Chapter 1.5.

2 System Software

Utility software
Utility software

Utility software is a type of system software which has a very specific task to
perform related to the working of the computer, for example anti virus
software, disk defragment etc.

Utility software should not be confused with application software, which

allows users to do things like creating text documents, playing games,
listening to music or surfing the web.

Rather than providing these kinds of user-oriented or output-oriented

functionality, utility software usually focuses on how the computer
infrastructure (including the computer hardware, operating system,
application software and data storage) operates.

Due to this focus, utilities are often rather technical and targeted at people
with an advanced level of computer knowledge.
Utility software

Examples of utility software include:

• Virus scanner - to protect your system from trojans and viruses

• Disk defragmenter - to speed up your hard disk

• System monitor - to look at your current system resources

• File managers - to add, delete, rename and move files and folders
Utility software

Definition : Software that are used by users to carry out common

task.
Utility software

 Disk Utilities
 Data Utilities/ File Handling
 Hardware Drivers
 File Compression
 Security
 Management Utilities
Disk Utilities

 Disk Defragmenter


- A utility designed to increase access

speed by rearranging files stored on a
disk to occupy contiguous storage
locations.

- Defragmenting a disk minimizes head

travel, which reduces the time it takes to
read files from and write files to the disk.
Disk Utilities

 Disk Formatting

- Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage

device such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, floppy disk or
USB flash drive for initial use.

- In some cases, the formatting operation may also create one or

more new file systems.
Disk Utilities

 Disk Scan( Scandisk ) / Contents Analysis

/ Disk Repair Software
- It checks and repairs file systems errors
on a disk drive.

- ScanDisk includes the ability to detect

and (if possible) recover from physical
errors on the disk.
Disk Utilities

 Disk Partition( Fixed disk )

- Disk partitioning is the act of dividing a hard disk drive (HDD) into multiple
logical storage units referred to as partitions,

- To treat one physical disk drive as if it were multiple disks, so that different file
systems can be used on each partition
Data Utilities

 Compression

 Data Transfer

 Search

 Backup
Data Utilities

A backup program will help control the backup process.

In particular it can do two things:

 Establish a schedule for backups

 Only create a new backup file when there has been a change.

Methods of protecting data backup - Cloud, RAID

(i) Describe two methods of preventing accidental loss of data.

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Hardware Drivers

 Software that allows the operating

system to communicate with the
hardware.
 It is contains the relevant instructions to
operate the hardware.
 A device driver is a computer program
that operates or controls a particular
type of device that is attached to a
computer.
 A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices,
enabling operating systems and other computer programs to
access hardware functions without needing to know precise details
of the hardware being used.
File Compression

 Software that are used to compress file to smaller size.

A file compression utility program can be used by an operating

system to minimize hard disk storage requirements. Compression
is most important when transmitting data. In particular, it makes
sense to compress( or ‘zip’ ) a file before attaching it to an email.

 State the reasons for use of compression software.

Security

 Anti virus
- Antivirus software is a computer program that detects,
prevents, and takes action to disarm or remove malicious
software programs, such as viruses and worms.

 Firewall
- A firewall is a software or hardware-based network
security system that controls the incoming and outgoing
network traffic based on applied rule set.
- A firewall establishes a barrier between a trusted, secure
internal network and another network (e.g., the Internet)
that is not assumed to be secure and trusted
(ii) Describe one way of ensuring the security of the data against malicious damage.

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Management Utilities

 Memory Manager
 Memory management is the act of managing computer memory.
 In its simpler forms, this involves providing ways to allocate portions
of memory to programs at their request, and freeing it for reuse when
no longer needed.
 The management of main memory is critical to the computer system.

 Processor Manager
 The Processor Manager manages and allocates a single central
processing unit (CPU) to execute the incoming jobs.
Revision Questions

1 (a) Explain the meaning of the term utility software. [2]

(b) Describe two examples of utility software. [4]

2 (a) Distinguish between operating system software and

applications software. [2]

(b) State three utility programs associated with the use of

a hard drive.
Explain the purpose of each of the programs. [6]
Revision Questions
3 One purpose of most operating systems is to provide a set of utility
programs designed to perform common tasks.

(a) (i) Describe the purpose of a disk formatting utility. [2]

(ii) Describe the purpose of a virus checking utility. [2]

(b) Describe two other purposes of an operating system apart from

providing utility programs. [4]
Revision Questions
4 State the purpose of each of the following pieces of utility software
and say how each would be used by the computer user.

(i) Disk formatting. [2]

(ii) File handling. [2]

(iii) Hardware drivers. [2]

(iv) File compression. [2]

(v) Virus checker. [2]

Revision Questions
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