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1.5.2Utility software

OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277) · Computer systems (Paper 1) › Systems software

Practise Utility software. 11 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of OCR exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy3 marks
(a) State the purpose of utility software.[1]
(b) Which utility reorganises a hard disk so that the parts of each file are stored together?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • Compression software
  • Encryption software
  • Defragmentation software
  • A device driver
(c) Give one example of utility software, other than defragmentation software.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • to help maintain, optimise or protect the computer system (housekeeping tasks)
(b) Answer: Defragmentation software
(c)
  • compression software / encryption software / anti-malware software / backup software
Question 2Medium4 marks
Describe how defragmentation software improves the performance of a magnetic hard disk drive.[4]
Show the answer and mark scheme
  • as files are saved, deleted and changed, files are split into parts stored in different places (fragmented)
  • defragmentation moves the parts of each file so they are stored next to each other
  • the free space is gathered together
  • so the read/write head has to move less to read a file
  • so files are read / loaded more quickly
Question 3Hard4 marks
A video production company uses computers with large magnetic hard disk drives. Video files are created, edited and deleted every day.
(a) Explain why these computers particularly benefit from regular defragmentation.[3]
(b) Suggest why the company schedules defragmentation to run overnight.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • files are frequently created, changed and deleted, so the disks become fragmented quickly
  • video files are very large, so each one may be split into many fragments
  • the read/write head must move to many places to read a fragmented video, which slows loading / playback
  • defragmentation puts each file's parts together, reducing head movement
(b)
  • it can take a long time / slows the computer down while it runs, so it is done when nobody is using the computers

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