Can someone please explain Hard Drive vs Ram???

Question

I am looking to purchase a laptop for my son to play his pc games on (I'm sick of him using mine). I am always confused by the terminology of the computer age. I'm not looking to spend a fortune, most I've looked at have 40-60GB Hard Drive with 512MB-2GB RAM. Can someone please explain the difference of the Hard Drive Capacity & the RAM to me? Thanking you very much in advance.

Answer 1

Thats so simple RAM and Hard disk are two different things though they are memories and used for different works.....

Hard disk is only used to store ur programms like when u save ur word file or save anything in the computer.............

And Ram is abbreviated for Random Access Memory that means u can randomly acess anything which is stored in RAM...............

To buy any pc or laptop the RAM must be as high as possible because it is used by the processor to run the programms the more RAM u have the more speed ur pc will have. like if u have 512 RAM ur pc will b a bit slow and may hang if u run too many programms but if u r having 1 or 2 MB RAM then it is best, ur pc will rum more fast..................

if u have less hard disk u can manage it for storing the files in CDs, DVDs or pen drives, u can have external hard drive if u need that for saving more files.............

We can compare RAM is like ur brain if u have more capacity in ur brain u will work more fast and quick.............

u can have 60or 80 GB hard dsk with 1 or 2 GB that will be best

Understood...........

if u liked answer make it best answer

Answer 2

Hard Drive is a device that stores all your data files, software, games, operating system such as Microsoft Windows and it's is permanent. You switch off your computer they are still there. It's like a cassette tape, softwares are recorded onto it.



RAM is a piece of electronic chips that stores running programs, softwares, live data, and they are temporary. When you switch off your computer, they are gone, you switch on back, the computer loads them back to the RAM from the hard drive.



PC will be slow if RAM is low because when the RAM is full, the system starts to use the hard drive space that the RAM suppose to provide. The reason is the access speed of the hard drive is half a million times slower than that of a RAM.

Answer 3

I will give you a simple easy explanation:

In the Hard Drive you save all kind of stuff, from games to pictures to music, to whatever you may want.



The RAM, is the one that allow, those games and music to play, the more memory your computer has the better the games will play, and the faster the computer will be, now since I know Kids, I have 2 of my own, try to get a computer with at least 160gb hd, and at least 1gb of ram, that will do, now see the following links pick one and let your kids enjoy, or why not give them your computer and keep this one.. I did that.. jejejejeje.. A smart Dad..

the first one is 529 bucks, nice and way enough and has a monitor.

The second one does not have a monitor but you can always get a cheap one any where, or why not go shop any computer store, any computer around 600 bucks will do. Trust me, look for 2 things: HD > 160gb, Memory >= 1Gb. the rest is pure bla, bla, bla.

Answer 4

A hard drive is where files are stored, long term. Memory is the amount of data (files) a computer can process simultaneously. Memory is only used when the computer is on, but the hard drive stores stuff when the computer is on or off. Think of a hard drive as a book shelf and memory as a desk top. The larger your hard drive, the more books you can store, but you need a big desk in order to see all your books open at the same time. The more memory, the less your computer has to access the hard drive, thus speeding up processing time.

Answer 5

a hard drive is a piece of hardware that has magnetic disks that store infomation like the Operateing system and your documents they come in all sizes and are not related to RAM



internal Hard Drive is inside in the computer screwed into its docking bay and plugged up



external Hard Drive is a hard drive in a plastic or metal case and is used via a USB cable and connected the computers USB ports they also come in alot of sizes going from 50GB to 1TB (terabyte) meaning 1000GB and is huge



if you would like to know more about the inner workings of a hard disk drive here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk





now RAM (Random Access Memory)

is another type of computer data storage except different from the Hard Disk Drive it allows stored data to be accessed in any order that is at random The things that RAM keeps are lost when the computer is turned off which is a good thing the more RAM you have the better it is makes your computer use programs and make everything faster usally 2GB to 4GB is a good amount of ram



if you would like more information on RAM here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM



also if you want to upgrade your ram and do not know the exact model or kind to get this website it has a RAM advisor

put your computers manufacturer, product line, and model and it will bring up all the compatible RAM for your system



http://www.crucial.com/

Answer 6

The hard drive is like a miniature cd player. a disk turns at 5400 rpm in the hard drive. data is written on that disk and does not go away when you turn it off. 5400 rpm is actually very slow that is why it takes longer for your laptop to boot up than your desktop computer. 40 gigabyte is about normal for a low end laptop computer.

Ram is Random Access Memory. it is much faster than the hard drive. when you turn off the computer, any info in the RAM is lost. RAM is the working memory and the hard drive is the storage memory. Vista does not like less than 1 gigabyte of RAM. 2 gigabyte is better, but you can purchase that later. I would be sure to purchase the insurance for any problem (kids can be rough on electronics. especially since it was't their money that bought it) A dropped laptop can break the screen, crack the case, kill the hard drive, etc.

Answer 7

The hardisk or hard drive capacity is important if you a lot of software, games or data to be install. Because the hard drive capacity or size is use of the computer to store or storage of application software you install. If you a lot of software install in your hard drive space is become small. and the Ram capacity is important also in the computer. Because ram is the one who use to read your data or application in the computer. When you open a files of program the computer temporarily save it to the ram memory for the fastest access. That's why sometime if you open a lot of program simultineously the computer hanging or very slow because the ram memory size or capacity is not to hold all programs open. But if your ram memory is higher there is no problem sometimes the problem is the comlict of the program you open.But after you reboot your computer all data in the ram is gone in the space or capacity of ram is back to his normal size again because RAM stand for RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY or temporary only.

Answer 8

Ram is like the computer's memory. When you open programs/applications such as a games, they're temporarily stored inside the RAM. So the more Ram (or memory) you have, the better/faster your computer will run.



Hard drive space is like storage space. For example, how much music and movies you can store in your computer. So the more hard drive space you have, the more data you can store on your computer.

Answer 9

Most definetly. RAM stands for Random Access Memory or memory used to run open applications - or programs (i.e. Internet explorer, iTunes, etc). Thusly, the more RAM you have, the more your computer can do at once. Think of RAM as your computer's ability to multitask and compute.



A hard drive on the other hand, refers to a piece of hardware that stores files long term. When you "save" a file, you save it TO your hard drive for long term storage. The bigger your HD the more files your computer can hold.



If you intend to purchase a PC for gaming purposes then you may wish to consider also the processor of the computer as well as the possibile addition of a graphics card (if the games being played are graphic intensive).



Happy to help. Message me with more questions if you like. :)

Answer 10

Hard Drive means the total space available in your system to save the data which you had worked on it



And where as RAM(Random Access Memory) means the temporary storage and deals with the speed of the computer.



I think i can prefer 60GB of the Hard Drive and 1GB of the RAM for which you are going to buy for your son

Answer 11

A hard drive is a mechanical device that can permanently store data. When the computer is on, it data can be saved to the device. When the computer is turned off, the data remains.



RAM is an electronic device that's used to hold programs to be run by the central processing unit (CPU). When the system is turned off, the contents of RAM is lost.



Data from the hard disk is loaded into RAM to be executed. Files you save are written to the hard drive where they remain indefinitely.

Answer 12

The hard drive is a small somewhat flat box inside your computer that holds ALL data. The more space (gigs) it has, the more you can download on it. Ram is memory, it controls how fast your computer goes, and allows you to multi task with programs. The more ram you have, the faster your computer will operate.

Answer 13

the hard drive and the RAM are the hardwares in you laptop, this hardwares are useful and have their uses.

hard drive - this is where you install your operating system and the storage area of your laptop, if its capacity is higher than 120GB then it is good, you can store a lot of games, music, movies etc... while

RAM - stands for Random Access Memory where it temporarily store your programs when it is open, the higher the capacity the better it works, try the 1GB memory.

Answer 14

RAM measures how much you can do at a time. ROM is the thing you put CDs in, like music and other software. Hard Drives are what you download those CDs and everything else onto.

Answer 15

ram is the prosessor which makes the computer much fast as u increase its size, hard disk or drive is the memory of it where he can store games & then play. i suppose u take a pc rather laptop since its fr a kid laptop is very delicate HANDLE WITH CARE. n u do insert a video card which is essential to play games of very high configuration. bye best of luck

Answer 16

It's easy to get RAM and Hard Disk space confused. When people get an "out of memory" error message from their computer, they often think their hard drive is too full, when in reality, the RAM (memory) is getting too full.

Answer 17

Harddrive is like how much data can be stored on the laptop whilst ram is how many programs can be running at the same time....1gb+ ram is plenty

Answer 18

the more ram you have, the more programs you can run at one time.



the more hard drive space you have, the more files and programs you can store on the computer.



you also have to think about getting a good video card for better graphics.

Answer 19

think of it this way



your hard drive is like your long term memory

(your programs,mp3,images.etc..)



Ram is short term memory

( opened images, programs like outlook or word store info on ram to open up faster and respond quicker)

Answer 20

hard drive stores files,

ram allows you to run multiple applications at once.