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Flash Cards: a Solution for Low Memory Macs

- June 8, 2000

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

Let me ask you this question: on a PowerBook, have you ever seen an out of memory warning? If not, you must have a newer machine. Every time I use my PowerBook 190cs, I get the same warning, but now that problem is gone. You could even say a birdie told me. A camera birdie that is.

One day at the elementary school where I help out, we were viewing some pictures on a Compact Flash card. When I got home, I was thinking how to solve my memory crisis (my 190cs is running Mac OS 8.1 in only 7 MB of RAM). Suddenly something came into my head: Why not use Compact Flash cards as RAM?

All you need is this:

A Compact Flash card
A PC card slot or USB
An adapter, if necessary

The way you do this is to format the Compact Flash card as a hard drive and use it for Virtual Memory (instead of using your hard drive).

I do warn you, try this out with someone who already has a Compact Flash card. I've only tested 8 and 32 MB Compact Flash cards on a PowerBook 1400. If you get big enough cards, your PowerBook could have over 1 GB of RAM. Other computers this may be useful for are PCI Performas and some low-end PCI Power Macs like the 5500 & 6500, iMacs, iBooks (especially the Rev. A), and some clones

For desktop models you will need a USB card and some form of adapter such as VST's Tri-Media Reader (it works with Compact Flash, Smart Media, and floppy disks). For first generation Power Macs and 68k Macs, low memory is hopeless.* The earlier the model, the less memory it will support. For some Power Macs, it could be a waste of time. The 7300 I'm using right now can be upgraded to 1 GB for less than the cost of a Flash card upgrade. If you have any trouble, email me and I'll try to help you.

* You can use Virtual Memory, but it's very slow on 68k Macs and not terribly fast on first generation Power Macs. Your best bet after installing maximum memory is to try RAM Doubler.

Visit ramseeker to see if Compact Flash cards fit your budget. Then compare that to current memory upgrade prices for your Mac.

If you do try this, we'd love to hear how it works for you. Email Dan Knight . Thanks!

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

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