utility-software

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Utility Software

What is utility software?

In A Level Computer Science, utility software is designed to help analyse, configure, optimise, or maintain a computer
It supports the operating system, which is different to application software that performs tasks that benefit end-users

Utility Software	Purpose	Role	Examples/Notes
Disk Defragmentation	To rearrange the files on a hard drive to increase efficiency	By putting files into contiguous blocks and minimizing empty spaces, disk defragmentation speeds up file access and can improve overall system performance	Modern SSDs generally don’t require defragmentation
File Management	To organize, search, rename, and relocate files stored on the system	Includes creating, deleting, moving, and renaming files and folders	Windows Explorer, macOS Finder
Device Driver	To provide an interface between the hardware and the operating systems	Ensures that the OS and programs can communicate with the hardware without needing to know the hardware’s precise details	The OS usually manages drivers, but users may sometimes need to update them
System Cleanup	To free up space on the system by removing unnecessary files and data	System cleanup utilities remove temporary files, system cache, unused applications, and other “junk” that can slow down the system	CCleaner, Disk Cleanup on Windows
Security	To protect the computer system from various threats like viruses, malware, and spyware	Monitors the system and controls the computer’s activities to protect it from threats	Norton, McAfee, Windows Defender

Disk defragmentation process

Worked Example

Operating systems usually come with utility software pre-installed. Give two examples of utility software, explaining the purpose of both.

[4]

Answer:

Example answer that gets full marks:

Disk defragmentation is a utility that will better organise files on the hard disk so that the operating system can access them more efficiently. Better organised files will lead to a smoother operation of the system.

File encryption software enables users to transfer sensitive data files over a network securely. A simple encryption utility will request a password from the user and scramble the file’s contents. The file contents will only be reassembled in the correct order if the receiver knows the password.

Acceptable answers you could have given instead:

Disk defragmentation rearranges files on a computer’s hard disk to make it run more smoothly. File encryption software lets users send private files safely by scrambling the contents, and only someone with valid permission can unscramble them.

Computer-Science-A-level-Ocr

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