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MemTest86 and Memtest86+ are memory test software programs designed to test and stress test an x86 architecture computer's random-access memory (RAM) for errors, by writing test patterns to most memory addresses, reading back the data, and comparing for errors. [ 5] Each tries to verify that the RAM will accept and correctly retain arbitrary ...
The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer 's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between different processes. [ 1] It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident in memory [ 2] and ...
Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs, for immediate use in the computer. [ 2] The term memory is often synonymous with the terms RAM, main memory, or primary storage. Archaic synonyms for main memory include core (for magnetic core memory) and store. [ 3]
Computer memory and computer data storage types. A programmable read-only memory ( PROM) is a form of digital memory where the contents can be changed once after manufacture of the device. The data is then permanent and cannot be changed. It is one type of read-only memory (ROM). PROMs are used in digital electronic devices to store permanent ...
Likewise, every non-trivial computer needs some form of mutable memory to record changes in its state as it executes. Forms of read-only memory were employed as non-volatile storage for programs in most early stored-program computers, such as ENIAC after 1948. (Until then it was not a stored-program computer as every program had to be manually ...
Software can "partition" a portion of a computer's RAM, allowing it to act as a much faster hard drive that is called a RAM disk. A RAM disk loses the stored data when the computer is shut down, unless memory is arranged to have a standby battery source, or changes to the RAM disk are written out to a nonvolatile disk.
Memory management is a form of resource management applied to computer memory. The essential requirement of memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and free it for reuse when no longer needed. This is critical to any advanced computer system where more than a single process ...
A memory model allows a compiler to perform many important optimizations. Compiler optimizations like loop fusion move statements in the program, which can influence the order of read and write operations of potentially shared variables. Changes in the ordering of reads and writes can cause race conditions. Without a memory model, a compiler is ...