Using a thumb drive as RAM

I saw a video on CNET that explained how one could use a USB flash drive to expand the RAM of a computer running on Windows XP or Vista. Is this possible on Mac OS X?
p.s. Here is the video link: http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50004459.html?tag=smallCarouselArea.3

Hi jskrainka;
As Malcoln says they are putting the Swap file on a USB flash drive. Personally I think if you have anything going to your swap files it is an indication that you don't have enough RAM. Instead of moving the swap file to USB flash drive which will only slow your system down, I would suggest you increase the amount of RAM in your Mac to reduce the use of swap files.
Allan

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HT4527 I transfered my Itunes information using a thumb drive to my new computer and downloaded the newest version of itunes to my new laptop. My songs are all there on the new computer but it won't recognize my ipod and sync.

I transfered my I tunes library to my new laptop using a thumb drive. I downloaded the newest version of Itunes to my new computer. My old ITUNES library of songs and books came across just fine. I can play them on the new laptop but they won't sync with my Ipod. The Itunes shows no devices when I hook it up to the laptop. Windows recognizes that the IPOD is hooked up. But no connection with ITUNES. Did I make a mistake in trying to sync my Itunes purchases to the new laptop before transfering the old library into the new ITUNES. If so how do I undo the problem. Please help. I use a PC with Windows XP.

Hi Rob,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
The steps in this article can help:
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
Best Regards,
Jeremy

HT5287 If DVD Movies, Audio CD's and even burning CD and DVD's are not supported, what is the point of DVD & CD Sharing then? Wouldn't it just be better to remote in or use a thumb drive if it's only able to be used for data transfer?

If DVD Movies, Audio CD's and even burning CD and DVD's are not supported, what is the point of DVD & CD Sharing then? Wouldn't it just be better to remote in or use a thumb drive if it's only able to be used for data transfer?
Or am I missing the bigger picture?

As long as you have a Superdrive or an external burner/drive, burning, watching, installing, etc. from CD or DVD will work just fine. And so will sharing.

Use of thumb drive screws up iPhoto

What has trying to use a thumb drive done to my iPhoto files? A couple years ago, I transferred many photos to a thumb drive as an iPhoto file. I believe there was a trick to getting the iPhoto software over to the thumb drive, but I've no recollection how I did it. Anyway, there was no problem with iPhoto on the thumb drive or on my MacBook-- both showed the pix they should have. The other day, I tried to move a few more photos to the thumb drive, but they didn't fall into iPhoto. I guess that would require some extra software. The annoyance is that when I eject the thumb drive and summon iPhoto, I don't see what should be on my computer but still see the iPhoto display from the thumb drive -- apparently it's been retained on my hard drive or in memory. I've tried restarting the computer, after which the best I can get is an iPhoto screen with no photos at all in it. There are three or four photo libraries on the hard drive, but none containing all my current pix. I have found some of those photos on the hard drive by using Spotlight to list items with .jpg suffixes. But they seem to be scattered, and I doubt that all the old pix are there.
This all involves a MacBook running OS 10.4.11, iPhoto 6.0.5, and a Geeksquad 4-GB thumb drive.

Thanks for your prompt response to my posting. In response to your questions and comments:
1. The thumb drive's format appears to be "MS-DOS File System (FAT32)"
2. "fall into" refers to the fact that the pix recently transferred to the thumb drive didn't go directly into the "iPhoto Library" folder already on the drive and listing material put on the drive a year or so ago but are listed as individual jpeg files. I've dragged these individual pix into the iPhoto Library. But I hesitate to boot from the thumb drive because of the mess it led to the other day.
3. When I enter /volumes in the Finder/Go/Go to Folder wndow, The volumes directory that appears lists aliases for my computer's hard drive and the thumb drive, which is plugged in at the moment. Entering volumes in Spotlight produces only documents that mention the word "volumes."

Can papers be typed on a MAC then use a thumb drive to copy to Microsoft Word and printed?on a Dell

Can papers be typed on a MAC Air then use a thumb drive to copy into Microsoft word and be printed?

Yes, if saved or exported into a format Word can read.
(87620)

Re-install lion using Apple Thumb drive

I am having some problems with the sleep fucntion and want to consider a re-install of Lion as a way to correct the problem.
I have a MacBook Pro, bought June 2011. I upgraded from Snow Leopard using the Apple Thumb drive.
Pretty much all advice for installing and re-installing Lion refers either to the downloaded version for the App Store or using a recovery file produced by the user after installation.
I am just wanting straighforward guidance on the process for doing a re-install of Lion using the Thumb drive or whatever process is proper.
I have a Time Machine set up with a Time Capsule. Not really sure if this could end up causing me more troubles using the stroed data/files. It may be those which are causing the troubles.
If necessary,I am fully prepared to use an external drive to capture my files (photos, music and iWork stuff) and then use these as I need to for restoring data.
Bottom line: how do I do a re-install of Lion using a MBP with an upgrade to Lion from Snow Leopard from a thumb drive from Apple?

Just plug in the thimb drive and reboot the unit. After you hear the startup sound press and hold the "Options" key. You willl get a one time boot screen where you can select the drive to boot to. Select the USB thumb drive.

Have leopard can I with using lion thumb drive, install without first install snow leoapard

Have leopard, can I with using lion thumb drive, install without first install snow leoapard ?

The requirement for Snow Leopard was for downloading Lion from the app store. With Lion on the thumb drive, you can upgrade without SL.
 Cheers, Tom

Using USB thumb drive with Parallels and Microsoft Windows XP

I installed Parallels 3.0 because I need to use a few windows applications for work. I am currently unable to find the USB thumb drive when I plug it into the USB port. It is connected and is selected, but I can't figure out how to access it. I check in "My Computer" just like I would on a PC, but the thumb drive is not listed. Any suggestions.
Macbook with Leopard
Thanks.
Jon

You're right, it should show up under My Computer. You may want to post your question over on the Parallels forums: http://forums.parallels.com as they're more geared toward the issue since Parallels is not an Apple product.

Can my iMAC use a thumb drive?

I have a thumb drive with photos downloaded from a PC. Can I just insert that thumbdrive into a MAC USB port and read it? (I've tryed o-- doesn't work). What course of action should I take to move those PC-based photos to the iMAC environment?

A Mac can read PC formatted volumes. What happened, exactly, when you plugged in the USB drive?
Perhaps the photos were not exported in a format the Mac can read. Use whatever program the PC uses to read photographs and export them as jpeg or other format.

Can I use Lion Thumb Drive as normal USB pen drive?

I have Thumb Drive OS X Lion, the question is:
Can I format this Thumb Drive and use if as a normal pen drive in Mac and windows PC?
If yes, how do i format the Thumb Drive?
thx! =)

Yes; as a Microsoft FAT-format volume. It's probably already in that format as most external storage devices such as traditional hard disk drives, flash disks or key drives or USB sticks arrive that way, and OS X can use FAT directly. Plug it in, and you're good to go.
If you want to erase and start over with a particular storage device – to reformat the storage as FAT – then use Disk Utility, in the Applications > Utilities folder, and select the formatting option.
But if you're not going to use the storage on Windows (without having to reformat it back to FAT) and if want to use it to best advantage, I'd reformat Windows FAT or NTFS volumes over into the HFS+ volume structure; to reformat the storage using the native file system of OS X.
As for how to reformat as FAT... From the Disk Utility help:
"You can use Disk Utility to format a disk to use with a Windows computer.
Notice: Formatting a disk erases all the files on it. Copy any files you want to save to another disk before formatting the disk.
Open Disk Utility, in the Utilities folder in Launchpad.
Select the disk you want to format for use with Windows computers.
Click Erase, and choose one of the following from the Format pop-up menu:
If the size of the disk is 32 GB or less, choose MS-DOS (FAT).
If the size of the disk is over 32 GB, choose ExFAT.
Type a name for the disk.
The name’s maximum length is 11 characters.
Click the Erase button, and then click Erase again."

Using portable thumb drive to transfer music?

I live in an area that does not have high speed internet access (insert redneck joke here). I do, however, have high speed access at my office. I had the brilliant idea to download music at work, and then transfer them via thumbdrive to my library at home. The problem I am having is that by "dragging and dropping" I am only transferring shortcuts rather than the actual file. Am I doing something wrong, or can files not be transfered in this manner?

In the PC world this would just work.... (Oh the irony!)
On a Mac try Command-C to Copy (or Command-X to Cut) the selected files from their original location then Command-V to paste on the thumb drive. I believe you can also use Option-Drag & Drop to get a menu of possible options.
tt2

Use a thumb drive for recovery startup?

27" iMac late 2010 OSX 10.9.4. After recent startup disk failure, I've been interested in crash recovery steps. Can I use a 64 GB USB thumb drive for an emergency STARTUP DISK?

Yes, but you don't need one that big. An 8 GB is sufficient.
OS X: About Recovery Disk Assistant
You could also install the full OS on that USB and be able to boot into a system as opposed to just Recovery.

Not able to use usb thumb drive it keeps telling me that its been unpluged

I have 2 usb SanDisk Crusers and when I plug one in it shows up as no name when I go to copy data off of it will tell me that its be unpluged with out ejecting it drives work fine in windows computers... anyone experanceing the same thing

Never had that issue with the cruizer. Just used it this morning.
What happens when you unpug it & plug it back in? Does it re-mount?

How do I install using a thumb drive?

Is the default install to go over current installation, or fresh install?. Do I just click on the installer?

The default install is an upgrade over your existing system. All your files and settings and third party apps should remain. But don't do it without a backup.
Yes just double-click the installer. Also check any third party apps for compatiblity

How to make OSX boot disk using a USB thumb drive? The final answer?

Well guys I am getting really conflicting information about possibility to use USB thumb drive for boot up drive for OSX! Some people say yes, some say no, some - not sure.
Here is the question formulated as straight as possible:
A Mac user wants to create OSX 10.6 boot-up disk on a USB thumb drive, so it can be used to start the Mac instead of using manufacturer’s CD. Also, (thumb drive’s size permitting) the Mac user must be able to install software on it, as it is done on the internal HD.
The computer is MacBookPro , Intel based , OSX 10.6
The USB thumb drive is 16 Gb brand new .
So,
what the EXACT steps will be, to properly Mac format the thumb drive with OSX disk utility and then install on it the OSX 10.6 from the manufacturer's grey CD that comes with the Mac?
Could someone, who has practical experience and is absolutely sure about the exact steps provide the final answer, please?
Thanks in advance to old hands & pro Mac Users willing to clarify this topic !

Hi
The instructions to make a bootable USB are [here|http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/ss/usbflash.htm]
I have made a bootable USB following the above instruction and also had enough space to install a few utilities. It works fine for me.
I usually like to check disk health of my MBpro intel via disk utilities off the USB after booting from it. Not that this is a recommended way or anything, just that I like to do it that way.

Using a thumb drive as RAM

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