PC.net

PC.net Help Center

Answers to Your Personal Computing Questions

General Hardware Software Storage Display Laptop Internet Web Email

Today's Question:

What is the difference between memory and hard disk space?

Memory and disk space are two of the most widely-confused terms in the computing world. To understand how your computer works, you must first know the difference between memory and disk space. The hard disk, sometimes called the "hard drive" (which is actually the mechanism that holds the hard disk), is a spindle of magnetic discs that can hold several gigabytes of data. Therefore, disk space refers to how much space you have available on ... Read More

General

  1. How do I transfer an audio CD to an iPhone?
  2. Can I use a wired and wireless device on the same network?
  3. What is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit?
  4. What causes high CPU usage and how can I reduce it?
  5. What is the difference between a backslash and a forward slash?
  6. Can I import analog video into my computer?
  7. What does the "i" stand for in iMac, iPod, and other Apple products?
  8. What is the difference between portrait mode and landscape mode?
  9. How do I type a heart symbol with my keyboard?
  10. What does the phrase "System Analysis" mean?
  11. What does low-res and high-res mean?
  12. What does a bank refer to in computer terminology?
  13. Why are polygons used in 3D graphics?
  14. What is the difference between a fixed font and a proportional font?
  15. What does the term COM mean?
  16. How do I choose a good password?
  17. Why is there a DCIM folder on my memory card?
  18. Can someone spy on my computer?
  19. Should I turn off my computer or put it to sleep?
  20. Can someone hack into my computer if it is not connected to the Internet?
  21. What does the "NT" stand for in Windows NT?
  22. Where is the backslash key located on my keyboard?
  23. What is the difference between functional and technical obsolescence?
  24. What is the difference between bits and bytes?
  25. What are kibibytes, mebibytes, and gibibytes?
  26. Which takes up more disk space - images or text?
  27. How many pages of text will one megabyte hold?
  28. Can I network a Macintosh and Windows PC together?
  29. What are some of the main reasons why my computer is slowing down?
  30. What is the difference between Bluetooth and Infrared technology?
  31. What is the difference between Hibernate and Standby in Windows XP?
  32. When should I turn off my computer and when should I put it to sleep?
  33. What are kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes?
  34. What does a server do?
  35. What is the difference between a PDF and a JPEG file?
  36. What is the difference between analog and digital technology?
  37. Is it possible to convert a raster graphic into a vector graphic?
  38. What is the difference between vector and raster graphics?
  39. Which is faster – Kbps or Mbps?
  40. Any advice on buying a new computer?
  41. Why are there 1024 bytes in a kilobyte?
  42. What is Copy and Paste and how does it work?

Hardware

  1. How do I play a CD/DVD without an optical drive?
  2. Will adding more RAM make my computer faster?
  3. How important is a backlit keyboard?
  4. What is the safe operating temperature range for a computer?
  5. What is the hidden SSID of my Wi-Fi router?
  6. How do I play or burn a CD/DVD if my computer doesn't have a CD/DVD drive?
  7. What is my router password?
  8. Do I need a data plan for a tablet?
  9. What is the difference between DVD and USB?
  10. Can I upgrade my computer's CPU from an i3 to an i5 processor?
  11. Where is the return key on my keyboard?
  12. How can I tell if my modem has a built-in wireless router?
  13. What is the difference between a switch and a router?
  14. How close should I put two computer towers next to each other?
  15. What key do I press to enter the BIOS at startup?
  16. What is the difference between a router and a modem?
  17. Why is my computer's USB connection slow?
  18. Should I get the Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad?
  19. How do I know if my computer has a high-speed port?
  20. What is the difference between an integrated and a non-integrated system board?
  21. Can I use different keyboards with my computer?
  22. What does POST mean in reference to a computer's boot process?
  23. Can I change my computer's MAC address?
  24. What is the difference between SDRAM and VRAM?
  25. Why does my cable appear to be missing pins?
  26. What are primary and secondary storage devices?
  27. What do the terms Mk2 and Mk3 mean?
  28. How do I check how much memory my computer has?
  29. Why won't my computer boot up after I installed new memory?
  30. What does it mean to "power cycle" a device?
  31. How can I tell if my CD/DVD drive burns CDs or DVDs?
  32. What is the difference between the DVD-R and DVD+R formats?
  33. What is the difference between Firewire 1394a and 1394b?
  34. How can I print to a printer connected to an Airport Base Station?
  35. How can I tell if a memory module is ECC parity RAM or non-ECC non-parity RAM?
  36. Can I replace non-ECC memory with ECC memory?
  37. What are some examples of computer peripheral devices?
  38. How do find out how much RAM my computer has and how much it is using?
  39. How can I upgrade my computer to USB 2.0?
  40. Can I use a generic v.92 modem from Wal-Mart in my Dell computer?
  41. What is the difference between physical memory and available memory?
  42. What is the difference between memory and hard disk space?
  43. What do I need in order to burn my own CDs?
  44. What is the difference between an AGP and a PCI graphics card?
  45. Will a USB 1.0 or 1.1 device work with my computer that only has USB 2.0 ports?
  46. What are the Alt (Option) and Control (Ctrl) keys for?
  47. Can I fax a document without a fax machine?
  48. What does it mean when a computer is "low on resources?"
  49. What is the difference between burning and ripping?
  50. Can I put my computer (tower) on its side, or does it need to stand up?
  51. Why is my mouse jumpy?
  52. Is it possible to increase the number of available PCI slots on my computer?
  53. What is the difference between AGP and PCI graphics cards?
  54. Why won't my scanner work?
  55. Why do videos run slow on my computer?
  56. What is the difference between the AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium processors?
  57. What does scalable mean, in reference to a computer?

Software

  1. Can I open Office documents without Microsoft Office?
  2. Why do I receive error code 0 when copying files in macOS?
  3. How do I create a sleep shortcut in macOS with a third-party keyboard?
  4. What is the difference between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 S?
  5. How do I take a screenshot of a window in macOS without a shadow?
  6. How do I fix the Java command-line error in macOS Sierra?
  7. Where did the disk space on my Mac go?
  8. What is a Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable package?
  9. How do I install or upgrade an operating system without a CD or DVD drive?
  10. How do I force an iCloud folder to refresh in OS X?
  11. How do I create a PDF document in Mac OS X?
  12. How do I fix DPC Watchdog Violation errors in Windows 8?
  13. How do I access and edit the Windows registry?
  14. Why do some software programs come in 1 PC and 3 PC editions?
  15. How can I reduce the file size of an image file?
  16. How do I permanently remove files from my computer?
  17. What file format should I use when scanning documents?
  18. How do I share a printer with multiple computers?
  19. What is the difference between runtime and compile time?
  20. Why is my iPhone not showing up in iTunes?
  21. How do I view my system properties in Windows 7?
  22. How do I log in to Mac OS X if I forgot the administrator password?
  23. What are examples of window elements?
  24. What is the difference between threads and processes?
  25. What is the Ruler option in Microsoft Word?
  26. What is an insertion point?
  27. What does it mean to perform a local install?
  28. What does Paste Special mean?
  29. What is a distro?
  30. Why do I get #REF! errors in my spreadsheet program?
  31. What are primitive and non-primitive data types?
  32. What are apps?
  33. What is the difference between a .LOG file and a .TXT file?
  34. What is a PUP file?
  35. What is a boot screen and how do I change it?
  36. What is a zero-byte file?
  37. What does it mean to mount or unmount a disk image?
  38. What does it mean when a file's startup location is LM Run?
  39. What is an RTE file?
  40. What is the difference between canvas size and image size?
  41. What are the function keys at the top of my keyboard for?
  42. How can I tell if my hard disk is formatted as FAT32 or NTFS?
  43. How do I copy an audio CD to a blank CD using iTunes?
  44. Which audio file format is best for storing lots of music with high-quality sound?
  45. What is the difference between a startup disk and a bootable disk?
  46. What does software programming involve?
  47. What is the difference between Notepad and WordPad?
  48. What is Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger?
  49. What are Windows .cab files used for?
  50. Why does a program say it requires more memory even though I have enough disk space?
  51. Do I need a credit card to use iTunes?
  52. Can I install Microsoft Works and Microsoft Word on the same computer?
  53. How can I prevent others from taking data off my computer?
  54. How do I share files between two computers?
  55. What does Adobe Reader do?
  56. How do I start my Windows computer in Safe Mode?
  57. What is the "Desktop" and how can I customize it?
  58. What does a "Clean Install" mean when upgrading to Mac OS X?
  59. What is the best program to prevent or remove spyware from my computer?
  60. What are the differences between PICT, TIFF, and JPEG images?
  61. What is a system.ini file?
  62. What is the difference between a file and a folder?
  63. What are bullets and when do you use them?
  64. What does "double spacing" mean?
  65. What is the difference between Save and Save As?
  66. What is an "application?"
  67. How do I take a screen shot of the current window on my computer?
  68. Why does my computer's clock lose several minutes each day?
  69. How do I open a DLL file?
  70. How do you open a ZIP (.zip) file?
  71. How do I change the "read-only" attribute of a file in Windows 98?
  72. What is a tree pane and a content pane?
  73. What is the purpose of a device driver?
  74. What is the advantage of using a wizard to create a new document or project?

Storage

  1. Should I defrag my SSD?
  2. Why can't I use all the space on my storage device?
  3. What does "bits per die" mean?
  4. How do I transfer my files to a new computer?
  5. What should I do if my hard drive is going bad?
  6. How do I copy my primary hard drive to a new hard drive?
  7. What does "internal storage" mean?
  8. What is a C drive?
  9. How long does it take to complete a 7-pass erase on a hard disk?
  10. What is the difference between "recover" and "restore?"
  11. Can I use my internal hard drive as an external hard drive?
  12. Will adding more RAM give my computer more free space?
  13. Can I transfer a program like Print Shop that is on many CDs to a single DVD?
  14. What is the difference between a USB hard drive and a USB flash drive?
  15. How can I free up space on my hard disk?
  16. How do I open files from a USB flash drive?
  17. How can I make sure everything is deleted off my hard drive before I sell my computer?
  18. How do I know if the blank CDs & DVDs I buy are rewritable?
  19. Is it possible to recover files off a disk that has been reformatted or initialized?
  20. What does it mean to reformat a hard drive?
  21. What is a lost cluster?
  22. What does it mean to defragment a hard disk?
  23. Are Zip disks more reliable than 3.5" diskettes (floppy disks)?
  24. Why does my hard drive make a lot of noise?
  25. Why does my hard drive spit and shutter so much even after I defragmented it?
  26. What would I want to partition my hard drive?
  27. Can I still start my computer if my hard drive fails?
  28. Why won't my new IDE hard drive work after I just installed it?
  29. What is the difference between a double density (DD) diskette, and a high density (HD) diskette?

Display

  1. How do I connect a mobile device to my TV?
  2. Why can't I connect my laptop to a TV using a VGA cable?
  3. How do I connect my laptop to an HDTV?
  4. What does "OSD Locked" mean?
  5. Why is monitor's screen blank when I start up my computer?
  6. I changed my monitor's color settings and can't see anything now. What should I do?
  7. How can I connect my computer to a TV or television screen?
  8. Why is my monitor's screen smaller than advertised?
  9. Why does a 20" flat screen display have a larger screen than a 20" CRT monitor?
  10. Can I hook up two computers to one display or monitor?
  11. If I hook up two monitors to my computer, can two people work on the system at the same time?
  12. Why is the picture on my monitor fuzzy?
  13. How many monitors can I hook up to my desktop computer?
  14. Why does my monitor display a "Sync. Out of Range" error message?

Laptop

  1. Why does my Wi-Fi signal keep dropping in my home?
  2. Why does my laptop fan turn on?
  3. Do I need a cooling pad for my high-end laptop?
  4. Should I get a Chromebook or a laptop?
  5. Why does my laptop freeze when playing a video game?
  6. Why has my laptop gotten slower?
  7. What laptop should I buy for Christmas 2017?
  8. Can I upgrade the video card in my laptop?
  9. Why does my laptop turn off when I unplug it?
  10. How do I change the battery charging threshold on my laptop?
  11. Can I add a TV tuner to my laptop?
  12. What should I look for when buying a laptop?
  13. Which should I do if my laptop was left in the cold?
  14. How do I hook up an external display to my Windows laptop?
  15. How can I connect my laptop to my desktop so I can transfer files?
  16. What is an Integrated Wireless Connection?
  17. Does a laptop use a normal video card or is it just onboard?
  18. How many external monitors can I hook up at the same time to my laptop?
  19. What is the most common type of expansion slot found in laptop computers?

Internet

  1. What is the difference between the Xfinity XB7-T and XB8-T routers?
  2. How do I get Internet speeds over 1 Gbps?
  3. How do I activate Multi-Gig Internet with Ethernet port aggregation?
  4. Will minimizing or hiding my browser window affect my download speed?
  5. What does the letter "L" mean in an email message?
  6. Why do I get a 400 error when visiting a website?
  7. Why can't I access the Internet when I have a Wi-Fi connection?
  8. What is an HTTP 503 error?
  9. Why do videos skip when I watch them online?
  10. What does "URL expired" mean?
  11. Why do other people have the same IP address as me?
  12. How do I clear my history and other saved data from my web browser?
  13. Why is my Internet connection slower than the maximum speed of my modem?
  14. How do I publish photo descriptions on Facebook using iPhoto?
  15. Why do I need to specify port numbers in my Internet applications?
  16. How do I set up a wireless Internet connection?
  17. What is the difference between upstream and downstream traffic?
  18. What are phishing and pharming and how are they different?
  19. How do I insert emoticons in Instant Messenger and online discussion boards?
  20. What does Windows XP ICS/ICF status mean?
  21. Can my Xbox and computer use the same Internet connection?
  22. What are ten things the Internet cannot help me with?
  23. What does ".com" stand for in domain names?
  24. Which is better or faster - a Cable or DSL modem?
  25. What's the difference between email, online chat, and instant messaging?
  26. Can I use the same Internet service on two different computers?
  27. What are computer viruses and how can I protect myself from them?
  28. What is the purpose of a Web host and why would I need one?
  29. What kind of files can be downloaded using FTP?

Web

  1. How do I disable my browser's pop-up blocker?
  2. Why won't Java applets run in my Web browser?
  3. What are environment variables used by Web servers?
  4. How do I remove a subdomain that does not show up in cPanel?
  5. What does it mean to "stuff the site?"
  6. What are static and dynamic Web pages?
  7. What are Microsoft Security Zones?
  8. What are some search strategies I can use to refine my Web searches?
  9. What does &nbsp mean?
  10. How can I find someone's street address using Google?
  11. How do I delete addresses that appear below the address field in my Web browser?
  12. How do I copy and paste a Web address into my Web browser?
  13. How can I stop pop-up windows from appearing when I am browsing the Web?
  14. What are the Web standards CSS and XHTML?
  15. What is the importance of a domain name and what is a good domain name?
  16. What is the difference between a PHP and HTML Web page?
  17. How often should I empty my Temporary Internet Cache?
  18. Should I have cookies turned on or off in my web browser?
  19. Why won't Java applets run in my browser?
  20. What is a .cc (dot cc) domain?
  21. What is the purpose of a web portal?

Email

  1. What is the difference between "email" and "email account?"
  2. Why does Apple Mail hang in OS X 10.10 Yosemite?
  3. Why do question marks show up in my emails?
  4. Why won't some links open in email messages?
  5. Is it possible to read my email on another computer besides my own?
  6. What does "J" mean in e-mail messages?
  7. How do I delete thousands of e-mail messages with cPanel or Horde's webmail interface?
  8. What is a "Global Inbox" and how is it used?
  9. Is there a term for a "forgotten attachment?"
  10. How do I keep my e-mail inbox under control?
  11. What does &mdash mean?
  12. How do I send a Microsoft Word document to someone who does not have Word on their computer?
  13. Can I attach more than one document to an e-mail message?
  14. What is the difference between sending email messages in TEXT mode or in HTML?
  15. How do I open an e-mail attachment that ends in .mim?
  16. Why won't my e-mail attachment get sent?

Submit Your Question

space