D1 explain how software utilities can improve the performance of computer systems

Virus Protection

This utility helps to improve system performance by maintaining a safe environment for the user to use and keep out malware that will slow down and decrease system performance and effectiveness, it does this by preventing malware from entering a system, detecting any malware that is on a system and ultimately removing that malware from the system. If the system is malware free then the system can run effectively and without interference or performance decrease, this is because without virus protection malware would go relatively unnoticed on a system unless the user found and deleted the malware, but virus protection does this for the user and also speeds up the process as it is designed to perform this function.

Firewall

This utility helps to keep out bad traffic that may contain malware or malicious code, this in itself helps to maintain a stable system performance by terminating any suspicious data packets that could contain malware or code that could damage the system. This helps to keep the system safe and maintain a constant security which helps the user to complete other tasks without interference from malware.

Clean Up Tools

This utility deletes unnecessary files and data such as temp files, internet history, cookies and files in the systems recycling bin, this helps to free up space and keep the systems performance from being decreased due to the excess of unused files. Deleting these unused and unnecessary files will help maintain a steady performance by not letting it be slowed down by these files, this will in turn mean the user can consistently maintain a stable working system without a performance decrease.

Defragmentation

This utility frees up disk space and removes fragmentations from storage media, this means that when trying to find a file the system can locate it easier, this increases system performance as it takes less time to find files and data, and also creates more disk space. This improves the system by allowing it to run faster and also effectively extends the amount of data that can be stored on the storage media by removing these fragmentations and freeing up space.

Drive Formatting

This utility prepares storage media for use by creating partitions and readying it to store files, this benefits the system by allowing it to have a fully-functioning storage media device that is ready to use. This is an improvement to current systems by ensuring storage media is ready to use.

Backup Tools

This utility duplicates any files targeted and stores them in an alternate location such as a separate hard drive to the original files or even a cloud service, this is done so that in the event of a technical failure or the original files becoming unavailable, there is then a copy of those files in a separate location that can be obtained and implemented back into the system so no files are permanently lost.

This improves the performance of a system by allowing the users activities to resume as quickly as possible in the event of a disaster.