Computer Memory: A Quick Lesson

Ever wonder where all that information goes on your computer? What happens when you typed up that paper for school, to that e-mail you sent to a friend, those pictures of the kids or that outrageous party from the other weekend?

There are different types of memory in a computer. So much so that it can be very easy to get them mixed up or confused with other types of memory that the computer uses.

The first and most commonly known is RAM. It is also called random access memory. RAM is what helps our computers run efficiently as well. Basically it is what the computer uses to store what is actively running on the computer while you are browsing, playing games, watching movies, and playing music. While having more memory generally helps with the performance of the system it is not the only thing that should be looked at when your system is slow or takes time to respond to certain things.

Other types of memory are ROM, which is read only. An example of that would be a music CD, or DVD movie, as you can only read the information on the disc, you can not change what is on it.

Hard drives use a type of memory that can be written to and read at the same time. It is commonly referred to as storage or disk space. It is the storage area for the information that is on your computer, including the operating system (usually Windows). That is where your emails, documents, pictures, music and movies are actually stored on the computer. So if you like to keep a lot of music files on your computer, then another hard drive would be what you would need to add to the system in order to store more information.

Hard drives work like record players. It has a disc that spins and is read by a "needle". That is one reason why hard drives fail more so than memory, simply because it has moving parts in it. That is the big reason why it is always good to have a back up of your important documents. Whether you burn them to a CD or DVD, it will help you breath a sigh of relief when you find out that hard drive goes out and you have those pictures of the kids from when they were toddlers saved!

When it comes to flash drives (or USB pen drives) they use a totally different type of memory to store information on them. It allows information to be stored in memory chips and transferred to a different location while not having power to the drive unlike computer RAM. It also does not have moving parts like a hard drive so it generally is faster when trying to access the information. Plus it is ultra portable so you can back up that information and take it with you on business trips and such.

Who knows how memory will be used in the next 5, 10, or even 15 years. I do know that the way technology is it will forever change to be every smaller and hold even more information!