Memory Versus Storage

Reading a file from the Hard Drive ( or floppy or just typing in information ) places the information into RAM (Random Access Memory). The monitor is a window you use to look at the data. The monitor can only display a part of the data. As you scroll up and down, different parts of the data come into view. As lines scroll off the top or bottom of the "window", they are not lost. The information remains where it was in ram.

The original content of the file on the hard drive IS NOT CHANGED until you "save" the file you are working on. This has the following implications:

1. If you decide that you do not like the changes you have made, just don't re-save it. You can start over by re-reading ( or re-opening ) the file.

2. If power is lost, or the computer "crashes", the changes you have made since the last time you performed a "save" will be lost.

3. To prevent lost data, remember to SAVE OFTEN!!!

A file has 2 attributes:

1. It has a name.
2. It resides in some sort of storage.