1.7 (System Software)

1.7 (System Software)

1. System Software

   • It is a type of software that cotrols the computers hardware
   • Provides an interface between the user of the computer and the hardware
     • Hides the complexities of the hardware from the user

2. Processor Management

   • Allocates a small "time slice" to each separate process so that it appears that many processes are many processes are taking place at the same time
     • If the tasks weren't given a small "time slice" you would have to wait until of Task A is complete, before completing Task B
   • By giving each task a small "time slice" it means all tasks appear to be executing at the same time

3. Memory Management

   • The OS allocates memory between the different programs that are open at the same time

4. Drivers

   • A piece of software used to control a piece of hardware e.g. mouse

5. Peripheral Management

   • Is a piece of hardware that is not directly connected to the CPU e.g. keyboard
   • An OS manages all of the peripheral devices that are connected to the computer

6. File Management

   • The OS must identify where files are stored for long term storage

7. Utility Software

   • Are designed to do just one or two tasks
   • Interacts with the computers hardware
   • Utility Programs
     • Programs such as anti-virus, disk backup, file compression etc.
       • Compression is reducing the size of the file
     • Defragmentation
       • Increases efficiency of data retrieval

8. Encryption Software

   • Encrpytion means to scramble data in a way that it is unreadable to anybody who doesn't have a key to unscramble this
     • Data is encrypted so that it is unreadable if anyone tries to intercept it

9. Backups

   • Copies of data to ensure there is a way of restoring data in case of computer failure
     • Copied to a backup medium and kept at a different location
       • Recovery takes a long time as it restores all data (Full)
       • Only the files which have been changed since the last back-up are copied (Incremental)