Software UtilitiesP3 – Unit 2 – Computer SystemsJack Bishop

Software Utilities

Software utilities are used on a computer system to clear up unwanted files that may slow your system down, or even protect your system from unwanted

hackers or viruses when you access the web so its all about keeping your computer safe and running

smoothly

Windows Task ManagerWindows task manager is used to monitor various aspects of

your system. You can view applications that’s are opened, background processes that are

running, view the performance of your computer to see the usage o f the CPU and RAM, and also the network status, and the current network speed. Can be accessed

by pressing CTRL – ALT – DELETE on your keyboard.

Performance and Resource Monitor

Performance Monitor is used to view performance data either in real time or from a log file. You can also

schedule the program to log the data at any time which can then be put into a report, and also your able to

monitor it in real time in the form of a graph show on the next slide.

Resource monitor is very similar but it shows all of the processes that are being run in the CPU, RAM and also

measures disk usage, and network usage also.

Backup and Restore PointsBacking up your computer is extremely important if you don’t

want to lose any of your data through corruption or viruses etc. You can back up your system through a partition on your hard drive or you can backup through the web or even to another flash drive, portable hard drive etc. This will save all of your

system files and configuration settings therefore when its restored, you will gain all of your data back exactly how it was.A restore point is when you save an ‘image’ of your system so that when and update is installed, and if it doesn’t work and causes errors within your system, you can revert back to the

system settings you had before the update.

Virus ProtectionVirus protection is used to protect your computer from

viruses, worms and Trojans that could be gained by simple surfing the internet, so Anti-Virus software is

required. This type of software contains its own databases of viruses and codes in which it is able to

search your own files to check for viruses of any sort, which can then be dealt with if any are found. Having the most up-to-date software is crucial to keep your

computer safe whilst browsing.

FirewallsFirewalls build a protective barrier within your system which controls

which programs are allowed to perform certain tasks and what

programs are allowed to be opened and used.

The user can control what software is allowed to be installed in that

notifications can appear to say that something needs to be updated,

therefore it’s the users choice whether to click yes or no, depending on

whether the software is safe or not.

Clean-up Tools- Disk Defragmenter -

Disk Defragmenter is used to re-arrange bits of files so that all of a certain document etc is in one place, which speeds up the hard drive and also makes programs run faster because

all of the data is in one place so the system hasn’t got to search the hard drive for bits of data to open up the document you

opened.

Clean-up Tools- Disk Cleanup -

Disk Cleanup is used to clean any unwanted files on your computer to free up small amounts of disk

space. It removes temporary files, empties

the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of

system files and other items that you no longer need to also make your

computer run that little bit faster.

Clean-up Tools -Removal of Cookies -

Cookies are when you visit a new website, there put onto your computer so that the website

knows when you visit back, as it saves details that you may of

entered into newsletter sign up etc. So sometime u’ll never visit the website again, therefore you don’t need those cookies on your

system so they can be deleted through either your browser or

through disk clean-up.

Drive Formatting- Physical -

It scans the physical hard drive itself, looking for any imperfections within each sector of the hard drive and it puts aside any bad sectors that it will not use as they

could cause errors of corruption of files.

Drive Formatting- Logical -

Logical formatting prepares the disk in that it configures the disk, so its ready to transfer and store

files onto it using certain file systems. The files system it may use are either FAT32 or NTFS.