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1. Introduction

Specification point:

Describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for:

- computer security

  • antivirus
  • spyware protection
  • firewalls

- disk organisation

  • formatting
  • file transfer
  • defragmentation

- system maintenance

  • system information and diagnosis
  • system cleanup tools
  • automatic updating

 

 

It has been mentioned in earlier mini-websites that the operating system is responsible for a number of functions.

One of these functions is to manage a number of 'housekeeping' tasks. These are the things that need to be done in order to keep things running smoothly and efficiently.

The operating system controls a number of utility software applications to carry out specific tasks. We will look at them in more detail over the next few pages.