Software Utitlities

Software Utilities

Antivirus

Antivirus Software is used to safeguard a computer from malware, including viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses. It can also remove or prevent spyware and adware, along with other malicious programmes.

Originally standard antivirus software use to scan through all the files to look for a certain file type to remove but viruses then developed into something known as the polymorphic virus which standard anti-virus software cannot find. After this Anti-Virus Software was then developed to monitor the behaviour of certain files. If suspicious behaviour is flagged up by the anti-virus software it is then sent to quarantine where the user or the anti-virus software can look at it more.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Anti-Virus Software helps improve the performance of the computer by protecting it from viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses by scanning and destroying them before they can cause any real harm to your computer. It also speeds up the computer because having things such as viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses can drastically slow down your computer.

Backup

The purpose of Backup is so that the user can recover deleted data from the computer, whether it be through deleting the data or through corruption of data. Another purpose for a computer backup is so that you can recover an older version of data if something has gone wrong.

The backup can be easily created by entering control panel, system and maintenance, then clicking backup and restore and setting it up.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Backup doesn’t improve the performance of your computer but allows the user to have a more secure and reliable way of accessing data because there are always two copies of if one gets deleted or corrupted.

Compression

Compression is the process of turning a larger file size into a smaller file size in order for it to be transferred quicker and easier, once it has been transferred the file then needs to be decompressed before it can be used.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Compression improves the performance of the computer by making large file sizes into smaller file sizes, this can improve the performance of the computer because it allows more space on the HDD and allows files to be transferred quicker.

Defragmenters

The purpose of Defragmenters is to increase the access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy adjacent storage locations, this is so that the file or programme can be opened quicker because the HDD does not have to move locations to find it.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Defragmentation improves the performance of your computer because it moves information and data that go together into adjacent sectors allow the reader on the HDD to be able to find and select it quicker than if it was in opposite sectors, in other words this speeds up the time it takes your computer to find information that has been stored on the HDD for the user.

 

System Monitors

The purpose of System Monitoring is so that the user can see what programmes and applications are using power from the CPU, it also allows them to understand what programmes or files need to be shut down in order to speed up the computer temporarily.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

System Monitors improve the performance of the computer because it allows us to monitor the performance of our computers, from this we can then tell what modifications need to be made to the computer in order to get maximum performance out of the computer.

Registry Cleaners

A Registry Cleaner is a software utilities that is designed to remove redundant items from the windows registry, it overwrites deleted items with blank data, which allows you to secure your details and anything entered on the computer when disposing of it.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Registry Cleaners improve the performance of the computer by getting rid of redundant items from the windows registry that are not needed or used anymore, this allows the computer to become more secure for the user if they need to dispose of the computer, it also allows space for more data to be added to the windows registry.

Data Synchronisation

The Purpose of Data Synchronisation is so that data and information can be sent from one media device to another and back to the main device, this is done through various methods but the most popular ways today are the cloud, drop box and Bluetooth.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Data Synchronisation improves the performance of the computer by storing in another device which can still be accessed by another device. This allows more space on the HDD for the user and therefore allows space for other files.

Disc Cleaner

Disk cleaner is a computer maintenance utility designed to free up disk space on a computer’s hard drive, when it does this it searches and analyses the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use and then once it has found files that are no longer in use, removes the unnecessary files.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Disc Cleaners improve the performance of the computer because it gets rid of irrelevant things on the hard drive, this then frees up the space allowing a defragmenter to have more space to work with, this then speeds up the speed the HDD can find and load files stored.

Screen Saver

The purpose of a screen saver is to prevent burn-in, which was originally the problem with phosphor inside the cathode ray tube on older monitors, burn-in is still on modern day monitors but it is unlikely, they are also used for entertainment, security or to display system status information.

How does this improve the performance of the computer?

Screen Savers improve the performance of the computer because they allow the computer to relax from constantly showing the same image, allowing the monitor to not get burn-in. They also allow power saving options and update options allowing your computer to improve performance automatically while the screensaver is displayed.