Utility programs
Utilities
An important part of systems software is the utility program. According to the British Computing Society, a utility program is a "systems program designed to perform a commonplace task". They provide handy extra functions for your computer. We will now describe in detail some examples of utilities.
Formatting a disk
A handy little utility that comes with most systems software is a 'format disk' utility. This allows a user to buy a standard storage device e.g. a USB pen drive and then set it up for their particular machine's operating system. When you 'format a disk' the utility checks that the disk can be written to and then divides up the disk into areas, giving each area an address. It then sets up a table that will keep track of what is stored in each area as well as areas that, for example, have become corrupted and cannot be used. You cannot use a storage device until it has been formatted although you can buy pre-formatted ones.
Disk maintenance and the defragmentation utility
It is possible that parts of a hard disk, for example, become unusable. A utility is provided in operating systems to check to see if there are any problems areas on a disk and to try and fix them. In Windows, you may have used the Scandisk utility to do this. We have said that files are stored in areas on a disk. Sometimes, an area isn't big enough to hold the whole file so a number of areas have to be used. If lots of areas are used to hold one file and those areas are scattered all over the disk, then retrieving a file can be slow. You should run the defragmentation utility if you have one (Disk Defragmenter in Windows) every few weeks, to ensure that files are stored physically as close as possible on your disk. If your computer has become sluggish, one reason might well be that your hard disk has become fragmented - so defragment it! This is part of the defrag report that Windows generates.
System use
It is often possible for a user to get some statistics from the operating system about how much RAM the system has got, how much hard disk space is available for use, what software drivers are installed and so on. This is possible because a 'system use' utility is available that can examine a computer system and display what it finds. See what ‘System use’ information you can find on your home PC. Use the Internet to find out what to do for your particular operating system.
Screen savers
Screen savers are moving pictures that are displayed on your monitor after a set period of time. The original purpose of them was to prevent a ‘ghost’ image of whatever was on a screen being burnt permanently into the screen of the VDU, if the VDU happened to be left on for a long time. This was true with the early monitors. Modern Visual Display Units are much less susceptible to this problem. However, screen savers nowadays have an extra feature. They can be password-protected. If you leave your computer alone for a period of time, a password-protected screen saver can be set to come on to prevent prying eyes from accessing your computer. Although it is not a robust form of defence, it can stop casual access.
File handlers
When you are using an application such as a word processor to write an essay, there comes a time when you need to save it onto a storage device. This requires a small program to do just that. If you then needed to get the essay back later so that you could carry on working on it, then you would need another small program to do that task. If you then wanted to print it out, or you wanted to delete it, you would need two more small programs. These small programs, which each performs a single, specific task, are together known as ‘file handlers’. File handlers are another type of utility you can use.
Compression software
Sometimes, you need to compress one or more files or indeed a whole folder of files. This is sometimes known as zipping up a file or folder. File compression means that you take the file or folder and squash it. This makes it much smaller than the originals. Compressed files and folders take less time to transmit across the Internet than larger files. In addition, you can also store more on a storage device if you compress the files and folders you want to store first. Compression software is an example of a utility program.
Drivers
When you buy a new peripheral, you often get a ‘driver’ with it on a CD or you can download the latest one from the Internet. A driver is a piece of software that allows communication between a peripheral and the operating system on the computer it is connected to. They can therefore pass instructions to each other and each can obey any instructions received from the other. Sometimes, a peripheral uses a standard driver that comes with an operating system. Whilst this is fine for basic functions, any advanced functions that the peripheral may be able to carry out will not happen unless the software driver designed for that peripheral is installed and used. Drivers are another example of utility programs.
Virus checkers
These are another example of utility programs. They are designed to scan your computer for viruses and to intercept any that try to attack your computer, perhaps via a storage device or email. When a virus is detected, you are then given options to deal with it, such as quarantining it so it cannot harm your computer, deleting it if possible or reporting it, for example.