System Software,
Virus Protection,
and File
Management
What Software Runs Your
Hardware?
Chapter 4
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 Systems
Multi-User Operating Systems
Network Operating Systems
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4.2 Personal Operating Systems
Microsoft Family
Microsoft Windows XP Home
(Windows XP Home)
Microsoft Windows 2000 Millennium
(Windows 2000 ME or Windows ME)
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
SimNet
Concepts Support CD: “The World of Windows”
p.4.102 Fig. 4.5
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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
SimNet
Concepts Support CD: “The World of Macintosh”
p.4.103 Fig. 4.6
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Popular Operating Systems
Non-Microsoft
• Linux
– Open-source operating
system
– Mainly used on highend 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:
Operating
System
Device
Drivers
Utilities
Virus
Protection
SimNet
Increased
Effectiveness
And
Efficiency
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 email 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 Convention
Rules
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
C:\
Finance
Finance
Finance
Finance
3212
4032
p.4.112 Fig. 4.13
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Pathname
A:\Finance\Finance 4032\Finance Final Analysis.xls
Folder
Device letter
Subfolder
Filename
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 Projects
E-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 Projects
Ethics, 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 Projects
on the Web
1. Researching Disk Backup Utility Tools
2. Protecting Yourself with a Firewall
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Hands On Projects
Group 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
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