LO2 – Understand Computer Software 2.3 – Utility Software

Utility Software A utility program is designed to do one or perhaps two tasks very well and nothing else. Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer.. Utility software helps the user to control, manage, and maintain a computer's operating system, hardware and application software. These programs are designed to perform specific functions like finding files, backing up data, playing multimedia files, viewing images and so on. Unlike system software, utility software can be set up, controlled or initiated by the user. Many utility software programs are built into a computer's operating system. There are also stand-alone utility programs such as backup utilities and antivirus programs. Typically, these programs come with additional features that help improve the already built-in software. They have to be installed to the computer by the user, and they do not depend on other software packages to function. These programs remove spyware and adware, compress files, burn CDs and DVDs, play media files, convert files from one format to another and do other unglamorous tasks. Examples of common tasks that are carried out by various Utility programs: File sorting File renaming File conversion (e.g. convert a sound file to MP3) File repair Disk monitoring and defragmentation (defragging) Printing jobs Backing up data. Anti-Virus Compression Compression We compress file because: Less storage space required for files Faster download and uploads Smaller file attachments for email Coping with slow links when streaming Summary Compression means to reduce the size of a data file whilst still retaining most, or all of the original information All compression is based on finding patterns within the data Lossy compression removes non-critical data from the data set Lossy compression is popular for compressing music, image and video files Lossy compression is also used to reduce video and audio streaming bit rates Compression ratio quantifies how much compression has reduced the size of the data Lossless compression retains all the data but encodes it more efficiently More detail on compression here

Utility Software Maintenance utilities These include: •Backup - This allows the user to restore the system to a previous state which is saved as a backup. This is only usually used if a system malfunctions. •Disk cleaner - The storage drive is divided into a number of clusters. The table of contents serves as an address book, keeping a record of each file and the clusters used to store that file. When a file is deleted, the address to the location on the disk is removed. . •Disk defragmentation - When files are deleted, unused clusters become available for reuse. These can end up being distributed across a drive, especially if the original files were small. If a large file is then written to a drive, its data could be spread across different clusters leading to file fragmentation. Defragmentation involves rearranging the information on a disk so that files appear in continuous sequences of clusters. This will improve file access times. Most modern operating systems run this process automatically.. •Formatting - Storage drives need to be formatted to be compatible with an OS. The OS usually formats storage media when it is connected to the computer. It is often the case that a storage drive cannot be compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X. Security utilities These include: user accounts - allow the user to allocate specific users and protects personal files and programs from unauthorised access. encryption - can encrypt data when it is stored, or whenever it is transmitted over a network. anti-virus software - detects and blocks viruses. firewall - can be used to filter between trusted and untrusted networks and prevent programs from communicating through the use of ports.

System software There are different types of system software System Monitoring Software There are different types of system software Back up Tools to Protect the PC System software System Upkeep Software Troubleshooting

System Monitoring Software System monitoring software describes in detail how well your computer is working. This type of utility software typically describes your computer's current temperature (excess heat damages computers), RAM usage, Internet connection status and other factors. This type of program is a great way of measuring how well your computer is working. Some of these tools include logs that track your computer's performance over time and record unusual system issues. Backup Tools to Protect the PC Losing your data - digital photos, documents, notes and other information - due to a hard drive failure, power failure or other computer problems is a frustrating and painful experience. Backup software can ease the pain by making it easy for you to restore your data and get back to work quickly. Most backup programs offer a way to schedule backups on a regular basis (e.g. daily, weekly, or monthly) for ease of use. Other programs offer a way to store all of your backup data on DVDs or even at a remote location.

System Upkeep Software Computers tend to operate smoothly most of the time, especially when newly purchased. Over time, many people observe that their computers slow down. System upkeep programs identify and fix problems that cause these slowdowns by cleaning out unused programs, unneeded temporary files and other dead weight data. Here are some examples of system upkeep applications and their main uses: Disk Check - creates a status report of the hard disk, checking for bad sectors and directory errors. Software Updates – sometimes called software patches. Even though software is rigorously tested before being released for sale, it is almost impossible to test every single line of code, this can lead to security issues and enable hackers to bypass normal security and access a user’s files or system. As soon as a security issue is identified the software manufacturer will work quickly to create a fix as a software patch. This can then be downloaded by the users to ensure that then close any potential security loopholes on their system. Some software can be set to automatically download the latest patches (Windows operating systems is one example). This means you don’t have to remember to look for updates.

Disk Defragmentation - When a file needs to be stored, the operating system looks for freed sectors of the disk. However, these sectors are rarely sequential (next to one another), instead they are usually scattered in different places across the hard disk. If a file is broken up (fragmented) across too many separate memory sectors, it becomes difficult for the hard disk to access all the pieces of the file quickly. This can lead to the computer running slowly. To prevent this, defragmentation software ‘juggle’ the contents of the memory sectors around to keep the files together as much as possible to ensure the computer runs quickly and efficiently. Security Scanning - A test of a network's vulnerabilities. A security scan does not attempt to break into the network illegally; rather it tries to find areas of vulnerability. A security scan uses a variety of automated software tools, typically performing hundreds of routine tests and checks. System Diagnostics - system information is collected to check the current status of the computer and attached devices; e.g. temperature of the CPU, how much memory is available, the speed of the network connection etc. When his information has been collected if there are any problems diagnosis utilities will try to work out what the problem is, and either fix it directly or prompt the user with possible actions to take