1. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Topic 3 Software System Software (2) Utility Software

2. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Activity 1 Questions to discuss: What are the 5 main functions of an operating system?

3. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance What is Utility Software? Modern operating systems include a range of programs that perform a collection of useful functions: -Keep your system secure -Keep your storage disks organised -Maintain the system These programs are called utilities. We shall now take a look at some of these. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

4. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Security Utilities There are three main utilities that work to keep the computer system secure. They are: Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating). Security Utilities Anti-Virus Software Anti-Spyware Software Firewalls

5. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Anti-Virus Software Viruses are small programs which aim to cause harm to a computer system. They often get confused with spyware (which simply spy’s on users, recording key strokes etc. but do not aim to harm the system – just the user). The main types are: Email Virus Executed when attachment is opened – often used to control your email client and forward itself to your address book. Worms These try to replicate themselves, slowing down your computer making it useless. Trojan Virus These are often programs (such as a game) which you can use. But in the background they will cause harm, like deleting your files. Anti-virus software is dedicated to finding and destroying these files. These have to be up-to-date for them to be effective. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

6. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Anti-Spyware Software Spyware’s aim is to spy on the user and send back as much information about them as possible (passwords, usernames, websites they visit, purchases they have made). A common piece of spyware is a key logger. It quietly runs in the background recording every key you hit. If you type in the same set of characters, regularly, this could be identified as your password. The reason for collecting this data is so that ‘senders’ of the spyware can use this information to steal your identification or sell your information to third parties who will then target you with advertisements. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

7. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Firewalls When files are sent across the internet, they are broken down into small packets of data. The part of the computer which receives these packets is made up of 256 ports (you can think of these ports like a country’s ports, which manage people in and out of the country) A firewall monitors the data which flows through the ports. They also keep ports closed and open only those that they expect data to be sent to. For example, incoming emails are usually sent to port 110. Having ports closed protects the computer from hackers, plus its continual monitoring will help detect hacker activity. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

8. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Disk Organisation Utilities There are three main utilities that work to keep the computer disks organised. They are: Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating). Disk Organisation Utilities Formatting Software File Transfer Software Defragmentation Software

9. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Formatting Software Formatting prepares the storage device for data storage. It creates sectors and tracks on which data can be stored. It also creates a special list called the File Allocation Table (FAT). The FAT is used to keep track of where data is located. Each time you write a new file to your hard disk, the table is updated with where the data is stored. Have you ever heard of the police recovering data on a ‘wiped hard disk’? How is this possible? When you format your hard disk, you don’t actually delete the data on the disk, you simply delete the FAT. The computer can no longer locate any data and thinks it is empty. But in fact the data remains. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

10. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance File Transfer Software File transfer software enables data to be stored on the disk. It does this by looking at the FAT and locating areas (sectors/clusters) which are free of data. Then it physically writes the data into that location on the disk. It also enables data to be moved or copied from folder to folder in your own personal organised file system. When you actually move a file however, the data isn’t actually being rewritten in another location on the disk itself (it isn’t physically moved). Instead the FAT is updated with the new folder structure location. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

11. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance Defragmentation Software As already said, when the disk is formatted, sectors are created to store data. But, these sectors are only 512 bytes in size (tiny!). This means that a file is not stored ‘as one’ on a hard disk. It is instead stored in 512 bytes sized ‘building blocks’. Over time, these ‘building blocks’ get fragmented over the hard disk. This means that reading a file takes longer as the hard drive needs to be searched in multiple places instead of one area. To help improve read speeds, defragmentation software searches the disk for related data items and reorganises them so they become positioned physically next to one another. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

12. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance System Maintenance Utilities There are several utilities that work to keep the computer system maintained. They main ones are: Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating). System Maintenance Utilities System Information and Diagnosis Software System Clean-Up Tools Automatic Updates Software

13. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance System Information and Diagnosis Software Most operating systems will come with an information and diagnostic tool. These will look at various aspects of the computer and monitor their performance. They will look at how well data is being read / written to disk and how well the processor is running. They will then offer solutions. E.G: If the disk read/write speed is slow, the software may suggest you run a disk defragmentation utility. If the processor is working overtime, if may look at the background processes and suggest that the unnecessary ones are stopped and prevented from starting in the first place. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).

14. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance System Clean-Up Tools These tools are designed to delete unwanted and unnecessary files. One job that they do is cleaning up the ‘registry’. Each time you install an application on a windows PC, the application registers itself on the ‘registry’ (a big database to record all installed programs). Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating). When they register themselves they also add lots of configuration files and as more programs get installed the ‘registry’ gets larger and larger. Programs have to read their configuration files when they load, so if the database is too large a program can take a long time to load. Registry clean up tools maintain the registry to allow programs to load quickly.

15. GCSE Computing: A451 Computer Systems & Programming www.computerscienceuk.com Computer Systems and their Importance ‘Automatic Updates’ Software All programs will contain bugs. Over time, users find these bugs and report them back to the programmers. Programmers will therefore be continually writing ‘updates’ that can be installed to patch up / fix the bugs. Also, as viruses are developed, programs and operating systems need to protect themselves against new threats. Security updates can help programs shield themselves from threats. Automatic Updates software is deigned to regularly check for these new updates from the manufacturer and automatically download and install them. Learning Objectives: (b)Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for computer security (anti-virus, spyware protection and firewalls), disk organisation (formatting, file transfer and defragmentation), and system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system clean-up tools, automatic updating).