ISP Glossary Find an ISP Term

Search ISP Sites

Search: Search internet.com

ISP Resources ISP-Lists ISP Glossary ISP News CLEC-Planet The List ISPCON Free Newsletter IT Developer Internet News Small Business Personal Technology Search internet.com Advertise Corporate Info Newsletters Tech Jobs E-mail Offers internet.commerce Be a Commerce Partner

Search for an ISP term
by a keyword...	...or by category. choose one... Communications Computer Industry Companies Computer Science Data Graphics Hardware Internet and Online Services Mobile Computing Multimedia Networks Operating Systems Programming Software Standards Types of Computers World Wide Web

ROM Last modified: Friday, February 08, 2002
Pronounced rahm, acronym for read-only memory, computer memory on which data has been prerecorded. Once data has been written onto a ROM chip, it cannot be removed and can only be read. Unlike main memory (RAM), ROM retains its contents even when the computer is turned off. ROM is referred to as being nonvolatile, whereas RAM is volatile. Most personal computers contain a small amount of ROM that stores critical programs such as the program that boots the computer. In addition, ROMs are used extensively in calculators and peripheral devices such as laser printers, whose fonts are often stored in ROMs. A variation of a ROM is a PROM (programmable read-only memory). PROMs are manufactured as blank chips on which data can be written with a special device called a PROM programmer .
Memory Technology Types Describes the main types of memory used in PCs (ROM, RAM, SRAM, and DRAM) and how they differ from each other. This page is from "The PC Guide".	Related Categories Memory Related Terms BIOS boot EEPROM firmware FRAM memory PROM RAM