UNIT 2 TASK 3 (P3)

Produce notes explaining the purpose of different software utilities. The presentation should contain screen shots or images and has to cover:

• security virus protection and/or firewalls
• clean up tools for removal of cookies and/or internet history and/or defragmentation
• drive formatting

Software Utilities

Software utilities are programs that is made to help analyse, configure, optimize and maintain your computer. It focuses on the computers internal hardware like the operating system and the software and data storage's.

Security Virus Protection: Security on a computer is assuring that the data that is stored on the computer is secured and cannot be read or be taken control of by someone who doesn't have the authorization to do so. The security measures involve data encryption and passwords.Virus protection is a software that is designed to prevent harmful malware from getting into the computer and damaging it. They have a range of utilities like anti-spyware and anti-malware along with the anti-virus protection. They can also have an anti-spam, anti-phishing, file protections, PC optimization and firewall.

Firewall:  A firewall can be found at the network gateway server and it protects the resources of a private network from users outside of the network. It works closely with a router and examines each network packet to find out whether to forward it to the network. It also works with a proxy server that can make network requests on behalf of the workstation users.It is often installed in specially designated computers to separate the network so it cannot get any incoming requests through the private network.

Clean up Tools: Clean up tools or Disk Cleanup Tool helps clean up and delete any unnecessary data or files that your computer doesn't need. By using this tool you can delete these files safely. On windows it can be found on the My PC page and right clicking the hard drive icon, by doing this you can:

• Delete temporary files - (Internet or Windows)
• Empty the recycle bin
• Delete installed programs that you no longer use
• Delete any Windows components that you are no longer using.

Internet History: Whenever you go onto the internet the computer saves a copy of all the pages that you have visited whilst you were on it. There are some programs that can prevent the history from being recorded and most computers and systems will allow you to delete the history on the computer. There can also be external programs that can save copies of the pages you have visited on an out of computer archive.

Defragmentation: Over time the files and folders on the computer's hard drive can break down or become fragmented, and when this happens the files and folders become disorganized or misplaced. This can cause the computer system to run and process slowly. By defragmenting the computer the files and folders are organised and will improve the PC's performance.

Drive Formatting: Hard drives need to be formatted before you use them. Formatting the drive helps Windows or any other operating system store information. Hard drives in new computers are already formatted but if you buy an external hard drive you may need to format it.

UNIT 2 P6 WITNESS STATEMENT

Witness statement
Learner name		Jodie Chana
Qualification		BTEC National 1st certificate in IT
Unit number and title		Unit 2.2 computer systems.
Assignment		Set up and maintain a computer system
Description of activity undertaken (please be as specific as possible)
Task 2 (P6) Using the computer system provided: Change the icon size to large :  Done Change the font size to large : Done colour/background to red : Done
Assessment and grading criteria
P6.configure a computer system to meet user needs For P6, learners must configure some basic system settings, such as left and right mouse buttons, powersaving options, screen resolution, desktop theme, font size, default language setting, default folder locations etc.
How the activity meets the requirements of the assessment and grading criteria, including how and where the activity took place
Jodie met the task and she was able to show me how to change icon and font size as well as changing the background colour and design. She was able to show me what program you needed to use to change the settings such as powersaving and changing the screen resolution.
Witness name	Branden Kearney		Job role
	MB
Witness signature	B.Kearney		Date	17/10/2014
Assessor name
Assessor signature			Date

UNIT 2 P5 WITNESS STATEMENT

Witness statement
Learner name		Jodie Chana
Qualification		BTEC National 1st certificate in IT
Unit number and title		Unit 2.2 computer systems.
Assignment		P5 set up a standalone computer system, installing hardware and software components [SM3]
Description of activity undertaken (please be as specific as possible)
After making a successful start in your role as an IT trainer for the IT Support Department of RS Components, you have been have been asked to prepare training material of a more advanced and practical kind. Before you are allowed to do this you are required to prove your abilities in hardware and software upgrades. Task Achieved Date achieved Connect a monitor to a computer Yes 16/10/14 Connect a keyboard to a computer Yes 16/10/14 Connect a mouse to a computer Yes 16/10/14 Demonstrate where the graphics card is installed Yes 16/10/14 Install MS Office 2003 Yes 16/10/14 Install MS security essentials Yes 16/10/14 Create a user account Yes 16/10/14 Configure system software, application software and documents Yes 16/10/14
Assessment and grading criteria
P5 set up a standalone computer system, installing hardware and software components [SM3] For P5, learners must install at least one hardware and one software component in a stand-alone system. This is best evidenced with a witness statement or observation record and screen shots. Learners must use suitable safety equipment/tools and pay due regard to health and safety issues.
How the activity meets the requirements of the assessment and grading criteria, including how and where the activity took place
She removed the cage that showed the wires on the computer (Ethernet Cable, 2 Serial Ports Green and Purple, VGA Cable and a USB for the mouse). She reconnected all the wires correctly e.g. connecting the VGA cable to the VGA port and Ethernet Cable to an Ethernet Port. She where the graphics card should go.
Witness name	Branden Kearney		Job role
Witness signature	B.Kearney		Date	16/10/14
Assessor name
Assessor signature			Date

UNIT 2 TASK 2 (P2)

Explain the purpose of operating systems

The presentation should contain screen shots or images and has to cover:

• machine and peripheral management
• security
• file management
• device drivers

Operating systems

An operating system is the most important hardware in the computer, also known as OS is a program that once it has been booted by the computer it can manage the programs that are in the computer system. The other programs are called applications and they make use of the operating system by making requests for services through an application program interface (API). Additionally the user can interact directly with the OS through an interface like a command language or a graphical user interface (GUI). A multitasking operating system can have multiple systems running at the same time and the OS determines what program or application should run in what order. It also manages the internal memory of the multiple applications. It can handle input and output to and from external devices like HDD, printers and dial-up ports. On computers that can deal with parallel processing an OS can manage how to divide the program so it can run on more than one processor at a time. All computers need an operating system in order to function and some operating systems can include Linux, Windows, VMS, OS/400 and AIX.

Machine and Peripheral Management

Windows:
Machine and peripheral management: The OS controls the whole computer as well as its components. It also controls the peripherals like the keyboard, mouse and printers etc. In Windows you can change the screen resolution and mouse cursor and so on by going on the Control Panel program.
Security: An operating system needs to be protected from any harm that and this is so the operating system will continue to function properly. Windows has security section like the user accounts that comes with password protection and a firewall.
File management: All operating systems need to have file management to show, create and delete files and other functions related to the files. Windows have a file management called explorer.exe.
Device drivers: Drivers are very useful when it comes to the OS as it tells it what to do with a specific program. For example in order for a graphics card to work you need to install the necessary drivers for it to function correctly.






















 
MacOS: 
Machine and peripheral management: MacOS control of computer components are very similar, but almost all of devices need to be bought especially for Macs. For example MacOS can control keyboard by changing the input language. For other devices like iPhone MacOS controls screen by changing it to landscape mode.

Security: MacOS got security features like blocking the ports that are potential security issues. It also got security features that checks if the downloaded content is safe or not. In email programs attachments are not opened automatically so they can’t harm user computer without his knowledge. 

File management: The program for file management that MacOS use is called Finder. It is pretty the same as Windows’ explorer, it got appropriate icon for every file type, the tree navigation system and trash on desktop.

Device drivers: Same as Windows’, the drivers are programs that controls the devices. In MacOS case, when the system is closed and you can’t really upgrade anything, every needed driver to run the computer is included in system. But when you want to install new printer, you got to install version of driver for MacOS.

UNIT 2 TASK 1 (P1)

Develop a series of illustrated blogger entries which explain each item listed below and what is each of their functions. In addition, you must identify communication between components.

Internal system unit components:

Processor: A Computer Processing Unit is a piece of hardware inside of the computer sends and carries out information to the rest of the system or computer program. The CPU is basically the brains of a computer. It can carry out basic arithmetic and logic and also the inputs and outputs of the computer system. All instructions the user gives the computer it must go through the CPU first, for example for me to write this text, all the letters that I type on the keyboard to appear on-screen needs to go through the CPU to 'process' the information. The CPU can also be referred to as a processor or a central processor unit.
Normally a CPU has a different components. The first component is the arithmetic logic unit or ALU and this carries out simple arithmetic and logic operations. The second is the control unit or CU. This manages a number of different components in the computer like reading and interpreting instructions from memory and then turns them into a series of signals to activate other parts of the computer. The third is a high speed memory that can copy and retrieve instructions, this is called the cache.
Over time CPU's have changed into microprocessors and they can found on the computers motherboard.