Lesson 9: SOFTWARE ICT Fundamentals 2nd Semester SY 2010-2011 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software Lesson 9 Lesson 9

Software the component of a computer system which refers to the set of instructions written in a code – that computers can understand and execute, also called as program Three Types Systems Software Application Software Programming Languages Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

System Software is software that controls a computer system and allows applications software to run consists of operating systems and utility programs provides the infrastructure over operating system which programs can operate Operating System Device Drivers Utilities Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Operating System responsible for controlling the allocation and usage of hardware resources such as memory, central processing system unit time, disk space, and peripheral devices coordinates the activities between hardware and software components. Computer Hardware Operating System Application Software Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Operating System (cont..) The following functions are performed by an operating system: Starting the computer; making sure that its hardware components are operating properly Controlling and managing peripherals Retrieving, loading, executing and storing application programs Storing and retrieving data and files Performing system utility functions Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Operating System (cont..) Controlling programming tools Acting as an intermediary between the user, application program and hardware devices GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) take the place of commands which makes the use of computers a lot easier and fun at the same time Device Drivers software units that are used to directly or indirectly communicate with different devices in order to carry out operations on the machine’s peripheral devices Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility programs A computer software designed to help manage and tune the computer hardware, operating system or application software by performing a single task or a small range of tasks Disk storage utilities Disk defragmenters - can detect computer files whose contents are stored on the hard disk in disjointed fragments, and move the fragments together to increase efficiency Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility Programs Disk storage utilities (cont..) Disk checkers - can scan the contents of a hard disk to find files or areas that are corrupted in some way, or were not correctly saved, and eliminate them for a more efficiently operating hard drive. Disk cleaners - can find files that are unnecessary to computer operation, or take up considerable amounts of space. Disk cleaner helps the user to decide what to delete when their hard disk is full Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility Programs Disk storage utilities (cont..) Disk partitioners - can divide an individual drive into multiple logical drives, each with its own filesystem which can be mounted by the operating system and treated as an individual drive Backup utilities - can make a copy of all information stored on a disk, and restore either the entire disk Disk compression utilities - utilities can transparently compress/uncompress the contents of a disk, increasing the capacity of the disk. Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility Programs Disk storage utilities (cont..) File managers - provide a convenient method of performing routine data management tasks, such as deleting, renaming, cataloging, uncataloging, moving, copying, merging, generating and modifying data sets. Archive utilities - output a stream or a single file when provided with a directory or a set of files. Archive utilities, unlike archive suites, usually do not include compression or encryption capabilities. Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility Programs System profilers - provide detailed information about the software installed and hardware attached to the computer Anti-virus utilities - scan for computer viruses Text and Hex/ Editors - directly modify the text or data of a file. These files could be data or an actual program. Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software

Utility Programs Cryptographic utilities - encrypt and decrypt streams and files. Launcher applications - provide a convenient access point for application software Registry cleaners - clean and optimize the Windows registry by removing old registry keys that are no longer in use Network managers - check the computer's network, log events and check data transfer Lesson 9 IT101-Fundamentals of Computer Software