How will these utilities speed up my system? D1

How can software utilities speed up your computer?

Anti-virus

Anti-virus software speeds up your system by eliminating the following problems:

-          Viruses, that cause the following issues:

o   Messing around with the settings of your computer so it is more difficult to use.

o   Someone planting a virus on your computer and causing it to run slowly, because the software is using up all of your RAM space.

o   Someone planting a virus onto your computer and using it to take over your computer.

o   If someone plants any sort of virus on your computer that needs to run in order for them to use it, this will take up your RAM space and make your computer slower.

These things are the reason why you should always have some sort of software that protects you against viruses, so it will keep your computer running at its fastest.

Firewall

Having a firewall will speed up your system because it will stop any unauthorised connections from connecting to your computer, by the use of ports. What this does is it blocks any connections that you don’t want, say for instance, if someone tried to hack into your computer they wouldn’t be able to do it because there are only certain ports that will be open, these ports will allow you to use the applications that you want to. Not to be hacked, and if they hack you it can slow down the performance of your computer. This is why you should always have a firewall.

Software Utilities - P3

Software utilities – P3

There are many different software utilities, they have many different functions but the two main ones that I am going to write about is virus protection software and firewalls, as these both have an important function in keeping your computer safe and sometimes you can get a programme that has both pieces of software in one.

First I am going to explain what virus protection software does, this piece of software has a vital to any computer, since it stops any infections from getting into your computer, although no anti-virus will protect you 100% from viruses, it can protect you 97% of the time, simply because new viruses are made every day, doing different things to harm your computer.

So what is a virus?

A Virus is a piece of software or malware that gets into your computer system and it can severely damage it, doing things that can stop you from loading your computer, to using it as a key logger to find out personal information, like credit card details ECT.. and this is why it is vital to have anti-virus software to make it almost impossible for this to happen.

There are many different companies who offer many different anti-virus software, a few of them are AVG, Norton Anti-virus and Mcafee anti-virus. Some of these are free, but some of them you have to pay for.

So what might happen if you don’t have anti-virus software?

If you don’t have a good piece of anti-virus software, then if someone hacks into your system and plants a virus on it, then you could face things like: your computer is unable to boot up, fraud, constant pop-ups advertising and more things that you wouldn’t wish for on your computer and that is why having anti-virus is vital.

  

The other utility I am going to talk about that is for your computer system is a firewall, windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 and some MAC Operating Systems have a firewall that is already installed into the operating system. A firewall is a piece of software that filters any unwanted traffic coming in through the internet, the firewall opens ‘ports’ for certain connections you are using, and connections that are unwanted are automatically blocked by your firewall, stopping any unwanted trespassers from getting into your computer system.

So what would happen if you don’t have a firewall?

If you don’t have a firewall, it will allow trespassers access to your system, giving them access to all of your personal details, including your bank account details, and possibly more, anything that you have stored on your computer, it can also allow people to ‘plant’ a virus into your computer. So both a firewall and anti-virus is vital for your computer.

Sometimes people switch the firewall off as it speeds up the connection to the internet because it doesn’t have to pass through the firewall first, but this is unadvisable, as it will leave your computer open to hackers, who will hack into your computer and steal your personal information. So keeping a firewall on at all times when using the internet is what you should do, as it will keep any unwanted traffic away from the compter.

What is an operating system? - P1

What is an operating system – P1

An operating system is a piece of software that is stored on the hard drive, which the computer uses when you switch the computer on. This piece of software creates an interface between the user and the computer, which you can run programmes on your operating system, all of the different operating systems differ in some shape or form, that’s why depending on what operating system you are running depends on what software you can run and can’t run. Without an operating system you wouldn’t be able to use a computer, as this is the main piece of software.  A operating system also has control over all of the hardware inside of the computer, like the HDD and the motherboard, so the operating system is the most important thing. There are a few different types of operating system out there, which are mentioned in this post.

Health and Safety - CS1 - P1

First before you read on any further into this blog you must know health and safety, by this I mean whenever you need to change something inside of a computer you must have an anti-static mat, an anti-static wristband and the cables to interconnect them. The reason for having this part of equipment is to prevent damage to your computer. The reason your computer may get damaged if you do not use this equipment is because you could have a slight positive or negative charge, and then when your touch the computer it could send that charge through the part of the computer and cause damage.

                                             

To use the equipment you must first lay the mat on a table or on the ground, it doesn’t matter. Then lay the computer on the mat, making sure you don’t touch anything inside until you’ve done the required steps. Then put on the wristband and attach the wristband to the mat, there should be somewhere on the mat where the clip attaches to. Then get the wire with the crocodile clip on, clip it to the mat the same way you did the wristband, then attach the crocodile clip anywhere on the casing of the computer. Then there should be one more wire, the last one will plug into the power supply in the wall and also into the mat. Once you have done all of these steps you are ready to start working on your computer.

Also, when you remove equipment from the computer you should always place them inside an anti-static bag, to prevent them from getting damaged.

Operating systems - CS1 - M1

There are three main types of operating systems you can either download from the retailers’ website or you can buy from a retailer, these are, Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Apple MAC. What the operating system does is it provides an interface between the client (you) and the computer system.

First of I’ll explain the drawbacks and perks of a windows 7 Operating system, this is the newest version of windows that Microsoft has released. One of the drawbacks of windows 7 is the fact that the computer needs at least 1 GB of RAM, 1 GHz CPU and at least 16GB storage space, this is bad if you have a fairly old PC as only the newest versions of PCs can support windows 7. Some advantages of windows 7 if you have the requirements is the fact that it is faster than the previous versions of windows. 7 is fully compatible with windows vista, meaning that it would be easy to upgrade from vista to windows 7 if you need too, also, most, if not all programmes and software is compatible with windows 7, apart from software that is made and designed for MAC PCs. So a list of perks is as follows:

- Fully compatible with Vista.

- Runs faster than previous versions of windows.

- Most if not all programmes are compatible with windows 7.

- Windows 7 is easy to use for someone with little or no computer knowledge.

Disadvantages

- Need at least the following spec

- 1GB RAM

- 1GHz CPU

- 16GB Storage space

- Meaning that only the newer computers can support windows 7.

The next operating system I am going to talk about is the snow leopard operating system; this was made by Macintosh and is the newest Operating System offered by Macintosh. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of this operating system are as follows. the snow leopard Operating System uses 64 Bit technology, which is faster than 32 bit (the most common CPU speed) even in applications that are designed for 32 bit, so meaning if you have a 64 bit processor you will get the true speed. The Snow leopard OS also has improved security, unlike Windows 7 it uses multi layered Security protections, to stop people from accessing your files, people who use windows as an operating system need to have security installed as there are a lot of viruses that can infect as windows pc, it is harder to make a virus to infect a Macintosh computer though, meaning that you are less likely to get a virus. This operating system also has speed enhancements to the previous versions. The only problem with this OS is the fact that it is a lot more complicated to use than it is to use a windows operating systems, so in total these are all the possible advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:

- Enhanced Security

- Faster speed on 64 bit computers

- Faster than previous versions

- Good for video and pictures as the operating system is built for designing.

Disadvantages

- Hard to use as it is more of a professional piece of software.

And last but not least I am going to talk about Linux operating systems, some of the advantages of Linux is the fast that it doesn’t cost anything to download or to install, since it is open office software. Another advantage is the fact that the software is stable and doesn’t have to be restarted every now and again to keep up the performance of the operating system; it also has a fast performance as it doesn’t have as many applications or programmes to run the operating system as the other OS needs. Linux is also very flexible, so it will be easy to run any high speed network connections if need be. It is also is compatible with all Unix applications, the software installation is very easy and quick, and also Linux is very secure because there aren’t many backdoors that hackers can use to get into your computer. The only bad thing about Linux is the fact that it can be complicated to fix if there is a problem and there wouldn’t be anywhere you could ask for help because it is free software. A list of advantages is as follows:

- Cheap

- Stable software

- Runs fast

- Flexible

- Compatible with all Unix applications

Disadvantages

- Can be complicated if something goes wrong

- Not very up-to-date like windows and MACs

One final thing you have to consider when you are purchasing an operating system, you should check the specifications that your computer needs, and this is usually found on the back of the box or on the retailers’ website. You can check what your computer has by entering the BIOS settings; you can access it when you start up your computer, by usually pressing f2. I would recommend that you get windows, as it is very fast, reliable and it is the easiest Operating system to use, not as complex as the other two OS.

Ports - CS1

Ports

Here is a picture of the ports on the back of a computer; I will also explain what they are used for.

First I will start with the basics, the power supply, this is simple, it is where the power cable goes into the system to give it power, and without it you wouldn’t have power to your system therefore won’t be able to use it.

Next I will explain the PS/2 ports, there are two of these ports, one that is purple and one that is green, the green one is the one that you plug your mouse into, and the purple port is the port that you plug your keyboard into, a mouse is something that you will use to control the ‘mouse’ on the screen, and you will use the keyboard to insert characters into your computer to give it instructions.

Next it’s the VGA port, this port is a port that you plug your monitor into, it basically tells the display monitor what it should be showing you, most monitors support VGA, but if your computer has a different port for a display then you should check the port before you get the monitor.

Next it is the parallel printer port, this is self-explanatory, it is what you plug old fashioned printers into, and it sends information to the printer about what it should print off, newer printers these days use USB ports as they are faster and easier to use.

Next I will explain about USB ports, what they are is things you would plug accessories that you could purchase for a computer, for instance, some mouse’s use USB and flash drives use USB ports, they are universal and almost all things can be changed to use USB ports, so it is good to make sure that your system has them.

Next I will explain the Ethernet port; this is the port that you would use to connect your computer up to other computers, or make a network of computers, using an Ethernet cable.

Last I will explain the input/output sound, it’s pretty simple, you would plug microphones in here and you would also plug in any external speakers that you might have. They need to be a 3.5mm jack so make sure it is the right size for the port. an example of a computers ports is shown below:

Internal Memory - CS1

Internal Memory

A computers internal memory is what is used for the computer to store data to do with things like the operating system. These bits of internal memory are usually stored onto little microchips on the motherboard; the memory can vary from a couple of megabytes to several gigabytes.

Processor cache is something that is used by the internal memory, basically what this does is it has two levels, level one data is accessed by the processor as this is what the processor needs in order to do the instructions it is set, and level 2 cache, which is what holds a little bit of information that is stored on your hard drive, the reason it does this, is the computer predicts what you are going to do next and it tries to get that information before you need it to try and speed up the access times.

You don’t really need to know much about internal memory because of the fact that it is already built into the computer and there won’t be many times when you will need to take it out or replace it with a new one, which would be fairly difficult.