Operating Systems & Utility Software Flashcards
All 13 cards in this deck
What is an operating system?
Software that manages the hardware and software resources in a computer system.
What does the acronym WIMP stand for, and which type of interface does it describe?
Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers — it describes a graphical user interface (GUI), controlled by a mouse and pointer.
What are the steps an operating system takes to allocate memory to a program?
e.g. a user opens a word processor- Works out how much memory is needed — enough for the word processor and its documents.
- Allocates enough fixed-size pages (typically 4 KB) to hold it; the pages need not be contiguous, so several programs can be in memory at once (multitasking).
- When the word processor is closed, its pages are freed for other programs.
What is a device driver?
Software that controls and communicates with a peripheral, containing the instructions on how to control that device.
State three user management functions of an operating system.
Creating and deleting user accounts; giving access rights (e.g. administrator or standard user); keeping audit logs of files a user creates, accesses, edits and deletes.
State four file management features an operating system provides.
Naming/renaming files, allocating files to folders and moving them, copying and deleting files, sorting and searching for files, and setting access rights such as read-only.
True or false? When a user opens a saved document and prints it, the operating system uses file management, memory management and peripheral management.
True. It locates the file, loads it into memory, and uses the printer's device driver to send the data to the printer.
What is utility software?
Software that helps maintain the computer system by performing housekeeping/maintenance tasks to improve performance.
True or false? Utility software is a type of application software.
False. It is systems software, performing maintenance tasks that may not be carried out by the operating system.
What does encryption software do, and why would a user need it?
It scrambles the contents of files with a complex algorithm so they appear as gibberish; only authorised users can descramble them, protecting files from unauthorised access.
What does defragmentation software do to a fragmented disk, and why does it improve performance?
It rearranges the segments of each file so they run contiguously, which decreases read/write time and speeds up the computer.
What is the purpose of data compression software?
To reduce the size of files, so more files fit in a given area of storage and fewer packets are needed to send them across a network.
True or false? Running defragmentation software is a suitable way to stop files on a stolen laptop being read by a thief.
False. Defragmentation only reorders file segments to speed up read/write; encryption software is needed to make files unreadable to unauthorised users.