Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

LO2: Understand Computer Software

Utility Software
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT
Monday, 10 March 2025
Utility Software
Learning Objective: To be able to demonstrate an understanding of
how utility software is used in a computer system.

Success Criteria:

1. I can describe the purpose of different utility software.

2. I can identify and explain key features and functions of different
utility software.
3. I can evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

What is Utility Software?

Utility system software helps to maintain or configure a computer. Many
useful utilities are installed with the operating system, but extra utility
software can be installed to perform additional tasks.

We are going to focus on the following types of utility software:

• Defragmentation
• Backups
• Compression
• Anti-virus
• Encryption
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

Defragmentation
1) Files are stored on a hard disk in available spaces. Ideally, entire files would be stored together.
2) However as files are moved, deleted and change size, lots of small gaps begin to appear on the
disk. When writing files to the disk, the OS splits files into smaller blocks to fill up the gaps.
3) Over time, the disk becomes more and more fragmented. This makes reading and writing files
slower as the read/write head has to move back and forth across the disk.
4) Defragmentation software reorganises data on the hard drive to put fragmented files back
together. It also moves files to collect all the free space together. This helps prevent further
fragmentation.

Each colour is a file Gaps appear New file (grey) split into blocks Blocks collected Gaps collected

Data on HDD Files deleted New file added After defragmentation

Note: As SSDs use flash storage with no moving parts, fragmentation doesn’t cause any problems as they can
access data just as quickly however its arranged.
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT
Backups Select what files to
backup
Where you can
recover data from a
A backup is a copy of a computer system’s previous backup

files and settings stored externally. This

means data can be recovered in the event
of data loss. Data loss can happen for many
reasons: Where you can
• fire schedule your
• theft backups

• flood
• malware
• hardware failure
• just accidentally deleting a file.

A Incremental Backup: A backup of all changed

backup utility is software with facilities
such asand new files since
scheduling the last
of regular backup.
backups,
creating rescue disks, disk images and
options to have
Full Backup: either of
A backup fullallorfiles
incremental
in a specified
backups.
set of data.
 Compression
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

Compression software reduces the size of

files so they take up less disk space. It’s
used a lot on the internet to make files
quicker to download. Standard file formats
include .zip and .rar
Compressed files need to be extracted
before they can be used.

You can purchase/download software that

deals with file compression, but most
operating systems have this built in.
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT Did you know? There
are on average 82,000
Anti-Virus/Malware Software new viruses written
every day.

Anti-Malware software
is designed to find and
stop malware from
damaging a network
and the devices on it.
There are lots of This is why your anti-
different types of anti- virus software
malware software, updates daily. Every
including anti-virus time a new virus is
programs which isolate discovered it is stored
and destroy computer in a virus database so
viruses. that your software
knows to look for this
one as well when
running scans.
Fact: Nearly seven out of ten attacks on all firms involved viruses, spyware or
malware (.gov UK)
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

Encryption Software
• Encryption scrambles data in such a way that only a
person or computer with the right software key can
read it.

• Much of the data that we send across the internet is

encrypted by software already built into the
browser.

• An encryption utility can be used to secure data.

The file is selected, a password created ad the
encryption utility encrypts the data within that file.
In order to decrypt that data, the correct password
must be entered. Otherwise someone else opening
that file would be scrambled/jibberish data.
Cambridge Technicals Level 3 IT – Unit 1: Fundamentals of IT

Exam Question Practise

1) Explain the difference between a full and incremental
backup.
[2 Marks]

2) Explain how data encryption software works.

[3 marks]

3) Describe how defragmentation works.

[4 Marks]