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Bits of this and that from my life as Apta Consulting.
About Me
- Apta
- In 1986 I was smitten by the Macintosh computer and I have had a love affair with this system ever since. It was only natural that I became a Mac consultant once friends started asking for help back in 1998 when Apta Consulting was born.
2 comments:
Hi Apta,
Sometimes I need help with my mac. I will be reading.
Tomorrow I have to take my laptop to the genious bar because I don't have free memory anymore. Oh well. I am learning
Hola Aurora,
I'm glad you're learning. Computer technology has a language. Without knowing the terminology it's difficult to communicate. "Memory", for example, has a specific meaning. "Storage" has a meaning different from memory. Most people confuse the two and don't know exactly what to do when one of them "runs out".
Storage refers to passively stored data that resides on hard disks, CDs, flash drives, etc. Storage holds your applications and data even with the computer turned off.
Memory refers to where actively stored data such as launched applications is kept. If the computer is turned off, memory becomes unavailable and the launched applications disappear. Memory is sold as RAM (rapid access memory) chips of capacities of a few gigabytes (GB). Accessing RAM is much faster than accessing a hard drive.
The more RAM your computer has, the more applications can be running simultaneously. If you run out of RAM, applications have to be temporarily swapped out to a hard drive. When you wish to use that application again, you'll have to wait while the system retrieves it from the relatively slow hard drive.
Storage, on the other hand, has capacities in the hundreds of gigabytes. The more photos, music, and documents you have the more storage capacity you need. That's probably what happened in your case. If you run out of storage, you need to replace your hard disk with a larger capacity one or else add external drives.
Fortunately MacBooks have very easy access to the hard drive as well as to the memory chips. Both can be upgraded by simply removing a couple of screws in the battery bay. The whole procedure takes but a couple of minutes The older Powerbooks, on the other hand, require removal of dozens of tiny screws and prying the case open and can often take over an hour. It's my least favorite job with Macs!
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