Memory: RAM and ROM
There are two types of memory in a computer: RAM and ROM. In the early days of personal computing, some vendors made their systems sound more impressive by adding these two totals. However, their function in computer systems is verydifferent.
The contents of RAM (random access memory) can be accessed in any order and can change instantly. They are in constant flux as you start a computer; load its operating system and drivers for particular devices; load an application; create, store, change, and copy data; and shut down the computer.
Programs are loaded into RAM; until data is stored, it exists only in RAM (that's why you should save your work so often!). The “enemies” of data stored in RAM include
System crashes and lockups ...
Get Absolute Beginner's Guide to A+ Certification now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
