RAM, ROM and the need for virtual memory

Question	Answer
What does RAM stand for?	Random access memory
What does ROM stand for?	Read-only memory
Define volatile	When something loses its data when the electricity is turned off
Describe the difference between RAM and ROM	- Data can be written to RAM but not to ROM as it is read-only - RAM is volatile and ROM is non volatile
Explain the need for ROM in a computer system	ROM is memory that cannot be changed by a program or user. ROM retains its memory even after the computer is turned off.
Describe the purpose of RAM in a computer system	Program instructions and data currently being accessed by the CPU are stored in RAM
Explain how the amount of RAM in a personal computer affects the performance of the computer	The greater the amount of RAM, the more instructions it can store. As such, it is less likely to need to load more instructions from the hard disk drive therefore speeding up the computers operation.
Explain the need for virtual memory	When the main memory (RAM) is full, the operating system will store data on an area of the hard disk - the virtual memory

Resource summary

	Created by Mel Hughes over 8 years ago