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GCSE Computer Science · key term
An area of secondary storage used as an extension of RAM when there is insufficient space in RAM.
Used by OCR
Paper 1
Revise: Virtual MemoryVirtual memory is an area of secondary storage, such as an SSD or hard disk, used as an extension of RAM. It allows the computer to keep operating when there is not enough space in RAM. It does not add physical RAM: it provides somewhere else to hold programs and data temporarily.
For how virtual memory works, describe both directions: unused data moves from RAM to secondary storage, and needed data moves back into RAM.
Link the use of virtual memory to RAM being full, not to secondary storage being full.
Explain slower performance through slower secondary-storage access and the time spent transferring data; virtual memory does not increase the amount of physical RAM.
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