Which term describes the software that manages computer hardware, users and the resources used by other programs?
Operating system
What is meant by utility software?
Software that carries out housekeeping tasks to keep a computer running efficiently
Which term describes the process of reorganising files so that they are stored in order and can be read more quickly?
Disk defragmentation
What is meant by data compression?
Reducing the size of a file so that it takes up less storage space
Which utility is designed to find and remove programs that could harm a computer or its data?
Anti-malware software
What is meant by peripheral management?
Controlling the devices attached to a computer and the data sent to and from them
What is meant by file management?
Keeping track of where files are stored and how they are opened, saved and deleted
What is meant by process management?
Deciding which programs are given time on the processor and in what order
Which statement describes the difference between an operating system and utility software?
The operating system manages resources while utilities perform housekeeping tasks
Which of these is a type of utility software?
Anti-malware software
A student wants to make copies of important files in case the originals are lost. Which utility should they use?
Backup software
A file becomes corrupted and cannot be opened. Which utility software could repair it?
File repair software
Large files need to be reduced in size before being sent by email. Which utility should be used?
Data compression software
A computer's operating system manages the keyboard, mouse and printer. Which OS function is this?
Peripheral management
A school network requires each student to log in and controls which files they can access. Which OS function is this?
User management
An operating system decides which program runs next on the processor. Which function is this?
Process management
Why does defragmenting a hard disk make files quicker to read?
The parts of each file are stored together so less time is needed to read them
Which task is carried out by utility software rather than by the operating system?
Reorganising the files on a disk so that they are stored in order
After installing a program from the internet, a user finds their computer runs slowly and unwanted pop-up windows keep appearing. Which type of utility software should be used?
Anti-malware software
Which term describes the part of an operating system that handles communication with devices such as printers, mice and displays?
Peripheral management
What is the name for a device such as a keyboard, mouse or printer that connects to a computer?
Peripheral
What is the name for a program that allows an operating system to control a peripheral such as a printer or mouse?
Device driver
What is the main purpose of peripheral management in an operating system?
Sending data to and receiving data from devices such as printers and mice
A student plugs in a brand new type of graphics tablet but it does not work. What is the most likely reason?
The operating system does not have a driver for the new device
Which of the following is a peripheral device?
A digital camera
Why does a mouse usually work as soon as it is plugged into a computer?
The operating system already includes a driver for the mouse
A computer has a keyboard, a mouse and a printer connected to it. How many device drivers does the operating system use to communicate with these peripherals?
Three, one for each device
Which term describes a piece of hardware that allows data to be entered into a computer so that it can be processed, such as a keyboard or a scanner?
Input device
What is meant by 'output device'?
Hardware that receives data from a computer and presents it to the user, such as a monitor or a speaker
What is meant by a peripheral?
A device such as a keyboard or camera that connects to a computer
What is the main role of a device driver?
Translating operating system instructions for a device
Which task is part of peripheral management in an operating system?
Passing data between a device and the operating system
A user's webcam has been unreliable. The manufacturer releases a new version of its driver. What is the most likely effect of installing this driver?
The webcam should work correctly again with the operating system
Where do device drivers come from?
They are supplied with the operating system or by the manufacturer
A mouse and a digital camera are both connected to the same computer. Why does each device need its own type of driver?
Each device sends and receives data in its own way
A touchscreen in a shop displays information and lets a customer tap buttons on the screen. Which type of device is the touchscreen?
Both an input device and an output device
Which term describes the operating system function that handles logins and passwords and decides what each person using the computer is allowed to do?
User management
Which term describes a user who can add and remove accounts and change the access rights of every other user?
System administrator
What is meant by read-only access?
A user is allowed to open and view a file but cannot change or delete it
What is meant by a user login?
A person types a username and password so the operating system can identify them
Where does an operating system keep the usernames and passwords of the people who can use the computer?
In a file or database
What are administrator privileges?
Access rights that let a user manage accounts and install programs
What is meant by a user account?
The username, password and access rights of one person
Why does an operating system store user passwords in an encrypted form?
So that anyone who reads the file cannot understand them
Why should each user of a shared computer be able to see only their own files?
So that each user's files remain private
Which of these is a user management task carried out by an operating system?
Deciding which files a user may open
What are access rights?
The actions a user is allowed to carry out
An administrator sets a maximum amount of disk space that each user can use. Why is this done?
To share out the limited storage on the computer
On a school network, which user should be allowed to install new software on the computers?
The system administrator
Which statement about access rights on a computer is correct?
Different users can be given different levels of access
A new employee joins a company. What must the system administrator do so that the employee can log in to a computer?
Create a user account for the employee
Two users share a computer, but only one of them is allowed to open the company's accounts program. How is this achieved?
The two users have different access rights
A member of staff leaves a company. Why should the system administrator delete that member of staff's user account?
So that the former member of staff cannot log in
A student joins a school's editing club and now needs to be able to change files in the club's shared folder. What should the system administrator do?
Change the access rights of the student's account
Why is it a problem if every user of a computer is given full access rights to all of the files?
Any user could change or delete another user's files
A user logs in to a computer. How does the operating system know which files and programs that user can open?
It uses the access rights stored for the user's account
Which term describes the part of an operating system that controls where items are stored on a disk, keeps a record of their locations and makes sure none overwrite another?
File management
What is meant by a file path?
The route from the root folder through each sub-folder to reach a particular file
What is the name for the folder at the top of a drive, from which all other folders branch?
Root directory
What is meant by a hierarchical structure when files are stored?
Folders are arranged in a tree with a root at the top and sub-folders branching beneath it
Which term describes changing where a file is stored so that it is no longer kept in its original folder?
Moving a file
Which file management feature is used when a user chooses a name for a file so that it can be identified later?
Naming files
A student writes a report in a word processor and stores it on the disk so that it can be opened again later. Which file management feature has been used?
Saving files
A folder called Photos is stored inside a folder called Holiday. What is Photos an example of?
A sub-directory
A file called notes.txt is stored in a folder called Science, which is inside a folder called School. Which path is correct?
School/Science/notes.txt
Why does the operating system keep a record of where each file is stored on a disk?
So the file can be found and opened again
A student creates a folder called English and puts each of their essays into it so that all their English work is kept together. Which file management feature are they using?
Allocating files to folders
In a hierarchical file system, what can a folder contain?
Files and other folders
A student saves a new report in a word processor. What manages where the file is written on the disk?
The operating system
A student wants to keep the original file in its folder and also have an extra version of it in another folder. Which file management feature should they use?
Copying the file
A student keeps hundreds of files together in a single folder. Why does putting the files into folders make them easier to work with?
Related files are grouped together so they can be found more quickly
A student no longer needs the first draft of an essay and wants it removed from the disk completely. Which file management feature should they use?
Deleting the file
A folder called Albums is stored inside a folder called Music. What is Music in relation to Albums?
Its parent directory
A student moves a file from the folder Archive into the folder Projects. What happens to the file's path?
It changes because the file is now stored in a different folder
Which term describes a program, or part of a program, that has been moved into memory and is being executed by the CPU?
Process
What is meant by multitasking?
The operating system managing several tasks at the same time by sharing the CPU between them
What is meant by a time slice?
The short period of CPU time given to a process before the operating system moves the next process onto the CPU
What is meant by a software interrupt?
A signal generated by a program that makes the CPU deal with an event straight away
Which term describes a process that is in memory and waiting to be given the CPU?
Ready
What is the main purpose of process management in an operating system?
To share the processor between the programs that need to run
When a program is opened, what does the operating system do so that the process becomes ready?
It moves the process instructions into RAM
What is an interrupt?
A signal sent to the CPU showing that an event needs immediate attention
Which of these would cause a hardware interrupt?
A printer running out of paper
The operating system decides that another process should use the CPU. What happens to the process that was running if it is not finished?
It joins the back of the queue to wait its turn
Which part of the operating system decides which process will next run on the CPU and for how long?
The scheduler
What does the CPU do when it receives an interrupt?
It suspends its current activities and runs the appropriate instructions
A user closes a word processing program after saving their work. What happens to the process?
It is terminated and the memory it was using is freed
A process is blocked while it waits for the user to type some data. What does the operating system do with the CPU while it waits?
It moves another process that is ready onto the CPU
A process is blocked while it waits for data to be read from a hard disk. The data has now been read into memory. What happens to the process?
It moves back to the ready state and waits for its turn on the CPU
A user is only working in a spreadsheet, but the operating system is managing many processes at once. Why is this?
Many background processes are also running, such as checking for updates
A computer is running several programs. Which statement about the CPU is correct?
It can only execute the instructions of one process at a time
Which term describes the operating system function that decides where in main memory each program and its data will be stored?
Memory management
What is meant by 'virtual memory'?
A section of secondary storage used as an extension of RAM when RAM is full
What is the name for the technique of dividing main memory into fixed-size blocks so that processes can be swapped between RAM and secondary storage?
Paging
What is meant by 'multi-tasking'?
The operating system manages several tasks at the same time and decides which process runs on the CPU and for how long
Which term describes a program that has been loaded into main memory and is being executed by the CPU?
Process
What is meant by a 'page'?
A fixed-size block of memory used when the operating system swaps processes between RAM and secondary storage
When a program is loaded into main memory, what else is copied in with it?
The data that the program is using
Why does the operating system keep a record of where each program and its data are stored in main memory?
To stop existing programs and data being overwritten
A computer is running a web browser, a music player and a messaging app at the same time. How does the operating system manage memory for these tasks?
It allocates space in main memory to each task
When main memory is full, where does the operating system store pages that are not currently needed?
In secondary storage
A page belonging to a process is currently stored in virtual memory. What happens when that process is next given time on the CPU?
The page is swapped back into main memory
Why must the operating system load a program into main memory before the CPU can execute it?
The CPU can only fetch instructions that are held in main memory
What happens to the programs and data held in main memory when the computer is switched off?
They are lost because main memory is volatile
A student opens a video editor, a word processor and a spreadsheet on a computer with 4 GB of RAM. The video editor needs more memory than is available. What will the operating system do?
Move pages of other programs into secondary storage
A program that was running is closed by the user. What happens to the main memory it was using?
It becomes free and can be allocated to another program
A computer is running slowly because it is relying heavily on virtual memory. Why does this slow the computer down?
Secondary storage is much slower to read from and write to than main memory
A computer with more main memory can run more programs at the same time before it starts to slow down. Why?
More programs and their data fit in main memory at once
What is meant by defragmentation?
Reorganising files on a hard disk so that parts of each file are stored together, which reduces access times
What is the name for a utility program that reduces the size of files so that less storage space is needed and files can be sent more quickly?
Data compression software
What is meant by file repair?
Software that recovers or reconstructs data in a file that has been saved incorrectly or become corrupted
What is meant by anti-malware software?
Software that scans a computer for known viruses and other malicious programs and quarantines any files that match
Which statement about how utility software is supplied is correct?
It may come with the operating system or be bought separately
What is meant by decompression?
Restoring a compressed file to its original size so that it can be used
What is the purpose of utility software?
To carry out housekeeping tasks so the computer runs efficiently
A large file is stored in several separate blocks across a hard disk instead of in one continuous block. What is this called?
Fragmentation
Why does defragmenting a hard disk make files quicker to access?
Files are stored together so the drive head moves to fewer locations
A document cannot be opened after the power was lost while it was being saved. Which utility software would be used to recover the data?
File repair software
Which statement about file repair software is correct?
It can recover data from a corrupted file, although some data may be lost
What is the main benefit of compressing a folder of files before sending it over the internet?
Less data needs to be transmitted, so the files are sent more quickly
Why should a copy of a backup be stored at a different location from the original data?
So the data survives an event such as a fire or flood at the original site
How does anti-malware software work out that a file contains a virus?
It compares the file with virus definitions stored in a database
Which type of malware records a user's keystrokes and sends the information to a hacker?
Spyware
A company keeps its customer records on a computer. Why is it important to back up these records regularly?
So lost or damaged records can be restored from the copy
Disk defragmentation moves the parts of each file together on a hard disk. What effect does it also have?
Free space is collected into one area so new files are not split
A pupil needs to email a folder of photographs, but the folder is larger than the size limit set by the email service. How could data compression software help?
The compressed folder may be small enough to fit within the limit
A free game is installed on a computer. Unknown to the user, it also installs software that lets an attacker take control of the computer. Which type of malware does this describe?
A trojan horse
Anti-malware software checks files while they are being downloaded as well as scanning the whole computer. Why is this useful?
Harmful files can be stopped before the user opens them
A company copies its data onto backup tapes at the end of each day. How does compressing the data before it is backed up help?
More data fits onto each tape, so fewer tapes are needed
Which term describes the operating system function that decides where data is stored on a hard disk and keeps track of where it is so it can be found again?
File management
What is meant by process management?
Sharing the processor time between programs and moving them through the ready, running and blocked states
Which term describes the operating system function that handles logins and passwords and stores details of everyone who can use the computer?
User management
What is meant by a device driver?
A program that controls a peripheral device such as a printer or mouse
What is meant by peripheral management?
The operating system handling the input from and output to devices such as printers, mice and displays
Which term describes the settings that control whether a person is allowed only to read a file or is also allowed to change it?
Access rights
Which term describes the part of the operating system that allows a user to give instructions and see information, for example through windows and icons?
User interface
What is the main purpose of an operating system?
To manage the hardware, users and resources used by software
A student listens to music while writing an essay and chatting online. The operating system shares the processor time between all of these tasks. What is this called?
Multitasking
The operating system manages processes. Why does it allow each process to use the processor for only a short amount of time?
So that every process gets a turn to use the processor
What does the operating system do when it carries out memory management?
It records where programs and data are held in main memory
A computer in an office is shared by several members of staff. Which of these is an example of access rights?
A user can read a file but cannot edit it
Why does the operating system store user passwords in an encrypted form?
So that anyone reading the password file cannot understand them
Which of these tasks is carried out by the operating system as part of file management?
Moving a document from one folder to another
A process is waiting for the user to type a command. Which state is this process in?
Blocked
A document is being sent to a printer when the printer runs out of paper. What will the operating system do?
Report the error to the user on screen
A program has just been opened and its instructions have been copied into main memory. The process is waiting for its turn on the processor. Which state is it in?
Ready
A user opens a program that is stored on the hard disk. What must the operating system do before the processor can run it?
Copy the program into main memory
In a school, a technician can install new software on the computers but the teachers cannot. What is this an example of?
Users being given different levels of access rights
A student connects a brand new type of graphics tablet to a computer but it does not work. What should the student install to make it work?
The device driver supplied with the tablet
Several programs are open at the same time and each one has data in main memory. Why must the operating system manage this memory?
So that one program's data is not overwritten by another
A development team keeps an audit trail when they update their program. Why is this useful?