WHAT IS SOFTWARE COMPONENTS
In this unit so far we have explored about the hardware components of a PC. Now let us learn about the software component. Without which a PC can not work, no matter how good processor, memory etc you have in your PC.
To solve a given problem, we write various programs in different programming languages. Programs are nothing but a set of instructions written in a programming language to solve a problem. These computer programs are collectively known as Software. Software is an integral component of a computer system. It is the software which directs a computer to do a specific task. Software can be broadly categorized as system software, application software and utility software.
System Software
System software is set of programs which are used to run the system. System software manages all the other resources of the computer. It controls all the operations of the computer. One important system software requires to work any computer system is Operating System (OS).
Operating system is one of the most important system software. An operating system commonly called OS, is system software which acts as an interface between a user and computer hardware. It also acts as a bridge between application programs and the computer hardware. Operating system is must in order to operate a computer. Without operating system computer is of no use. A OS controls and manages all the hardware components of a computer as well as it also controls input and output, memory and files. In other word a OS can be seen as a manager of the system. It optimizes and utilizes various kinds of resources like I/O devices, Memory, CPU etc. Microsoft Windows, UNIX, LINUX, OS/360, OS/2 etc are some of the examples of an Operating system.
Now let us discuss about some of the commonly used application software and utility
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Application Software
Application software is the set of programs necessary to carry out operations for a specified application. These are programs written by programmers to enable computer to perform a specific task such as inventory control, accounting, railway reservation, billing or any such type of applications in real life. These software are user-oriented applications..
Media Player
It is one of the other common examples of application software. It is an application which is used to play multimedia files. Most of the media players can play both audio and video files. Media library is a common part of almost all media players which contains available songs. It is generally used to watch movies and listen to music on the computer. Some media players also have the capability of ripping and burning an audio CD. With the help of ripping option you can convert an audio track to a digital audio file you can also burn a CD which will convert a digital audio file to an audio track.
There are many audio file format , which are used to store digital audio data on a computer. Some audio file farmats are - .mp2,.mp3, .wma, .wav etc. Similarly, .mpg,
.mov, . rm, .wmv etc. are some commonly used video file format. Windows media player, Winamp, iTunes, WinDVD, Real Player, GOM media player are some examples of media player. Windows media player is in-built with windows operating system.
Calculator
It is application software provided by windows operating system. It is an application which is used to perform simple mathematical operations which can be performed by a normal digital calculator..
Below is list of some categories of application software, which are used by a common PC user:
· Word Processor
· Spreadsheet
· Presentation software
· Graphics software
· Computer games/Entertainment software
· Accounting software
Utility Software
Utility programs are also known as utilities. Utilities help out a user for system maintenance and performing routine tasks. It basically deals to optimize, manage, configure and analyze the computer system. Generally utilities are included with the operating systems. While application software are user and application oriented utilities software focuses on system infrastructure. These utilities are specialized programs capable of doing a particular type of tasks. Some of the common tasks of utility software are:
· Formatting of drives
· Scanning system for viruses
· Checking the free space available in a memory
· Checking the free space available in hard disk
· Searching files
· Taking backup of files
The utilities software can be categorized in following types:
· Disk Checkers
· System restore
· Disk Defragmenters
· Disk Management
· Backup
· Anti-virus
· Disk cleaners
· Network utilities
· Data compression etc.
Now we will briefly explore some of the utility software and their functions. We have used Windows XP operating system in executing the steps involved in utilities software mentioned in this section.
Disk Checkers : Disk Checkers are used to check the integrity of the hard disk and Pen Drive/ Flash Drive. CHKDSK is a command which is used for this purpose. This command can be used on a computer running Windows operating system. It fixes the logical file system errors found in the disk/drive. It is a command line tools which is used to check the volumes for any potential errors. This command can be used to repair the problems related to bad sectors, lost clusters, directory errors etc.
How to use CHKDSK Command : You can run CHKDSK command from either My computer or windows explorer and from command prompt.
Running CHKDSK from My Computer :
· Double-click my computer and then right-click the disk drive you want to check.
· Click properties there and then click Tools.
· Under Error-checking, click Check Now button. It will open a dialog-box which shows Check disk options.
Depending upon your preference use one of the following options:
· To run CHKDSK in read-only mode, click Start.
· Select the Automatically fix file system errors check box, and then click Start. It will repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors.
To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
Figure: Execution of CHKDSK Command from My Computer
Running CHKDSK from Command Prompt:
· Click Start and then click Run.
· In Open type cmd and then press enter key, then use one of the following options:
· If you want to run CHKDSK in read-only mode, type CHKDSK at command prompt and press enter.
· If you want to repairs the error without scanning the volumes for bad sectors,type CHKDSK volume:/f at command prompt and press enter.
· If you want to repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, type chkdsk volume:/r at command prompt and then press ENTER.
Once CHKDSK finishes the checking, it returns exit codes whose description is as below:
Exit Code
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Description
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0
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No Errors found
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1
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Errors found and corrected
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2
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Disk cleanup was performed or disk cleanup was not performed because
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/f was not specified
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3
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Could not check the disk, errors could not be corrected or errors were not
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corrected because /f was not specified.
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System Restore
System restore roll backs system files, registry keys etc in case of system malfunction or failure, for later use. System restore is a facility available with modern windows operating system like Windows XP, Windows vista, Windows ME, Windows 7. System restore backs up system files such as .dll, .exe etc and saves it for later use. System restore helps us to restore computer's system files to an earlier state. Sometimes it happens that while installing a program or during use of any other software in the computer, there may some problem occurs and the system starts malfunctioning. One way to get rid of such type of problem is to re-install the software or drivers. But if uninstalling the software doesn't fix the problem then we can restore the computer to an earlier date when the system was working properly. Restore points are used for this purpose which contains information related to registry settings and system information.
It is important to note that the system restore is not able to take back ups of personal files such as images, e-mails, documents etc. so if these personal files got accidentally deleted or lost it cant be restored using system restore. So it's a better practice to take back ups of your personal file regularly.
Steps to use System Restore
Follow these steps to perform restore on your PC:
1. Click on Start button, select All Programs, from there choose Accessories, click on System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
2. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
3. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system restore point in the
On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next.
4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
5. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page is displayed.
6. Click OK.
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