1.5 - System Software

Question 1

What is the purpose of the operating system?

Answer 1

• To manage and run the computer’s hardware
• To act as a platform for other software to be installed upon and run
• To provide an interface between the user and the hardware

Question 2

What do operating systems manage?

Answer 2

• Memory management and multitasking
• Peripheral management and drivers
• User management
• File management
• User interface

Question 3

What is memory management?

Answer 3

The operating system loading programs from the hard drive into RAM when processing is required

Question 4

What is a peripheral?

Answer 4

An external device connected to a computer system

A peripheral is an external device connected to a computer system to input or output data. Each peripheral needs a device driver.

Question 5

What is a device driver?

Answer 5

A program that provides interface for the OS to communicate with a peripheral. It translates operating system instructions into commands that the device will understand.

Question 6

What is user management?

Answer 6

Creating, managing, deleting and granting different access rights to individual accounts

Question 7

What is file management?

Answer 7

Allowing files and folder to be named, renamed, opened, copied, moved, saved, searched for, sorted and deleted

Question 8

What is a user interface?

Answer 8

The means by which a human is able to interact with the computer system

Question 9

What are the features of a Graphical User Interface (GUI)?

Answer 9

• WIMP (Windows, icons, menus, pointers)
• Optimised for mouse and touch gesture input

Question 10

What are the features of a Command Line Interface (CLI)?

Answer 10

• Text based
• Takes up less storage space compared to a GUI
• For experts as it is complicated

Question 11

What are the features of a Menu-Driven Interface?

Answer 11

• Successive menus presented to the user
• Often with buttons on a keypad
• User friendly and easy to use

Question 12

What are the features of a Voice-Driven Interface?

Answer 12

• Responds to questions in spoken language
• Not always reliable
• Commands may be misheard or limited in what can be performed
• Hands-free to speed up processes

Question 13

What is utility software?

Answer 13

Dedicated programs for the maintenance and organisation of a computer system

Question 14

What are examples of utility software?

Answer 14

• Anti-malware, firewall and encryption (1.4)
• Compression (1.2)
• Defragmentation
• Backup software, disk checkers, disk formatters and auto-updaters

Question 15

What is fragmentation?

Answer 15

Files on a hard disk drive split into parts saved in different storage locations

Question 16

How does fragmentation affect the time it takes to load and read a file?

Answer 16

The distance between the fragments of the file increases access time

Question 17

How does defragmentation work?

Answer 17

Empty spaces are collected together and file fragments are moved to be stored together. Fewer disc accesses are then needed.

Question 18

What are the advantageous outcomes of defragmentation?

Answer 18

-It takes less time to read/access a file because the data is contiguous so the read/write head does not need to move as far to read the next piece of data

-Takes less time to save new files because there is larger free space together so it does not need to split the file and can store the data contiguously.

Question 19

What is multitasking?

Answer 19

When you have more than one program open and running at the same time.
The processor allocates a small amount of time to each process and cycles between them.
As this happens so quickly it appears as if multiple programs are executing simultaneously.