System Software, Virus Protection, and File Management What Software Runs Your Hardware? Chapter 4.

System Software, Virus Protection,

and File Management

What Software Runs Your Hardware?

Chapter 4

©2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Define the role of system software and the three main types of system software.

2. Describe the role of your operating system software as it manages peripheral devices and memory.

3. List and describe the different personal operating systems for notebook and desktop computers, PDAs, and tablet PCs.

4. Define the role of utility software as it relates to your operating system software.

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Student Learning Outcomes

5. Discuss why anti-virus software is so important.

6. Define the relationships among device letters, filenames, extensions, and folders in managing your information.

7. Describe the types of utilities you can use to compress and decompress files.

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Introduction

Without system software, your computer equipment would be useless.

System software is simply all the instructions that your computer processes regardless of what application software you are using.

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System Software

• Task manager for your entire computer

• Gets computer going upon booting

• Notifies printer when you want to print

• Manages system resources

• Three main categories:– Operating system software– Device drivers– Utility software

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4.1 Operating System Software

• Operating system software is system software that controls your application software and manages how your hardware devices work together

SimNet Concepts Support CD: “What is an Operating System”

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Types of Operating Systems

• Different technology platforms require different operating system software

Personal Operating SystemsPersonal Operating Systems

Network Operating SystemsNetwork Operating Systems

Multi-User Operating SystemsMulti-User Operating Systems

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4.2 Personal Operating SystemsMicrosoft Family

Microsoft Windows 2000 Millennium(Windows 2000 ME or Windows ME)

Microsoft Windows XP Home(Windows XP Home)

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional(Windows 2000 Pro)

Microsoft Windows XP Professional(Windows XP Pro)

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Microsoft’s Windows XP Home

Create unique users for the

same computer

p.4.102 Fig. 4.5

SimNet Concepts Support CD: “The World of Windows”

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Popular Operating Systems Non-Microsoft

• Mac OS– For Apple computers– GUI similar to

Windows – Can "speak" password

with newest release

SimNet Concepts Support CD: “Other Operating Systems” and “The World of Macintosh”

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MAC OS

p.4.103 Fig. 4.6

SimNet Concepts Support CD: “The World of Macintosh”

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Popular Operating Systems Non-Microsoft

• Linux– Open-source operating

system– Mainly used on high-

end workstations and network servers

– Can be either a personal operating system or a network operating system

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Operating Systems - PDAs

• Two most popular types of PDAs are:– Palm and Handspring

• Uses the Palm Operating System (Palm OS)

– Pocket-PCs.• Uses Pocket PC operating system                     

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Operating Systems - Tablet PCs

• Primary choice for an operating system on a Tablet PC (any brand) is Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

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4.3 Device Drivers, Utilities, and Virus Protection

• Working effectively and efficiently with a computer you will need these tools:

VirusProtection

Device Drivers

Utilities

Operating System Effectiveness

AndEfficiency

Increased

SimNet Concepts Support CD: “Utilities”

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Device Drivers

• Device Drivers is software and information that enables your operating system to establish the communications between your existing hardware and your new device

• Device drivers are available for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers, diskette drives, and so on

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Device Drivers – cont.

• Many device drivers are built into the operating system that comes with your computer. However, if you later buy a new type of device that the OS didn’t anticipate, you will have to install the new device driver

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Utility Software

• Provides additional functionality to the operating system

• Example: File Security software to protect files and folders of information as well as to enable you to send secure e-mail messages

p.4.106 Fig. 4.8

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Anti-Virus Software

• Anti-virus software continually scans RAM, storage devices, and incoming files for viruses and removes the viruses

• Viruses can be of two types:– Benign– Malignant

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4.4 File Management

• File – Collection of information– Most of the information you work with is

stored in files

• File management– Keeps track of files– Helps you manage the files on your computer

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File Naming Conventions

• Filename unique name given to a file of information

• Filename extension further identifies the contents of a file by specifying the file type. Examples of extensions include:

• Word – doc• Excel – xls• Access – mdb• PowerPoint - ppt

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File Naming ConventionRules

p.4.110 Fig. 4.11

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Organizing Files

• File manager utility software– Manage and organize files– Find and copy files– Move, rename, and delete files

• Identify storage devices with device letters– Unique identifier for each storage device

What letter is used for the floppy disk drive? The hard disk?

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Identifying Storage Devices with Device Letters

• Device letter is a unique identifier for each different storage device on your computer– Floppy disk: A:\– Hard disk: C:\– Other storage devices will

be assigned different letters depending on the computer and the operating system used

p.4.111 Fig. 4.12

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Directories and Folders

• Directory– A list of files on a particular storage device– Main directory is called the root directory

• Folder – Special portion of your root directory into

which you can place files that have similar information

– Can have folders within folders• Called subfolders

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Folder Structure

Finance

Finance

3212

Finance

4032

C:\

Finance

p.4.112 Fig. 4.13

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Pathname

A:\Finance\Finance 4032\Finance Final Analysis.xls

Device letter

Folder

SubfolderFilename

Extension

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File Allocation Tables (FAT)

• File allocation table (FAT) table that an OS maintains on a hard disk that provides a map of the clusters (basic units of logical storage on a hard disk) that a file has been stored in

• When you write a new file to a hard disk, the file is stored in one or more clusters that are not necessarily next to each other; they may be rather scattered over the disk

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File Allocation Tables – Cont

• OS creates a FAT entry for the new file that records where each cluster is located and their sequential order

• When you read a file, the OS reassembles the file from clusters and places it as an entire file where it can be read

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File Fragmentation

• Fragmentation occurs when your computer places parts of files over many disks areas or clusters

• Fragmentation over time can slow data access (each fragment of a file must be accessed for the entire file to be read), the user may use a defragmentation utility so that the data on the storage medium can be reorganized – a process known a defragmentation

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File Compression

• File Compression is the shrinking of a file into a smaller file

• In order to use a compressed file, it must be decompressed back to its original size

• The file size is controlled by setting a file compression ratio. A file compression ratio determines how small the compressed file will be

• WinZip is a popular Windows program that compresses and decompresses files

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WinZip Compression Utility

p.4.115 Fig. 4.15

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4.5 Consumer Q&A

1. How Can I Upgrade My Operating System Software when a New Version is Available?

2. If I Receive a Zipped File as an E-mail Attachment, How Do I Decompress it?

3. Which PDA Operating System Provides the Best Compatibility with My Computer’s Operating System?

4. Figure 4.9 Mentions Cookies – What Are They?

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4.5 Consumer Q&A

5. How Often Do I Need to Scan My Hard Disk for Viruses?

6. Can I Compress Multiple Files into a Single Smaller File?

7. What Happens if a Virus Attacks My File Allocation Table File?

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4.6 Key Terms

• Anti-virus software• Defragmentation

utility• Device driver• Device letter• Disk compression

utility• File• File compression

software

• File manager utility software

• File security software• Filename• Filename extension• Folder• Hot swap• Linux

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4.6 Key Terms

• Mac OS• Windows 2000 ME• Windows 2000 Pro• Windows XP Home• Windows XP Pro• Microsoft Windows

XP Tablet PC Edition

• Multi-user OS• Multitasking• Network operating

system• Operating system

software• Palm Operating

system

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4.6 Key Terms

• Pathname• Personal operating

system• Plug and play

• System software• Utility software• Utility software suite

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Review of Concepts

1. Exploring Your Control Panel How do you set the blinking rate of your cursor?

2. Understanding File Storage Can you track files in a FAT?

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Hands On ProjectsE-Commerce

1. Researching Anti-Virus Software

2. Finding Student Loans Money is waiting for you

3. Locating Games What are the most popular gaming sites?

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Hands On ProjectsEthics, Security & Privacy

1. Content Filtering on the Internet Should your school be allowed to filter your

Internet travels? When is a child too old to have parents

filtering content? Can you filter the content of your spouse?

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Hands On Projectson the Web

1. Researching Disk Backup Utility Tools

2. Protecting Yourself with a Firewall

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Hands On ProjectsGroup Activities

1. Building Your Own 3-D Screen Saver CubeShow makes it happen

2. Finding Out More about Tablet PC Operating Systems

3. Finding Files on Your Hard Disk

4. Your School’s Operating System Software