How is a primary storage device different than a secondary one?

Answer by  HR55 (37)

Your primary storage device saves all of the files that you may deem the most important. More than likely all your files you download will automatically go to this storage device unless you choose to send it to the secondary. Some people may also do the complete opposite and keep their important stuff separate from the main drive.

Answer by  gyles19 (126)

The primary storage device is the device which contains the computer's operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac OSX, etc) and from which it boots when power is applied. Secondary storage devices are typically removable items such as USB sticks, floppy disks, CDRoms and DVDs, and so on.

Answer by  BigD103 (548)

Your primary storage device (if on an IDE controller) is located on the end slot on the ribbon cable, the secondary in the middle. Your primary storage device is ussally your boot drive (the drive your Operating System resides) while secondary is typically used for data storage.

Answer by  kseve (46)

A primary storage device is different in that it is usually your main hard drive, or where your operating system is installed. A secondary on the other hand would be a thumb drive or an external hard drive which is not always used or where your operating system isn't installed.