parameter ram reset

Hello ,

What is lost (data) when resetting parameter ram ?
(preferences, passwords, network...)
Im afraid of doing this

Michel

Powermac 2 x G5, Mac OS X (10.4.5), MacBook Pro

Posted on May 6, 2006 11:26 AM

Reply
2 replies

May 6, 2006 11:39 AM in response to michel robbe

Contents of PRAM
Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below.

Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
Speaker volume
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache

Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM?
This document offers a general overview of what system information is stored in the parameter RAM (PRAM) by Mac OS X. For information about how PRAM affects Mac OS 9 or earlier's control panels and other settings, see this document.

PRAM stores certain system and device settings in a location that Mac OS X can access quickly. Exactly which settings are stored in the computer's PRAM varies depending on the type of computer as well as the types of devices and drives connected to the computer. Parameter RAM is a small area of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM).

Some information stored in PRAM includes:
Display and video settings such as refresh rate, screen resolution, number of colors
Time zone setting
Startup volume choice
Speaker volume
Recent kernel panic information, if any
DVD region setting

Note: Mac OS X stores your preselected DVD region choice in PRAM for easy access. Resetting PRAM does not allow you to change the DVD region.

Unlike prior versions of the Mac OS, Mac OS X does not store network settings in PRAM. If you experience a network issue, resetting PRAM will not help.

If PRAM is reset, you may need to verify your time zone, startup volume, and volume settings using System Preferences. Certain firmware updates may reset PRAM as a normal part of their installation process.

----- From the apple support webpage

Hope this helps

May 6, 2006 11:53 AM in response to Chillbob

just to add that nothing is realy lost just the settings that i posted above are reset to there default values i.e. to what they were when you got your computer, so infact you might not have changed many of them. Passwords for OSX are not stored and other improtant user info is not stored in the PRAM. so you shouldnt be afraid to reset it

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parameter ram reset

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