im pretty smart when it comes to computers, but when someone asks about ram i dont know how to describe it?

Answer 1

"RAM (random access memory) is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM. However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk. "

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Hope that helps!

Answer 2

uhhhh first poster is wrong...

Ram= random access memory

I would say storage is much faster than a hard drive, used for temporarily stored files that computers use. Every program uses it. The proccessor does the math, and spits the result into ram storage, where the program can use it.

If you open aol, the proccessor will do all of the computations, it will interperate the commands, and then when the screen pops up all of the info is stored in RAM, such as buttons, backgrounds, etc.

I think my explanation is right, sorry if it's confusing.

But for the average computer user, just say more RAM means more programs open at once without your computer slowing down...

Answer 3

To be EXCEPTIONALLY technical: many of the posts are wrong. Yes, RAM is faster than hard drives. But ROM. (Read Only Memory) would be too.

Not being a complete jerk about that, my goal was to use a compare contrast / methodology for explanation. ROM is as fast or faster than RAM. The problem is right in it's name: "read only" You can't make any changes to it. Your cell phone has ROM that provides it's operating system. That's why when there are upgrades you HAVE to upgrade the phone. Expensive and cumbersome to buy a new PC everytime you want to add new software or get an upgrade to existing.

So, great, RAM is fast, and it can be re-written; what do I need a hard drive for? Ahh, another problem with RAM - anything you write into it disappears when you power off the system.

Kinda like me - poof!

Answer 4

my description is generally something along the lines of this:

RAM is like short term memory. To apply the concept of RAM to the human brain for an example: When you are doing something like, let's say, washing the dishes, you are keeping in mind that you are washing the dishes. If you were a computer and you didn't have RAM, when someone tells you to wash the dishes, you won't remember that a millisecond later. RAM is the device that keeps the computer remembering what it is doing. If you were to turn a computer on without RAM, it would keep performing the same bootup instruction over and over and over again.

Answer 5

ram is random access memory, in other words it is used to place programs into memory that will be used at a later time. this makes the computer run faster,

Now how to describe what it does or how it works is another thing. if you need to make none computer users understand, what memory is, the easiest way to describe it is pidgin holes

like this for example
One byte of information is one letter or one number,
One megabyte is 1024 bytes of information letters or numbers.

To describe memory do it this way
get a square peace of paper, draw 10 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines, this would make 100 squares, each square would represent one bite of memory, each byte of information would be placed in each square (bite) of memory.

So the example would be
top row of squares each one a bite of information and so on

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
second row
a b c d e f g h i j
third row
A B C D E F G H I J

I hope you get the idea on how to explain what memory is and what it dose

Answer 6

Random Accessibility Memory. Ram is the memory that is changable. The higher the Ram, the faster the computer can change what you see on the screen.

Think of it like, at 64K, the RAM which was first introduced with Commodore, and the computer could only remember 64 thousand bits of info. Later, they doubled it to C128, and it could run the 64, and run twice the speed.

So Ram, is bits. 1Gig now, is 1 Billion bits, and that will store 100 thousand pictures. 64K, would store 6.4.

Answer 7

RAM is just like your short term memory. If you need to remember to go to the shop and buy some milk, you place it in your short term memory. If however you are going to the shop later in the week you write it down (PC equivalent of writing the data to the harddrive) so you dont forget.

So now when you're at the shop you dont forget the milk, cause either way you get the information from the RAM (short term memory) or off your shopping list (Hard drive)

Make sense?

Answer 8

The first answer is wrong. Storage is where everything is permanently stored, RAM, or Random Access Memory, is information about currently running programs.
RAM chips are much faster than a harddrive, so it is alot more efficient to extract information from them, so information relating to running programs is stored into them for easy access. All the information stored in RAM is lost as soon as power is switched off.

Answer 9

Not being funny - it called Random Access Memory but it should be called Random Use Memory - RUM. It is used as a tempory storage facility for programs, downloads, and general processing - data in, data out type stuff. As a program moves thru its processing it brings in a batch of instruction code and processes the data accordingly then moves it out to bring in more code. The more RAM (or RUM) you have the larger the chunks of code it can process and the larger the temporary data files can be so it is more efficient.

Answer 10

ram is more like a short term memory. the computer uses it to stack information it needs for next function to happen into the ram .. it isnt the same as the hard drive , that is more like long term memory