Answer: The permanent memory built into your computer is called ROM. It stands for Read-Only Memory, and it stores the programming code that carries out the instructions of the programs you use on your computer.

Most people usually refer to it as “permanent” memory because when the power is turned off, the information stored therein is not lost when it’s turned back on again–as happens with RAM…But even ROM doesn’t last forever. The data stored on any ROM chip must be ‘pumped back out’ onto magnetic or optical media periodically, lest it become corrupted or erased.”