What are device drivers? What does the Windows Add Printer Wizard do? What is Windows Update? And when would you use it?

System programs that allow devices to communicate with your computer, e.g. printer drivers

This wizard will allow you to search for the appropriate device driver to load onto your computer so you can use a new printer.

This utility will search for any updated device driver software in order to improve the performance of your computer.

Occasionally, companies will update their driver software to fix bugs or problems in older versions.

Describe Backup, Disk Cleanup, and Disk Defragmenter?

Backup, Disk Cleanup, and Disk Defragmenter are typical utilities found on the MS Windows system tools utilities:

Backup will copy files to another storage medium to help recover from disk failures

Disk Cleanup will remove unnecessary temporary files used when browsing the Web

Disk Defragmenter can improve disk performance by removing file fragments from a hard drive.

What is the difference between a utility and a utility suite?

A utility is just one program or application used to enhance a computers performance, e.g. Norton Antivirus

A utility suite is a group of commonly used utilities, packaged so the cost of the suite is less than buying each utility separately.  An example is the Norton SystemWorks suite.

Describe each of the three categories of operating systems

Embedded Operating Systems: built right into the device, e.g. the Palm OS on a Palm PDA device or Windows CE.

Network Operating Systems: designed to run a network of computers – typically have a server version which controls all the network operations, and a client version for each device attached to the network.  An example is Microsoft Windows XP Server

Stand-alone (or desktop) operating systems: designed to run on a single computer or as a client on a network.  Examples include Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Mac OS X

What is an operating system? Discuss operating system functions and features.

An operating system is a collection of programs that handles many of the technical details related to using a computer, such as resource allocation, etc.

OS Functions include: managing resources, providing a user interface, and running applications.

OS Features include: booting (starting) the computer, GUI’s with icons, pointers (cursors), windows, menus, dialog boxes, and help.

What is system software? What are the four kinds of system software programs?

System software is a collection of programs that handle the technical details of running the hardware

Four kinds of system software programs include:

Operating systems – coordinate resources, provide a user interface

Utilities – add additional features such as virus protection

Device drivers – create a standard method for connecting devices such as printers

Language translators – convert a computer program’s source co

de into the binary language the computer understands

System Software

Computers and computer applications are ubiquitous in our lives so much so that we expect them to “be there when we need them”.

We often give little thought to the processes and programs running behind the scenes to keep our computers functioning effectively.

These kinds of programs and processes (i.e. operating systems, utility programs, device drivers, etc…) fall under the topic of system software and are covered in this chapter.