BTEC IT Unit 02 Lesson 07

Utility Software

Mr C JohnstonICT Teacher

www.computechedu.co.uk

Session Objectives Understand different types of utility and why they are needed, Understand the need for routine maintenance and tune up tools, Know a range of tune up tools which can be carried out to speed

up computer.

Utility Software Utilities are useful pieces of software which keep our

computers running smoothly, Examples of utilities include:

Security software, Anti-Virus / Firewall

Software to check and maintain our hard disks – cleanup software,

Removal of cookies, removal of temporary files, defragmentation, disk formatting, data recovery software,

Software which performs repeating tasks easily, Programs that give us information about files and computer

status

BTEC Book – Unit 02 p15-17

Utilities Brain Stormed 2012

Security Anti-Virus Encryption Utilities

Firewall Spyware / Adware / Malware Removal

Password Management

File / Disk Management

Defragmentation Removal of Temporary Files / HDD Cleanup Utility

Backup Disk Formatting / Partitioning

Data Recovery Compression Utility

File Management

Information System Monitoring Bench Marking

File Information Hardware Information

Hardware Management

Device Manager

Others Screen Saver Parental Controls

Character Map

Task 3[P3, D1] You need to produce a table or other suitable evidence which

explains different utility software, You need to include both: security (eg virus protection, firewalls)

and clean up tools (eg for removal of cookies, internet history, defragmentation, drive formatting) utilities,

Define each tool, state what its used for, find a real example of each tool, include how the tool aids performance… For D1 include statistics / evidence when explaining the reason for performance improvement.

• For P3, a table is an appropriate format for structuring the information. You are required to give one example from each category of software utilities.

• For D1, you must consider the benefits of computer performance created by using software utilities. In this case, you should give reasons for possible improvements from using a specific utility.

P3 - Explain the purpose of different software utilitiesD1 - explain how software utilities can improve the performance of

computer systems

P3 - Explain the purpose of different software utilitiesD1 - explain how software utilities can improve the performance of

computer systems

Benchmarking and System Info

Benchmarking software reports on a computers performance – it can even compare your system to others,

Useful if readings taken before and after to prove that utilities are useful Internet speed tests report on how fast your internet connection is…

some useful sites include: http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/ http://speedtest.zoominternet.net/

Useful if readings are taken before and after using software to tweak your internet

System information software reports on system resources including the amount of free hard disk space

Useful if readings taken before and after to show that junk removal software has freed up HDD space

More Evidence For D1 For D1 you need to prove that utility software are useful, Running a benchmark test before using a utility then one

afterwards should show an improvement to performance, Software utilities and benchmarking software are available

on my website and shared area, There are lots of workshop articles on the website to help

you out – remember you are proving they make your system better, before and after benchmark tests are needed,

An example is available on my website showing a slight improvement to my HDD speed after carrying out a defrag.

Tune-up Tools Common methods of speeding up a slow machine

include: Removal of viruses, Removal of old and temporary files, Removal of toolbars and adware, Removal of bloat ware, Defragmentation, Tweaking the registry, Streamlining startup, Killing unwanted processes, Update drivers.