MODULE 1.

3 STORAGE, MEMORY AND PROCESSING

Any computer needs both memory and storage

1 MEMORY
Memory is where the computer holds all the programs
(instructions) and data it is busy working on. Memory is
Also referred to as primary storage. If your computer is
Unplugged(Power off) all the work that you were working
On that was not safe will be lost.
When people talk about RAM(Random Access Memory)
Of a computer the talk about its memory. It is usually
Measured in the low Gigabytes ranges (from 1 – 64GB)
2 STORAGE
Storage is where programs and data are kept
permanently. It does not lose its contents when the
power is turned off.
Storage Is measured in Gigabytes or low Terabytes eg
(1TB=1024 GB)
3 INTERPRETING ADVERTS
Memory and storage specifications are usually quite
clearly display in adverts for computers.
Cheaper computers will usually have smaller amounts of
Memory and storage
RAM = memory
HDD = Hard Disk Drive  refer to the storage of computer
SSD = Solid State Drive
4 ONLINE STORAGE
Disk space that is allocated to you on the server on the
Internet e.g. Google Drive Dropbox
5 ADVANTAGES – ONLINE STORAGE
 Accessible from my device with internet access
 Save space on the user’s computer

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  Easy to share files with other people
 Data is still accessible even if your computer ”crash” or
is stolen
6 DISADVANTAGES – ONLINE STORAGE
 Only accessible if you have internet connection
 No control over backup and security
 Pay for the bandwith used to upload and download
7 Online storage/cloud computing
Online storage differs from Cloud Computing-it only
involves storing files online
Real Cloud Computing means that actual programs run
on a server on the internet and you access those
programs through your web browser
8 BACKING UP
Must be :
 Easy to restore the data from the backup media
 Quick and easy to make backup
Popular back-upnstrategies
 Flash drives
 Portable hard drives
 Online backup services
9 HOW TO WRITE CD’s AND DVD’s
 Open Windows/File Explorer
 Select the File/Folder that you want to write on the CD
 Drag the File to the icon of the CD in the left column of
Windows/File Explorer
 Copied all the files you need
 Right-click on the drive and chose the “Burn” option
10 BUCKUPS AND ARCHIVES
Backups- copy or duplicate files in case something goes
wrong. Can be automated
Archiving-Storing files that are not meant to be accessed

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 Regularly, but kept as reference
Backups are essential;. Archiving is not
11 BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING
 Managing backups: specialist backup software,
compresses data
 Problem with CD’s/DVD’s: make sure it is clean
Lower speed, enough space
 Formatting and reformatting: Preparing disk to store
data. Most data are pre-formatted
 Disk scanning: Fix problems on hard drives
Check a drive for errors and bad sectors
 Disk defragmentation: the more the computer is used
the more the files get scattered on the disk
A utility that puts the parts of files back together
 Disk filling up(too little space) Disk clean-up
Temporary files downloaded from internet
Deleted files and folders from Recycle Bin
Deleted files that you are not using
12 PROCESSING
 Motherboard: It provides a way for all the other
components to communicate with each other
 CPU: does all the processing that takes place in the
computing device.
 RAM: is where the CPU goes to fetch the instructions
and data that is needs to work on
 ROM: holds the programs that control the basic
hardware of the computer and that are used to get the
computer ready for use when you switch it on
13 HOW THE COMPUTER STARTS ITSELF UP
 The computer boots itself when it starts up
1. The instructions in ROM sent the CPU to start
2. The boot program check the hardware for errors (RAM
3. Then it looks for the operating system on storage device

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COMPLETE THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS MODULE:

Module 1.3 Storage, memory and

processing
Written module activity
1. When someone asks you how much memory your computer has, are they referring to primary
or to secondary storage?
1. Primary storage
2. What are DIMMs?
2. RAM comes in ‘sticks’ called DIMMs (Dual Inline Memory Modules) that plug into the
motherboard.
3. Your father wrote down the following hardware specifications of a computer:

Intel® i7 Processor 2.3 GHz

Windows 10 Home
1 TB RAM
4096 MB Hard drive

(a) How many gigabytes (GB) does 4096 MB represent?

(a) Approximately 4 GB as 1 GB = 1024 (approximately 1000) MB
(b) Which specifications are obviously incorrect? Briefly motivate your answer.
(b) The hard drive and memory (RAM) specifications are probably swopped around by
mistake, as memory is usually measured in the low Gigabytes range (anything from 1 – 64
GB). Storage is measured in the mid-large (500 GB +) range of Gigabytes or low Terabytes
(TB).
(c) Why does one need so much less memory than storage? Motivate you answer by referring
to the different role that each of these performs in the functioning of a computer.
(c) Only programs and data that you want to work with are loaded into memory. Storage is
where a permanent record of our programs and data is kept (even when the computer is
switched off), so it has to be far bigger than memory.
4. Why do changes you are busy making to a Word document get lost if the power goes off, but
the actual program never gets affected? Surely the program and the document both need to be
loaded into memory for you to work on the document?
4. Yes, both need to be loaded into memory, but no changes are made to the program, as
opposed to the document. So, when the power goes off, the original program is still

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 (unchanged) on the disk, but the changes in the document that were not saved to disk are ‘lost’.
Memory is volatile – it only keeps its contents whilst it is supplied with power.
5. Why would a flash drive generally not be an ideal storage device for storing your movie
collection?
5. Digital movies use up a lot of storage space. So, while the capacities of flash drives are getting
bigger all the time, a flash drive would soon become full if several movies were stored on it.
Flash drives are best used to transfer files from one computer to another, not as your main
storage.
6. Consider the following specifications for a computer:

Intel® Core i3 550 3.20 GHz

750 GB HDD
Blu-ray DVD Writer
1 GB dedicated video graphics RAM
23" Multimedia Touch Screen with Integrated Webcam
Integrated WLAN 802.11b/g/n and LAN

Write
Adddown
a all the examples of storage listed in the specifications.
6. DVD Writer and 750 GB hard disk drive (HDD).
7. List three differences between memory and storage other than their function and typical size or
capacity.
7. Three differences between memory and storage:
 Memory is faster than storage.
 Memory is volatile (it only keeps its contents whilst it is supplied with power) and storage is
not.
 Memory is more expensive per GB than storage.
 Memory is electronic whereas storage can be optical (uses laser light, like CDs and DVDs),
magnetic (like hard drives) or electronic (like flash drives).
8. External hard drives have become a lot cheaper and are almost a ‘must-have’ for backing up the
large amounts of data stored on computers. They are often listed as 2.5" or 3.5".
(a) What kind of port does an external hard drive typically connect to?
(a) USB port
(b) What do the 2.5" or 3.5" specifications refer to?
(b) The size of the drive (in inches)
(c) What is the main advantage of a 2.5" drive over a 3.5" drive?
(c) 2.5" drives can get all the power they need from your USB port, whilst a 3.5" drive needs its
own power supply – which means there is something extra you have to carry around with
you.

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9. More and more people are using programs from the web directly and storing their data online
on internet servers.
(a) Briefly explain how online storage works.
(a) Online storage refers to disk space that is allocated to you on a server on the internet. You
can upload any data/programs you like into the storage space assigned to you.
(b) Give four advantages of online storage.
(b) Advantages of online storage include the following:
 Accessible from anywhere you have access to the internet, on any device.
 Changes are all in one place so all devices always have the latest version of the data.
 Backup and security are managed by the storage provider.
 Easy to share files with other people.
 Data is still accessible even if your computer ‘crashes’, or is stolen, etc.

(c) Give four disadvantages of online storage.

(c) Disadvantages of online storage include the following:
 Only accessible when you have an internet connection.
 Some data (especially large files) may be unusable over slow connections.
 You have to pay for the data storage and the bandwidth used to upload and download
the data.
 You have no control over backup and security.
 If the company goes bankrupt you may lose all your data.
(d) Give two examples of online storage facilities.
(d) Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and Microsoft’s OneDrive facility.
10. Your father has made backup copies of all his files, and saved them in a separate folder on the
same hard drive.
(a) Give two reasons why it is not a good idea to store the backups and the original files on the
same drive.
(a) If the drive gets damaged or the computer gets stolen, both the original and the backup
copies are lost.
The backup files can be accidentally deleted.
(b) Outline a better strategy to ensure the safety of the backups.
(b) Preferably store the backups in a different place from where you keep your computer
11. CDs and DVDs are no longer considered to be ideal for creating backups.
(a) Give two reasons why this is the case.
(a) Using a CD or DVD is much slower and less convenient than using a portable drive. CDs and
DVDs have less capacity than most flash drives and much less capacity than portable hard
drives.

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 (b) If a CD disc stores around 700 MB, and a DVD disc 4.7 GB, roughly how many CDs would it
take to store the same amount of data as a single DVD?
(b) 7 discs
(c) What do we mean by ’burning’ a CD?
(c) Writing data to a CD disc
(d) Give two types of portable storage media other than CDs and DVDs.
(d) Portable/external hard drives and flash drives
(e) Give two possible things you can try if you cannot write to a CD or DVD successfully.
(e) Try to write (burn) at a lower speed.
Make sure that you have enough storage space to create an image for the disc.
Try not to use your computer for any other task whilst burning the CD or DVD.
12. Explain why archiving files can free up disk space, while making backups of files will not, by
explaining the difference between these two concepts. Refer to suitable examples to explain
your answer.
12. Backups are made so that you have a copy or ‘duplicate’ of files in case something goes wrong
(a file is deleted or the current version is corrupt or overwritten, etc.). This is a process that can
be automated.
Archiving refers to storing files that are static (not going to be changed), usually onto a
secondary system such as a DVD. For example, you might make a PDF copy of all the financial
reports of your company from the last five years and store them on DVD as you are not likely to
reference them once you have completed your tax returns. In other words, archiving is a
‘manual’ process where you take files that are not going to change, or that are not likely to be
used in the near future, and move them off the main system to free up disk space.
13. Your mother’s hard drive at work is getting very full and her boss advised her to defragment her
disk every morning to free up disk space on the hard drive.
(a) Briefly explain what disk fragmentation is and why it can be a problem for a computer user.
(a) The more you use your computer (adding programs, creating, moving, deleting files), the
more the files (and parts of the files) get scattered on the disk. The more scattered the file
parts are, the slower your computer becomes. This is known as disk fragmentation.
(b) What should your mother use to defragment her hard drive, and where can she obtain
this?
(b) A disk defragmenter.
She could use the one supplied with her operating system (e.g. Windows), but it is possible
to buy or download more powerful versions of the software.
(c) Will defragmenting the hard drive free up disk space as suggested by your mother’s boss?
Motivate your answer by briefly outlining what disk defragmentation involves.
(c) No, disk defragmentation does not free up disk space. It simply rearranges the files’ parts
so they are quicker to load from the disk.

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 (d) Is it is necessary to defragment your hard drive every day?
(d) No, when you start the disk defragmenter utility, it will look at your disk and tell you what
percentage of the hard drive is fragmented and whether it needs to be defragmented.
14. Give three ways in which Disk Clean-up will help to free up space on a computer’s hard drive.
14. Temporary files created by Windows and downloaded from the internet can be removed.
The Recycle Bin can be emptied to reclaim disk space.
Components of Windows and other installed programs that you are not using or seldom use can
be uninstalled.
15. Your mother’s firm is giving away a motherboard with a quad core processor.
(a) Briefly explain what a motherboard is by referring to its function.
(a) The motherboard is a large circuit board that all the other components plug into. It
provides a way for all the other components to communicate with each other.
(b) Briefly explain the significance of ‘quad core’ in the description of the processor.
(b) This term indicates how many physical CPUs are on the chip – 4 in this case.
16. What is the function of ROM?
16. ROM holds the programs that control the basic hardware of the computer and are used to get
the computer ready for you to use when you switch it on.
17. Briefly describe what happens when a computer is switched on.
17. When the computer is switched on, the instructions in the ROM are sent to the CPU so it can
start the boot process.
The boot program then checks the hardware of the computer for errors.
If an error occurs here the computer will usually not start – instead it will tell you what the
problem is, either by beeping or by displaying an error message on the screen.
The boot program then looks for the program used for loading the operating system on the
specified storage device. The operating system is loaded.