Software
utilities are programs that add functionality and enhance the performance of
computer systems. They are very important and should be taken into account to
avoid having slow computers and malicious viruses or spyware from entering and
damaging the system’s functionality. However, despite them being a crucial part
of every single computer system, some still choose to neglect them because they
are not compulsory to be able to run programs. But in my opinion, they
shouldn’t be ignored at all, because risks are still risks. Without them,
maintaining the life of computers can be quite tricky and chances are, the
computer will worsen overtime quicker than expected. To add that extra
capability that might’ve been partly provided by an operating system e.g.
Windows, will make a lot of difference on the computer’s performance. So why
not? Everyone hates slow computers.
These vital
utilities that analyzes unwanted software, protects the system, helps it
perform better, and maintain its existence (e.g. in Windows, it withholds the
‘blue screen of death’), include things such as firewalls, disk and internet
history cleanup and disk defragmenter (see table below).
Software Utility
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Example(s)
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Purpose
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Security
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Firewalls
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The main objective of firewalls is to protect
computers by inspecting information coming in and out from a network (e.g.
real life, it acts as a ‘security guard’ in businesses, or a ‘wall’ in
offices that stops unwanted things from coming in/prevents ‘fire’ from
spreading from one are to another). Once the information is examined the
software utility, it is then either blocked or approved before it can
penetrate the computer, diminishing unwanted things like hackers and viruses
from entering the system. A typical example of how this utility is used is
when downloading from the internet (e.g. music, picture, movie etc.), because
computer addresses are automatically sent to the website downloaded something
from once the process starts. By clicking ‘download’, the user basically
gives the website the permission to access their computer address, which
sounds rather unsafe. But with firewalls installed on computers, unwanted
things (e.g. those trying to access computer systems without the user’s
permission) are prevented from entering the PC. If the firewall figures that
the website’s address was consented by the user, it lets this enter the PC.
However, if the firewall doesn’t recognise this address, it will block this
attack from entering the system.
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Cleanup tools
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Disk Cleanup
Internet History
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Disk Cleanup is a utility that is built in
Microsoft Windows; its job is to remove unnecessary files on the computer to
provide space for new/more important files. It does this by giving the user
the freedom of selecting which drive to clean up, scanning and calculating
how much space can be saved with the procedure, asking the user which files
to delete e.g. recycle bin , and then performing the cleaning up process by
removing junk and unwanted files that are no longer of any use.
Clearing internet history can speed up the
performance of computer systems, particularly when browsing the Internet.
This is because as the user opens a browser, it also tries to recollect
things such as bookmarks and internet history, and therefore, slowing the
process down. Which is why it is beneficial to clean internet history every
now and then –so that the browser doesn’t take too long recollecting
(especially during the start-up process and when the user is actually trying
to find a certain website browsed in the past). On the other hand, it is also
crucial that this is not taken into action when a fundamental website that
was previously browsed is saved only on this history. But personally, what I
would recommend is save the URL somewhere else and delete the internet
history to speed up the process of the system and in particular, when
browsing.
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Defragmentation
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Disk Defragmenter
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The purpose of disk defragmenting is to collect
files and folders on the computer to one place so that they can be read by
the ‘head(s)’ of the hard drive a lot quicker. Overtime, each file and folder
gets broken up and distributed all over the hard drive’s empty places. For
example, when a 300MB is saved on the computer, it will probably be saved on
thousands of difference pieces spread across the hard drive. As a result,
when opening the file, the computer may take some time because it first has
to search for those scattered pieces so that they can be re-assembled to make
the 300MB file (in order) for the user. This is the reason why over a period
of time, opening files and folders can be challenging for the computer,
causing the process to slow down. Therefore, defragmenting shouldn’t be
neglected like it currently is by many users; it should be done once a month
at the very least as recommended by many experts.
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Software Utility
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How can this improve the
performance of computer systems?
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Improvements that could be
made to the utility
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Security – Firewalls
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Firewalls make computer systems less
vulnerable to viruses and intruders, improving its performance because
viruses tend to make computers slow and do things without the user’s command.
With firewalls acting like a shield protecting the computer from unauthorised
access e.g. by hackers, it is essentially preventing the computer from being
harmed and functioning inexplicably. If a hacker accesses the system, it is
practically in control of it depending on the virus coding. Malicious coding
can include objectives such as shutting down the computer randomly,
creating/deleting files, increasing the number of errors, freezes/ loading
time, and disrupting the hard drive (depending on what the creator coded it
to do); this is why firewalls would benefit computer systems – it will try
its very best to avoid any of the things mentioned above from happening,
improving the system’s performance e.g. less errors, freezes/loading times.
It will also just follow the commands given by the user rather than being
told by the virus what might be a damaging thing to do.
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It’s
not 100% certain that firewalls will protect the computer from every single
malicious virus out there (it can be beaten by some). So to improve, the
utility could be stronger, particularly the built-in ones, because although
the built-in ones are free and come with the computer, they are not as
effective as those that can be purchased, “you get what you pay for”.
However, because these purchasable ones can be difficult/challenging to
install and quite costly, they disable those who have financial issues to
protect their computer as much as possible. Therefore, these pricey utilities
should be cheaper. Alternatively, the built-in ones should be enabled for
(free) quick upgrades (improvements) to defeat those viruses that may be
newly invented. They should also try better to persuade user’s to turn them
on most/all of the time, as having them off increases security risk and makes
the system more prone to hackers and viruses. They could do this by allowing
the user to customize the utility even more so they can enable certain
programs as they command/wish to do so without having to turn the utility
completely off.
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Cleanup tools – Disk Cleanup
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This
Windows maintenance utility helps computers run faster and more efficiently
by clearing the Recycle Bin and easily identifying which old/unwanted/excess
temporary files on the hard drive should be compressed or removed. As a
result, the space on the hard drive is recovered, making the usage of the
utility crucial (at least 1-2 times a month depending on how often the PC is
used), so that the computer stays to run smoothly. The utility may also
discard accidently downloaded malicious files trying to attack the computer
and its performance after the cleaning process, potentially speeding up its
performance that was probably rather poor because of the malware e.g. when
browsing on the Internet.
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Personally
trying the Disk Cleanup gave me an overview of the positive as well as
negative aspects of the utility. For me, the main improvement that could be
done to it is to enhance the speed of the process; it was really
time-consuming and rather irritating the amount of time I had to wait until
the procedure ended. Although it was my first time trying it on my laptop, I
was still expecting it to be faster than what it was like. If I had given the
utility a go before identifying the positive sides from doing it and had to
wait for 30 minutes with the process still going (perhaps half way through),
I probably would’ve just pressed ‘Cancel’, and I’m sure that other people
will do too/be put off with how much time the process can eat away, resulting
these individuals to not be able to visualize how the utility can improve the
PC’s performance and potentially stopping them from trying the procedure
again. Hence why I think that the speed of the process should be improved
significantly. Additionally, the built-in utility should encourage users to
try the cleaning up process more often by notifying them and giving them
details on the many positive effects of using it.
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Defragmentation – Disk Defragmenter
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This
utility makes files easier/faster for the computer to read and the user to
access due to the data being closer together as opposed to being spread out.
When a computer is defragmented, each individual file is moved so that they
are more organised, increasing the PC’s performance due to the hard drive
being neater and its role a lot easier. These enhanced performances after
defragmenting include several things such as, rapid access when…
·
turning
the computer on as files are more compressed and therefore, found much easier
and quicker
·
playing
games where the loading/freezing time is minimised
·
browsing
files e.g. in 'my computer' and 'my documents' where the user won’t have to
wait when opening different files at once
·
browsing
on the Internet where multi-browsing is done a lot faster
Overall,
defragmenting reduces computer freezes because sometimes, the user will be
tempted to close what they’ve tried to open (e.g. a file) if it loads too slowly,
resulting a potential annoying computer freeze. In addition to a defragmented
PC, other performances when opening files can also be improved when opening
from a memory stick, as these can be separately defragmented.
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An improvement that I immediately thought of when I
defragmented my computer with the built-in disk defragmenter on Windows 7 was
to have a graphical representation of
what is currently happening to the hard drive so that the users are visually
informed of how the procedure is tidying up and improving the position of
each file saved on their computers. Also, just like the disk cleanup, the
speed process should be enhanced and not too time-consuming to increase the number of people who uses the utility and
avoid losing those who does use it.
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