A HARD DISC DRIVE (HDD) holds all your WINDOWS files, all your programs, all your data email, photos, letters, etc. 

Usually you will see this named as Local Drive C: in Windows Explorer or if you click on Start>My Computer; but you can rename it to whatever you want with a limit if 8 characters (including spaces)

It is measured in GIGABYTES (Gb).  1Gb = One thousand MEGABYTES (Mb)

Most users in Golden Shores will have 40 Gb to 250 Gb

You can see how much space you have used by right clicking on the HDD icon in Windows Explorer and choosing Properties.

It is purely a data storage medium just like a floppy disc, CD, DVD or Flash drive.

Contents of the HDD are swapped into the RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) as needed.  RAM is where the processing is done.

Until recently the amount of RAM in most computers was commonly only 256Mb, now with prices having dropped – most users are getting 1Gb or 2Gb.

The more RAM available, the less time is wasted swapping elements of WINDOWS or data from the HDD into the working area (RAM).

Although these actions take place incredibly fast, the less they are needed the faster things will happen – like opening or installing a program, installing updates, etc.

WINDOWS is the OPERATING SYSTEM which controls EVERYTHING. Because WINDOWS takes up a great deal of space, the more elements of it which can be held in RAM the better.

To check your amount of RAM, use the WINDOWS key + PAUSE/BREAK key

This will also show you the speed of your processor in GigaHertz (GHz) – on older computers above 1.8GHz is OK but the faster the better – top might be 3.2GHz.  Newer ones have got dual processors which run a bit slower to reduce heat output.