utility programs

ASSIGNMENT 18

Utility programs

These are standard programs that run under control of the operating system just like your applications programs. They are called utilities because they perform general types of functions that have little relationship to the content of the data. Utility programs eliminate the need for programmers to write new programs when all they want to do is copy, print, or sort a data file.

Utility programs categories
-Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files. There are a number of different file categories that Disk Cleanup targets when performing the initial disk analysis:
 Compression of old files
 Temporary Internet files
 Temporary Windows file
 Downloaded Program files
 Recycle Bin
 Removal of unused applications or optional Windows components
 Setup Log files
 Offline files
The above list, however, is not exhaustive. For instance, 'Temporary Remote Desktop files' and 'Temporary Sync Files' may appear only under certain computer configurations, differences such as Windows Operating System and use of additional programs such as Remote Desktop. The option of removal hibernation data may not be ideal for some users as this may remove the hibernate option.

-Disk checkers is a command on computers running DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems that displays the file system integrity status of hard disks and floppy disk and can fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix. On computers running NT-based versions of Windows, CHKDSK can also check the disk surface for physical errors or bad sectors, a task previously done by SCANDISK. This version of CHKDSK can also handle some physical errors and recover data that is still readable.

-File managers is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations used are create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, attributes, properties, search/find, and permissions. Files are typically displayed in a hierarchy. Some file managers contain features inspired by web browsers, including forward and back navigational buttons.

-Backup utility refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup (often used like an adjective in compound nouns).
Backups are useful primarily for two purposes. The first is to restore a state following a disaster (called disaster recovery). The second is to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted. Data loss is also very common. 66% of internet users have suffered from serious data loss.

-Defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compactionto impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence.

-Data compression is the process of encoding information using fewer bits (or other information-bearing units) than an unencoded representation would use, through use of specific encoding schemes.
Another related concept to compression is that of Data deduplication. In computing, data deduplication is a specialized data compression technique for eliminating coarse-grained redundant data, typically to improve storage utilization.

-Virus protection is used to prevent, detect, and remove malware, including computer viruses, worms, and trojan horses. Such programs may also prevent and remove adware, spyware, and other forms of malware.
A variety of strategies are typically employed. Signature-based detection involves searching for known malicious patterns in executable code. However, it is possible for a user to be infected with new malware for which no signature exists yet. To counter such so-called zero-day threats, heuristics can be used.

-Data recovery is the process of salvaging data from damaged, failed, corrupted, or inaccessible secondary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data are being salvaged from storage media such as hard disk drives, storage tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID, and other electronics. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage device or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system.

-Diagnosis utility recovers data from the message store. The utility tool checks the synchronization status of each subscription that the user is associated with and checks if it needs recovery. If it does, the tool recovers and writes the recovery status in an output file. You can run this utility before deleting or resetting a device or user ID to collect data that can help you diagnose client synchronization problems.