Memory accelerator

A clever way to make computers boot up and start programs more swiftly has been patented by SanDisk of California, US.In today's PCs, volatile Random Access Memory (RAM) provides a temporary buffer for data stored permanently on a magnetic hard disc. But information not held in RAM takes much longer for the computer to retrieve.The SanDisk system uses flash memory, which works in microseconds but has limited storage capacity, as an intermediary memory bank between RAM and the hard drive, increasing the speed at which a computer starts a program or opens a file.Data is sent to the flash memory component for rapid access. As this fills up, most of it is moved to the hard disc at slower retrieval. But particularly relevant bits of information, such the description of a file and its location on the hard drive, may be held in flash for longer.When the computer boots up or launches a program, it gets the initial data from flash while the hard disc searches out the next batch of information. Overall, access time should be reduced substantially, say SanDisk.