# What your computer is doing right now

> **What you will learn**
> This part is for readers **without a technical background.** From here on the
> manual uses these words without explaining them. This first chapter is the
> floor — what is actually happening inside the machine.

## Why this part exists

The earlier parts covered **what and why.** From here it is **how**, and that is
where unexplained words start arriving.

```
"Install Node.js LTS"
"Open localhost:27777"
"Attach it with a read-only account"
"Issue an API key and put it in the header"
```

**After this part those four lines read plainly.** Not so you can write
software, but so you can read the rest of the manual without stopping and talk
to your IT people in the same words.

## Three things to tell apart

| Part | What it does | Analogy |
|---|---|---|
| **Storage** (disk, SSD) | survives power off | filing cabinet |
| **Memory** (RAM) | what is open right now | the desk |
| **CPU** | does the actual work | the person working |

```mermaid
graph TD
  A["Storage — survives power off<br/>files, programs"] -->|"opening spreads it out"| B["Memory — cleared on power off<br/>what is open now"]
  B -->|"hands over the maths"| C["CPU — does the work"]
  C -->|"result back"| B
  B -->|"only if you save"| A
```

**The bottom arrow is the point.** What sits in memory has to pass through save
to survive. Pull the power and the desk is swept; only the cabinet remains.

## A program and a process are not the same

They look alike, and mixing them up makes the rest of the manual confusing.

| | Program | Process |
|---|---|---|
| What | what is **installed** | what is **running** |
| Where | storage | memory |
| How many | one | possibly several |

Install Chrome once, open three windows: **one program, several processes.**
When the `hyperteams` command says it is already running, it means the process.

## Why "restart it" genuinely works

It sounds like a brush-off, but there is a reason. A restart **wipes memory
entirely.** Tangled state, half-open connections, files held by mistake — all
gone at once.

```
✓ Fixed by a restart      → state accumulated in memory ("it was fine yesterday")
✗ Survives a restart      → settings written to storage, a bad file
```

**If two restarts change nothing, memory is not the cause.** From the third
attempt, look at configuration. That one distinction saves a lot of flailing.

## Things that keep running after you close the window

Start a program in a terminal and it usually **hangs off that window.** Close
the window and it dies with it. Programs that need to outlive the window offer a
separate way to start.

```bash
hyperteams                      # tied to this terminal — closing it stops the program
hyperteams start --background   # detached — keeps running
```

That is what `--background` in the [command reference](/guide/ht-cli) means, and
the same structure is why [the terminal](/guide/ht-terminal) stays alive after
you close the browser tab.

> **The computer itself still has to be on.** Background detaches from the
> *window*, not from the *machine*. Close a laptop lid and the CPU stops, so
> scheduled runs stop with it.

## Sleep is not shutdown

| State | Memory | Running programs |
|---|---|---|
| **On** | kept | running |
| **Sleep** | kept | **stopped** |
| **Shut down** | cleared | gone |

Sleep keeps everything in place, so on waking it looks like nothing happened.
**But nothing ran while it slept.** If a machine is meant to work overnight,
turn sleep off.

## Common misconceptions

### "It says memory is full — should I free up disk space?"

**Different things.** Disk is the cabinet, memory is the desk. Emptying the
cabinet does not clear the desk. Close programs, or restart.

### "I closed the program but it still shows as running"

Closing a window and ending a process are different. Anything started in the
background survives the window and needs an explicit stop
(`hyperteams stop`).

---

## Check yourself

**1. What is the difference between storage and memory?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**Whether it survives power off.** Storage (the cabinet) does; memory (the
desk) is cleared. That is why saving matters.
</details>

**2. What kind of problem does a restart fix?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**State accumulated in memory** — tangled state, half-open connections. If two
restarts change nothing, look at settings on disk instead.
</details>

**3. Does a background process keep working when you close the laptop lid?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**No.** Background detaches from the terminal window, not the machine. Sleep
stops the CPU, so scheduled work stops too.
</details>

---

Next, inside that cabinet → [Files, folders, paths](/guide/it-files)