Scratch space on a hard drive is temporary storage used for backup and temporary files. It functions similarly to RAM and should be on a separate drive from the main drive to ensure adequate storage space.
Scratch space is usually disk storage on a hard drive that is used for temporary storage, especially when working in a program that may require a large amount of backup space. This region of a disk can then allow the storage of temporary files from the Internet or from a program in use. While it doesn’t function exactly like RAM (Random Access Memory), workspace can often provide similar benefits to a computer user. It’s usually best if it’s on a different drive than your computer’s main drive, however, to ensure that adequate storage space is available even as new programs and files are added.
The purpose of the working space on a computer hard drive is to provide the user of a system with additional memory when running applications. This is typically intended as temporary storage, just like a scratch off piece of paper is used for temporary work in the real world. A photographer who edits photographs on a computer, for example, may have them in the workspace on the computer while he is working on them. As images are saved, they are stored more permanently on your computer’s hard drive, although they may still remain in temporary storage.
In some ways, the workspace works similar to the RAM in a computer. RAM is memory used by programs and applications, which is not permanent and is cleared whenever power is lost to a computer. Likewise, the working space on a system is temporary, although it is on a hard drive and therefore doesn’t rely on power to keep data on it. Using this type of storage, RAM can be freed up on a system to focus primarily on other tasks, while the data is saved to the scratch disk.
On many systems, the working space may default to the same hard drive as the operating system (OS) and other programs. This can create problems, however, as additional files and software are downloaded for the operating system. The hard drive starts to fill up from these types of programs, which leaves less space on the drive for working space. Problems may arise as the computer is no longer able to use the workspace properly, due to saving other data. It is often best to save the scratch data to a second drive or to a disk region partitioned specifically for this purpose.
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