memory protection

1 definition found

memory protection - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  memory protection
  
     <memory management> A system to prevent one process
     corrupting the memory (or other resources) of any other,
     including the operating system.  Memory protection usually
     relies on a combination of hardware (a memory management unit
     ) and software to allocate memory to processes and handle
     exceptions.
  
     The effectiveness of memory protection varies from one
     operating system to another.  In most versions of Unix it is
     almost impossible to corrupt another process' memory, except
     in some archaic implementations and Lunix (not Linux!).
     Under Microsoft Windows (version?  hardware?) any 16 bit application
     (?) can circumvent the memory protection, often
     leading to one or more GPFs.  Currently (April 1996) neither
     Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 95, nor Mac OS offer
     memory protection.  Windows NT has it, and Mac OS System 8
     will offer a form of memory protection.
  
     [MS DOS EMM386 relevant?]
  
     (1996-09-10)