Utility Software

Utility Software

1. Utility software also known as utility programs are what help maintain or configure our computer system

2. Auto-upgrade

   • Checks the internet for new versions of a software and will download and install it without any user interaction
   • It upgrades normally and include security fixes to keep your computer system safe from hackers

3. Firewall

   • Controls which applications can be send or receive data packets from your computer or network
   • Stops unauthorised users from accessing your computer system

4. Anti-Malware

   • This scans your computer periodically for any malware. Id any malware is found it is then quarantined so that it doesn't corrupt ant system files
   • Its software need to be upgraded regally in order to keep up with the latest threats

5. Backup Utilities

   • It sis important so that dat can be recovered in the incident of data loss. This can happen by both hardware failure and by accidental deletion of data. The cloud storage (internet) is a common way of a home user backing up data
   • There are two methods of backing up data full backup and incremental backup

6. Encryption

   • Encryption uses complex algorithms to encode (scramble) data so that it can not be read without the private access keys
   • This prevents so that the data cannot be used if intercepted/stolen by an unauthorised user

7. Disk Analysis & Repair

   • Scan your secondary storage (hard drive) and look for faults which need tor epairs. This helps prevent data loss due to a faulty disk (hard drive)

8. Disk Cleanup

   • Disk cleanup searches for files and programs which are no longer used and deletes them in order to free up disk space on the hard drive
   • Some examples of this include temporary files, installation files or settings/registry values with are no longer being used

9. Compression Software

   • Used to reduce the size of a file. It's useful so that files take up less storage space and are quicker to be send over the internet
   • ZIP files are used to compress multiple files together making them easier to be send to other people

10. Disk Defragmenter

    • Moves files and frees up space together in order to make them easier to access. This allows the overall performance to improve in the computer system
    • This is needed because files become slip up (fragmented) overtime due to multiple updates and saves