Utility Software

Question 1

What is utility software?

Answer 1

• Dedicated programs used for the maintenance and organisation of a computer system.

Question 2

Examples of utility software:

Answer 2

• Anti-malware
• Data Compression
• Backup software
• Disk Checkers
• Disk Formatters
• Encryption
• Firewall
• Auto-Updaters

Question 3

What is fragmentation?

Answer 3

• When the file splits into parts that are saved in different storage locations.

Question 4

How does fragmentation occur?

Answer 4

• When there is limited continuous space in which to store a file.
• This may happen as data is stored and then later deleted on the hard drive.
• New files are created which may be bigger than the spaces left by the deleted files.
• The new files are then split up.

Question 5

Why does fragmentation increase access time?

Answer 5

• Files that are fragmented take longer to load and read because of the distance between the fragments of the file.

Question 6

How does defragmentation work?

Answer 6

• Empty spaces are collected together on the hard disk drive and file fragments are moved to be stored together.
• This means that fewer disc accesses are needed (requiring less physical movement) as files can be read consecutively.

Question 7

What are the effects of defragmentation?

Answer 7

• Takes less time to read and access because the data is stored contiguously.
• The read/write head of the hard drive doesn’t need to move as far to read the next piece of data because it is in the adjacent memory location, saving time.
• It is also quicker to save new files because there is more free space together so it does not need to split the file and can store the data contiguously.