Memory
More commonly known as RAM, memory is a location where information is stored that is currently being being utilized by the operating system, software program, hardware device, or the user.
It's very common for users to confuse what memory is exactly. For example, a computer hard drive could be considered memory, however is more appropriately referred to as storage and not memory. When you open a program such as your Internet browser that program is loaded from your hard disk drive into memory, which allows that program to operate at a much faster pace since memory is a lot faster than a hard disk drive. Anything you save to your computer such as a picture or video that data is sent to your hard disk drive for storage.
There are two memory types: volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory is memory that loses its contents when the computer or hardware device loses power. Computer RAM is a good example of a volatile memory. Non-volatile memory, sometimes abbreviated as NVRAM, is memory that keeps its contents even if the power is lost. CMOS is a good example of a non-volatile memory. Below is an example picture of computer memory module a 512MB DIMM.
- Determining how much RAM is installed and available.
- Memory buying tips
- Computer memory help and support.
Also see: DDR, Memory capacity, Memory definitions, RAM, Primary storage, Processing device, ReadyBoost, TSR, Volatile memory