Unit 2 Task 3

Task 3 (P3)

Produce notes explaining the purpose of different software utilities.

The presentation should contain screen shots or images and has to cover:

• security virus protection and/or firewalls
• clean up tools for removal of cookies and/or internet history and/or defragmentation
• drive formatting

Wednesday 7th May 2014

Security Virus Protection + Firewalls = Virus protection software is used to prevent any unwanted viruses from infecting your computer as well as worms and Trojan horses. Anti-virus software can also remove any viruses that have already infected your computer. Some of the different types of virus protection software come with additional safety features, such as anti-spyware (software that can gather data through the internet connection of a computer without the owner’s knowledge or permission) and anti-malware (software designed to damage or disrupt a system, such as a Trojan horse). Firewalls prevent unauthorised access to a private network and are typically used to prevent people from accessing private networks like Intranets. A firewall will also prevent certain data and information from leaving the private network.

Clean-Up Tools for Cookies, Internet History and Defragmentation = Clean up tools for cookies are designed to eliminate any connections your computer has to frequented sites. Cookies are small files that keep track of your account information (e.g. login usernames and passwords) and the types of things you search for (if you've ever wondered why adverts on websites will often advertise the exact thing you’re looking for, it’s because of cookies). Clean up tools for your internet history are designed to ensure that every trace of any previously visited websites has been removed. You can choose to either delete individual websites or wipe the entire memory clean. This is often used when you’re buying a present for a family member on the family computer or is sometimes required when resetting your computer. Defragmentation is used to increase the performance and life span of your hard drive by keeping all files and software in check. A hard drive can become fragmented over time which could lead to several files being duplicated, so the defragmentation process will control duplication, but cleaning up your computer before defragmentation is recommended as it will greatly reduce defragmentation time.

Drive Formatting = The purpose of formatting a drive is to create and organise an indexing system in your computer, which allows for easy location of files. A table of contents should also be created as this will keep a record of where all of the data is on the drive. It is this drive-formatting that can become fragmented, so defragmentation will be an eventual necessity.