Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
The hard disk drive, also known as a hard drive, functions in a similar fashion to a filing cabinet, as it permanently stores all your documents, photographs, music, as well as your operating system (such as Microsoft Windows) and installed software (such as Microsoft Word).
When you launch an application like Microsoft Word, the software is retrieved from the hard disk and loaded into the computer’s main memory, or RAM. This allows you to access and work on your documents.
These drives are called internal drives as they live inside the computer’s case. The drive must first be formatted by the Operating System before it can store data. PCs use 3.5” drives, while laptops use smaller 2.5” drives.
Hard disks typically have ...
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