x(perts)64

Steve Riley's blog is one that I follow and read faithfully. In his latest installment on the BitLocker command line interface, Steve points out that while the current GUI for BitLocker (See my earlier blog on BitLocker) only allows you to encrypt the system partition, the command line lets you encrypt the entire drive. Now that's a real advantage, and yet another example of the command line giving you additional functionality over the GUI. Nice job, Steve, thanks!

Charlie.

I've been running 64-bit Windows Vista on my Ferrari 4000 as my daily workstation since RC1, and I've now been running the RTM version for a couple of weeks. During that period, I've gone from running with a straight 1 GB of RAM (what it came with), to adding a 512 Mb ReadyBoost, to adding a 2GB ReadyBoost and now I've upgraded the RAM to a full 2GB (all it supports) with a 2GB Gizmo! Overdrive! USB memory stick to take advantage of Windows Vista ReadyBoost. I've come to some fairly firm convictions in that time about just how much memory, and what kind, Windows Vista needs. And the conclusions were fairly startling, frankly.

Let me start by setting some expectations. I'm very much a power user. I rarely have less than a half dozen tabs open on at least 2 or 3 IE windows, with Outlook, Word and Excel open as well. At the moment, in a fairly typical scenario, I've also got Windows Mail, three Remote Desktop sessions, and a couple of VMRC sessions open. Obviously, this isn't how everyone works, but with dual monitors running at 1680 by 1050 each, I can get a lot of stuff open and it definitely makes my job easier.

So, how much RAM is enough? And how much just isn't? And does ReadyBoost help? Good questions, lets' take them one at a time.

How Much RAM?

When I was running with a pure 1GB of RAM, I consistently ran at >800 Mb of used RAM. And I found myself running out of resources and rebooting just about every day. In other words, it just wasn't enough. Adding a 2GB ReadyBoost drive definitely helped in the overall speed and stability, but it still felt like not enough RAM. With the ReadyBoost, I wasn't rebooting as often, and I didn't find myself sitting there just waiting for something to happen for what seemed like ages but was probably only a second or two. Without it? It just wasn't enough. So if you simply can't afford >1GB of RAM, by all means get a good USB keydrive (and I love my Crucial Gizmo!). It will definitely help.

What about more than 1GB? Ah, now we're in the sweet spot. When I doubled the RAM on this Ferrari to 2GB, suddenly I noticed a real change. Reboots? Not in the last week. Restore from sleep? Not a problem. Long waits for the cursor to return? Hasn't been a problem. And what about actual RAM usage, as described by TaskManager? Well, that's interesting. I haven't gone over about 1.1 or 1.2 GB of RAM usage no matter what I was doing. Well, except when running a Virtual Machine in addition to everything else. So what does this mean? Well, I honestly think that the ordinary user won't notice any difference in the speed and stability of 64-bit Windows Vista with greater than 1.5 GB of RAM. But the difference between 1 GB and 1.5 GB is very noticeable. So for my money, the bump to 1.5 GB is the sweet spot.

If you also need to run Virtual Server or VMWare and a virtual machine or two, then just add the RAM requirements for your VMs onto that 1.5 GB and you'll be fine.

How Much RAM Isn't Enough?

Anything less than 1024 MB (1GB) of RAM is simply not enough to get any real work done on 64-bit Windows Vista, IMHO. This is at least double the realistic requirements of Windows XP, where 512 MB was quite adequate for most users. Officially, the minimum RAM requirement for Windows Vista and the Aero interface is 512 MB, but don't waste your time if that's all you've got room for. Stick with XP - you'll have a much better experience, and move to Vista only when you can afford to at least double that RAM.

Does ReadyBoost Help?

Definitely. Even at 2GB of RAM, I'm keeping one of my 2GB Crucial Gizmo! drives dedicated to ReadyBoost. And if you have to run with RAM below 1.5 GB? Get yourself a Gizmo! and use it. It will improve the overall stability and speed of Windows Vista noticeably, in my experience.

Overall Conclusions

Windows Vista is a serious RAM hog. Lots of people I know run Windows XP quite adequately with 256 MB of RAM. That simply isn't going to cut it with Windows Vista, and even double that amount of RAM is frankly just not enough. In my experience, the operative minimum RAM requirement for Windows Vista is a full 1024 MB. Youch! And the sweet spot is at least half again that. Double youch!

Charlie.

Disclaimer: These are my personal experiences running on my personal Ferrari laptop. They are subjective tests, not benchmarks or other artificial measurements of speed and memory usage, but simply my daily usage and subjective impressions. And a further disclaimer - Crucial was generous enough to provide the RAM and Gizmo! drives to run this test, for which I am extremely grateful. But let me be very clear - I use and buy Crucial RAM and Crucial Gizmo! drives by choice when it's my $$ being spent as well. They have always been my preferred memory vendor.

Windows Vista has a cool new technology called ReadyBoost that allows you to use a USB memory stick to speed up your computer. As I discussed in my Windows Vista Community Site column, ReadyBoost isn't a substitute for system RAM memory, but it does speed up your overall system and provide additional resources. And let's face it, Vista needs all the memory help it can get. In a future blog I'll have some direct comparisons of how much ReadyBoost helps as compared to adding system memory, but for many of us there isn't really a choice. Adding system memory is either not possible, or prohibitively expensive with where RAM prices are right now.

Unfortunately, not every USB key drive is ReadyBoost compatible. I've been getting a lot of email asking me for specific recommendations, so I thought I'd cover some of the basics here, while detailing some of my own results with supposedly high speed USB memory devices.

The first requirement is that the USB drive be at least 512 Mb in size. Any less and Vista will decline to use the drive because it isn't fast enough. The drive must also be USB 2.0 HiSpeed compatible and be plugged in to a 2.0 HiSpeed port. Again, if this minimum requirement isn't met, Vista won't use the drive because it isn't fast enough to really help.

The next requirement is that the drive be fast enough to actually help. I don't know what the specs need to be for the drive, but I didn't really see this as a big issue when I wrote that column. After all, the very first drive I tried, a fairly old, 512 Mb Crucial Technologies Gizmo! drive I just happened to have lying around, worked perfectly. Well, imagine my surprise when readers started asking me for specific recommendations because their supposedly high speed drives wouldn't work. So, I started trying various drives I had around, and even went out and bought an expensive and supposedly high speed drive from OCZ - the Rally 2 to try it out. Well, I was frankly very disappointed. Not only did none of the other drives I had around work (admittedly, most of them were handouts at various tradeshows or wherever), but that overpriced OCZ? Nope. Wouldn't work. In spite of all the claims from OCZ about how fast it supposedly is, Vista flat out refuses to use it for ReadyBoost. So, I sent email to OCZ, asking them about it. And guess what? I didn't even get the decency of a reply. OK, I get the message.

So, I sent off an email to Crucial, since I'd had good success with an older model of theirs, and asked them if they would send me their current model to try out. Unlike OCZ, I not only got email, but they were actually quite helpful.

The newest Gizmo! is the Gizmo! Overdrive. Available in 512 MB, 1GB and 2 GB sizes, at quite reasonable prices, the Overdrive includes a Windows Vista compatible document vault that secures your sensitive documents against any unauthorized access with a 256 character key using Blowfish encryption. And even with that software on it, the  Gizmo! Overdrive worked without any issues at all as a ReadyBoost drive. Sweet.

The Gizmo! Overdrive, and it's slightly less expensive brother without the document vault software (also called a Gizmo! Overdrive) are small enough to fit side by side in my Acer Ferrari 4005 laptop without issue - a good sign. I hate those bulbuous things that crowd everyone else out and overhang the next slot. The security software enabled one is shiny black, and the plain one is shiny white. Otherwise, they look identical. Both have a tiny little slot in one corner that is supposed to let you slide a tether through so you can hang it around your neck and look totally geeky. Bad design. Getting the little cord for the tether through there is just plain HARD. And the slot is too small for even my smallest pair of jeweller's needle nose pliers to reach in and grab the cord. Ah, well, it's a small complaint - I was able to fish it through eventually, and the Gizmo! just works. No muss, no fuss, it just works. I have to say that's what I want out of my hardware these days. It should just plug in and work.

So, the final tally here of known good and known not good? Here's the ones I know about:

Crucial Technologies - 512 Mb - 2 GB, all models. Works, and works well. Security software works in Vista x64 without issue.

Victorinox - Tested the 512 Mb model, and it works. A bit large and may interfere with other USB connections. But hey, you get a mini Swiss Army knife with it - that's pretty cool.

OCZ Rally 2 - doesn't work, and they don't answer their email. Three thumbs down!

Charlie.

Update on OCZ: Well, it only took them a month, but now I have someone at OCZ who claims it should work. Of course, he was testing on Build 5600 and 32-bit, so I'll wait to see what comes of it. I can still confidently state that my OCZ Rally2 does not work with RTM Vista x64 Ultimate Edition. But perhaps OCZ has an update they'll share with me that makes it work. If so, I'll let everyone know.

Microsoft has finally broken down and is providing pre-built VHDs of Server software. They're running eval versions, obviously, but this is a definite step forward. The VHD home page has details, as does The Virtual PC Guy.

Charlie.