Hard Drive A hard drive is what's used to store information on such as: files, photos, programs, documents , ect.. Hard drives are also refered to as a hard disk drive, HDD or just HD. Hard drives are measured by how much they can store in Gigabytes, or GB. A 60GB hard drive can hold 60 Gigabytes worth of data. Other features of a hard drive is the RPM, cache and connection type. RPM stands for revolutions per minute. In a hard drive RPM is adetermining factor in its speed. In PCs, 7200 RPM is the standard while 5400 RPM is the standard in laptop hard drives. As technology advances, the speeds will increase over time. The fastest hard drive you can get right now runs about 15,000 RPM, but it is quite expensive and most consumers will have no need for it. Because the hard drive is a mechanical device it can wear down over time, and is usually the first thing to go out on a PC. It's always important to backup critical data on another storage device for this reason.Because of its mechanical nature, hard drives can go out at any time and can even seize up. Once a hard drive seizes up it doesn't spin any more and the data is lost.

RAM RAM, or random access memory, is the working area used for loading, displaying and manipulating applications and data that usually come from the processor. RAM allows stored data to be accessed in any order — that is, at random and without any physical movement. Many types of RAM are volatile, which means that unlike some other forms of computer storage such as disk storage and tape storage, they lose all data when the computer is powered down. RAM is not the place where you store files, or music but instead is used by the system to quickly store and retrieve little pieces of data. RAM, like the processor, hard drive and motherboard is a determinant in the computer's speed. Some programs on your computer will consume more RAM than others, although all programs use at least some RAM. Some people say you can never have too much RAM in your system. To some extent they're right! Having too little RAM will cause the computer to bottleneck, or run slower than it's capable. A computer is only as fast as its slowest part. A computer will only run the programs at its fullest speed when there is nothing to hold it back, like not enough RAM.

Physically, RAM comes in modules, or sticks that plug directly into the motherboard. 168-pin SDRAM, 184-pin DDR RAM and 240-pin DDR2 RAM are the most common types found in PCs today. It is important to match the speed of the RAM, measured in Mhz, to the motherboard in which they are installed. If the speed is wrong there is always a chance the computer will not boot up. Of course having the wrong type, i.e. attempting to plug a 168-pin stick into a 184-pin slot. will not even work unless you use a hammer (which is not recommended). The size of the RAM does not matter to the computer's ability to boot up, just its speed. Most new computers will have 1GB of RAM, or more. Most experts agree that a computer running Microsoft Windows XP should have at least 512MB (MB stands for megabytes) of RAM in order to run efficiently. If you don't even have 512MB then you should get it upgraded.

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