Skip to main content
fixed storage

fixed storage

4.9
Computer memory you can read but cannot change
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : almacenamiento fijo
  • The system automatically saves backup files to fixed storage, preventing accidental data loss.

Examples

  • Data stored in fixed storage cannot be altered, ensuring its integrity for long-term use.

  • Using this method, fixed-length sound or video clips can be played seamlessly from memory, or a running stream of data can be played from a source other than the transport, such as fixed storage.

    Academic text (1998)
  • In many devices, media files are often kept in fixed storage to facilitate quick access without modification.

Synonyms

ROM
vsfixed storage
  • Specialized
31 5.2

Memory in a computer you can read but not write that keeps information when power is off

focuses on preventable modification and does not assert power‑off retention
read-only memory
vsfixed storage
  • Specialized
1 4.4

A small computer chip that holds information you can use but cannot change

is framed to stress both user and system cannot alter the contents
read-only storage
vsfixed storage
  • Specialized
4.3

A part of a computer where information can be looked at but not changed

uses similar sense but emphasises inability to modify rather than storage label

How Writable

random-access memory
  • Specialized
3.8
compact disc write-once
  • Specialized
6.5
fixed storage
  • Specialized
4.9

Surface Forms

fixed storage singular

Morphology

fixed + storage

The idea of storage that is 'fixed' is partially derivable because learners who know 'fixed' (as permanent/unchangeable) and 'storage' (place for data) can infer a kind of non‑modifiable storage. However, 'fixed' also has a primarily physical sense ('attached so it cannot move') and the precise computing sense (read‑only, non‑writable memory) is technical, so the meaning is not fully predictable without domain context.

Etymology

Fixed storage comes from early computers where some memory chips were truly fixed in the machine's storage and could not be rewritten. Because those parts could only be 'read but not changed', the name came to mean memory you can read but not change.