What is RAM for and how does it work?

Question

Is it used all at once or just all it needs.

Answer 1

RAM is Random Access Memory.  It is basically the "short-term" memory for your computer.  It holds information for any programs that are currently running (Windows, Antivirus, etc.).  The more programs you have running, the more RAM you will need.  It only uses what it needs, you can see how much free RAM you have through Task Manager's Performance tab.

Answer 2

RAM is Random Access Memory. The computer uses only what it needs at any 1 time.

Answer 3

Ram is used as it is needed that is why it is called RAM(Random Access Memory)

Answer 4

Pronounced ramm, acronym for random access memory, a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers.

There are two different types of RAM: DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory). The two types differ in the technology they use to hold data, with DRAM being the more common type. In terms of speed, SRAM is faster. DRAM needs to be refreshed thousands of times per second while SRAM does not need to be refreshed, which is what makes it faster than DRAM. DRAM supports access times of about 60 nanoseconds, SRAM can give access times as low as 10 nanoseconds. Despite SRAM being faster, it's not as commonly used as DRAM because it's so much more expensive. Both types of RAM are volatile, meaning that they lose their contents when the power is turned off.

In common usage, the term RAM is synonymous with main memory, the memory available to programs. For example, a computer with 8MB RAM has approximately 8 million bytes of memory that programs can use. In contrast, ROM (read-only memory) refers to special memory used to store programs that boot the computer and perform diagnostics. Most personal computers have a small amount of ROM (a few thousand bytes). In fact, both types of memory (ROM and RAM) allow random access. To be precise, therefore, RAM should be referred to as read/write RAM and ROM as read-only RAM.

See the "DRAM Memory Guide" in the Quick Reference section of Webopedia. This Webopedia Quick Reference offers general information on the two types of RAM and provide an overview on the common modules of each type.

Answer 5

RAM is Random Access Memory, look that up, it is like a temporary hard drive which stores all the actions you have done recently, when your computer is acting "stupid" the ram is full, and you need to restart or shutdown and turn it back on.

Answer 6

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. (so from the name you can see it is used as needed)

RAM is used as needed to process information (software, hardware, etc) as it works in and out of the CPU.

This looks like a pretty good explanation:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm