCP server from my gateway/router. It is important to have only one device acting as a DHCP server, and that the IP address of the AP is in the same range as the main router.

Step 5: Connect the AP to the LAN

Now you will connect the reconfigured AP to the network. Use a LAN port on the AP and connect it with a Cat5 network cable to one of the LAN ports on your existing router. DO NOT use the “Internet/WAN” port on the wireless access point.

Connect your client computer to another LAN port of the router (if you do not reboot, you will have to use “ipconfig /renew” in the command prompt to obtain an IP address from your router).

Step 6: Test admin page is reachable and secure the AP

Now that your new AP is connected to your network, with a correct IP address in the same range while at the same time outside the DHCP range, we can test whether it’s reachable and give it a secure connection.

In the above example, I used 192.168.1.2 as the IP address for the AP to use. You should now be able to reach the AP’s admin interface by typing this IP address in your browser. If you were successful in seeing the admin interface, you can proceed with setting the wireless security.

Use WPA2 if your AP and your router support it. Provide a strong key, and keep it written down in a secure place. Try not to use WEP encryption because it can be cracked easily.