What does memory on a computer do??

Question

What does memory on a computer do??

Answer 1

It remembers things, either temporarily or more permanently.

Usually, RAM is used to store temporary stuff, which will be quick to get at, but is not needed once the power is withdrawn.

Answer 2

It remembers things

Answer 3

If you are talking about RAM (random access memory) it stores the programs that you are currently using. Read and Write times from the hard drive are incredibly slow, so the computer caches things into RAM while in use to improve your performance greatly.

The more RAM you have, the more you can do at once before slowing your PC down. If your RAM fills up, the PC will start using the hard drive to store all the extra data, which is AT LEAST 10 times slower, so your computer begins crawling along. If you never fill your RAM up, the PC will stay at a faster speed, so more is better.

Keep in mind that your processor plays an important role in how fast your PC is as well. A 100MHz processor with 4GB of RAM is obviously going to be slower than a 2400MHz Processor with 4GB of RAM. If your processor is too slow to fill up all of your available memory, then that extra is going to waste, so you need a nice balance of speed vs. memory. Most modern processors work faster than the RAM by far, so this isn't an issue, but if you are upgrading an older PC, it is something to consider.

Upgrading RAM is a cheap and effective way to speed up your PC. Just be aware that there are many different types and sizes. www.crucial.com has a test to see what type of memory your computer uses.

Answer 4

It stores information and remembers what (and how) information is stored so you can get it when you need it.  

Answer 5

theres two types, RAM and ROM.

random access memory... basically its a swapfile...

Read Only memory is like an Eprom, or a CD... it can only be read, and NOT modified...