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.
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.
 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.
 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
 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

Types of Operating Systems
Different technology platforms require different operating system software

Personal
PersonalOperating
OperatingSystems
Systems

Multi-User
Multi-UserOperating
OperatingSystems
Systems

Network
NetworkOperating
OperatingSystems
Systems
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)
 Microsofts Windows XP
Home

Create unique
users for the
same computer

SimNet Concepts Support CD: The World of Windows

p.4.102 Fig. 4.5
 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
 MAC OS

SimNet Concepts Support CD: The World of Macintosh

p.4.103 Fig. 4.6

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
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
 Operating Systems - Tablet
PCs
Primary choice for an operating system on
a Tablet PC (any brand) is Microsoft
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
 4.3 Device Drivers, Utilities,
and Virus Protection
Working effectively and efficiently with a
computer you will need these tools:

Operating Device
System Drivers Effectiveness
Increased And
Virus Efficiency
Utilities
Protection

SimNet Concepts Support CD: Utilities

 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
 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 didnt
anticipate, you will have to install the new
device driver
 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
 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
 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
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
 File Naming Convention
Rules

p.4.110 Fig. 4.11

 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?
 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

 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
 Folder Structure

C:\

Finance
Finance

Finance Finance
3212 4032

p.4.112 Fig. 4.13

 Pathname

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

Folder
Filename
Device letter Subfolder Extension
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
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
 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
 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
 WinZip Compression Utility

p.4.115 Fig. 4.15

 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 Computers
Operating System?
4. Figure 4.9 Mentions Cookies What Are
They?
 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?
 4.6 Key Terms
Anti-virus software File manager utility
Defragmentation utility software
Device driver File security software
Device letter Filename
Disk compression
Filename extension
utility
File Folder
File compression Hot swap
software Linux
 4.6 Key Terms

Mac OS Multi-user OS
Windows 2000 ME Multitasking
Windows 2000 Pro Network operating
Windows XP Home system
Windows XP Pro Operating system
software
Microsoft Windows
XP Tablet PC Edition Palm Operating
system
 4.6 Key Terms

Pathname System software

Personal operating Utility software
system Utility software suite
Plug and play
 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?
 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?
 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?
 Hands On Projects
on the Web

1. Researching Disk Backup Utility Tools

2. Protecting Yourself with a Firewall
 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 Schools Operating System
Software