OSXFAQ Mac OS X Tip-of-the-Day 
What is PRAM? And why does it matter in OS X
By Scott Sheppard - Editor-in-Chief - OSXFAQ
Brought to you by Inside Mac Radio - http://www.osxfaq.com/radio/
Today I am going to give you the low down on what's going on with the
PRAM in Mac OS X and what information is stored in it.
Ok PRAM is an acronym for Parameter Random Access Memory. This is where
your Mac stores certain system and device settings in a location that
Mac OS X can access quickly when you boot up your Mac. As its name
implies the information is stored in RAM that is powered by your PRAM
battery on your Mac's logic board. Some Mac's use nonvolatile RAM
(NVRAM)
PRAM is similar in function to CMOS settings on a PC.
The settings are stored in you Mac's PRAM will vary depending on what
kind of Mac you have. It will also vary depending on what type of
devices and hard drives that are connected your Mac.
Here is some of the information that is stored in your Mac's PRAM
Startup Disk settings
Time zone settings
DVD region setting
Startup volume settings
Speaker volume settings
Recent kernel panic information
New to Mac OS X, the PRAM does not store display or network settings. If
you are experiencing video or network problems, resetting PRAM will not
help you.
When the PRAM is reset, you should verify your time zone settings,
startup volume settings, and volume settings using the Mac OS X System
Preferences application.
To learn how to reset your PRAM go check out these Apple Documents
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM on iMac, iBook, and Power Mac computers
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Resetting PRAM on PowerBook computers
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
I hope this sheds some light on PRAM and what it does (or does not do)
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