Common Operating System Problems and Utility Software – Operating System, Application and Utility Software (Senior 3 ICT) | Ganzaa

Operating System, Application and Utility Software

Lessons

Senior 3 · ICT

Operating System, Application and Utility Software

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Common Operating System Problems and Utility Software

25 min

The class laptop that nobody wants

The S3 class shares one laptop for presentations. It takes four minutes to start, a yellow bar warns "Low disk space", and today it will not show anything on the projector. A technician would not guess. She would take each symptom in turn, find its cause and use the right tool to fix it. Most of those tools are utility programs that already come with the operating system. In S1 you learned to restart a frozen program and check cables first; this lesson goes further, to the problems of the operating system itself.

A method, not a guess

Figure 1. The troubleshooting cycle. Change one thing at a time; if a fix does not work, undo it before trying the next, or you will not know which change helped.

Definition

Stop error (the "blue screen"): a full-screen message shown when Windows meets a problem it cannot recover from and must restart. It gives a stop code, such as DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, which points to the cause.

Safe Mode: a way of starting Windows with only the basic drivers and services. If a problem disappears in Safe Mode, a driver or program that normally starts is the likely cause.

System Restore: a Windows tool that returns system files, settings, drivers and installed programs to an earlier restore point, without deleting your documents.

Common problems, causes and solutions

Symptom	Likely cause	Solution (Windows 11)
Start-up takes minutes	Too many programs start automatically	Task Manager → Startup apps: disable programs with high Startup impact that you do not need at once
"Low disk space"; updates fail; files will not save	The system drive is almost full	Settings → System → Storage → Temporary files, or Disk Cleanup; uninstall unused programs; move videos and photos to another drive
Everything is slow; the drive light stays on	Too little free RAM (heavy virtual memory); malware; nearly full drive	Close unused programs and restart; run a full antivirus scan; free space
A device (printer, scanner, projector) does not work	Missing or faulty driver; wrong display setting	Check the cable; Device Manager → right-click the device → Update driver; for a projector press Windows key + P and choose Duplicate
Blue screen with a stop code, then restart	A faulty driver, a failed update or a hardware fault	Note the stop code; undo the latest change (Device Manager → Roll back driver); System Restore; test the memory and drive
Windows will not start, or repeats "Preparing automatic repair"	Damaged system files or an interrupted update	Advanced startup → Startup Repair, Safe Mode or System Restore; last resort: Reset this PC and keep my files
Websites show "Your connection isn't private"	The computer's clock is wrong, so security certificates look invalid	Settings → Time & language → Date & time → turn on Set time automatically
Windows files seem damaged; odd errors in many programs	Corrupted system files	Run the System File Checker, `sfc /scannow`, as administrator

Worked example 1: fixing the class laptop

Slow start. Task Manager → Startup apps lists eleven programs set to start automatically, six of them with high impact (two music players, three update helpers and a chat app). Disabling them cuts start-up to under a minute. Nothing is uninstalled; they simply no longer start by themselves.
Low disk space. Settings → System → Storage shows 1.2 GB free on a 118 GB drive: $\frac{1.2}{118} \times 100 \approx 1.0\%$ free. Deleting 9.6 GB of temporary files and emptying the Recycle Bin frees enough room for Windows Update to work again.
Projector. The cable is firm, so the next simplest fix is Windows key + P → Duplicate. The slides appear. Device Manager was not needed.

Notice the order: each symptom was checked against its most likely cause, with the safest fix tried first.

Utility software: the maintenance kit

Many fixes above used utility software. Utilities do not produce letters or spreadsheets for the user; they keep the computer itself healthy, fast and safe. Some come with the operating system, and others are installed separately.

Utility	What it does	Example in Windows
Antivirus (anti-malware)	Detects, quarantines and removes malicious programs	Microsoft Defender Antivirus, in Windows Security
Disk clean-up	Deletes temporary files, old update files and the Recycle Bin's contents to free space	Disk Cleanup; Storage Sense
Disk defragmenter	Moves the scattered pieces of each file on a hard disk next to each other, so files are read faster	Defragment and Optimize Drives
Disk checker	Scans a drive for file-system errors and damaged areas, and repairs them	Error checking (drive Properties → Tools); `chkdsk`
Backup	Copies files to another place so they can be restored	Windows Backup; File History
File compression	Makes files smaller, for example into a ZIP file, to save space or to send them	Compress to ZIP file; 7-Zip (open source)
Encryption	Scrambles data so that only someone with the key can read it	BitLocker Drive Encryption
System monitor	Shows how the processor, memory, drive and network are being used	Task Manager; Resource Monitor
Firewall	Blocks unwanted network connections	Windows Defender Firewall
Uninstaller	Removes a program and its files cleanly	Settings → Apps → Installed apps

You met antivirus scans and backups in S2. Lesson 5 shows how to install and check an antivirus.

Definition

Utility software: system software that helps to analyse, configure, maintain or protect a computer, rather than doing a user's task. Example: Disk Cleanup.

Fragmentation: the state of a hard disk in which a file is stored in pieces scattered across the disk, because it was saved into whatever gaps were free. Defragmentation rearranges the pieces so that each file sits in one continuous run.

Figure 2. Before defragmentation, the read/write head must jump around the disk to collect file A's five pieces. Afterwards each file is one continuous run, and the free space is in one block.

Worked example 2: defragment or not?

In Defragment and Optimize Drives, lab computer 1 shows Media type: Hard disk drive, status "34% fragmented". Lab computer 2 shows Media type: Solid state drive. Which should be defragmented?

Computer 1: yes. A hard disk has a moving head, so collecting scattered pieces costs time. Defragmenting will speed it up.
Computer 2: no. A solid state drive (SSD) has no moving parts and reads any block equally fast, so defragmenting gains nothing and only adds wear. For an SSD, Windows's Optimize button runs a different job (called TRIM) instead.

Craig'n'Dave: Edexcel GCSE (1CP2) Utility software (about 7 minutes). Watch the sections on file repair, backup, data compression, defragmentation and anti-malware, and add any example you hear to the utility table above.

Tip

Exam hook: name the utility, then the problem it solves. "Disk clean-up, because the drive is full." "Defragmenter, because the hard disk is fragmented." A list of utility names alone earns little; each one needs its purpose.

Warning

Beware "PC cleaner" adverts. Pop-ups that claim "Your PC has 2,317 errors, click to fix" usually sell useless or harmful software. Use the utilities that come with Windows, or programs from the official Microsoft Store or a maker you know. Never defragment an SSD.

✦

Hands-on: a maintenance check-up

Do this on a computer where you are allowed to make changes. Steps 4 and 5 need an administrator account.

Startup apps. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, open Startup apps and sort by Startup impact. Record how many programs are Enabled. Disable only a program you recognise and do not need at start-up (right-click → Disable).
Free space. Click Start, type Disk Cleanup and open it. Choose drive C: and click OK. Tick Temporary files, Recycle Bin and Thumbnails; note the total space to be gained, then click OK → Delete Files.
Optimise. Click Start, type defragment and open Defragment and Optimize Drives. For each drive, record the Media type and Current status. Click Optimize only if the status asks for it.
Check the drive. In File Explorer, open This PC, right-click C: → Properties → Tools → Check, then Scan drive.
System files. Click Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt → Run as administrator. Type the commands below.

plaintext

C:\Windows\System32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.
...
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\Windows\System32>chkdsk C:

Code Explanation

Illustrative output. sfc /scannow (System File Checker) compares Windows's own files with stored good copies and repairs any that are damaged; it can take 10–20 minutes. chkdsk C: reads the drive and reports file-system errors without changing anything; adding /f repairs them, but on drive C: that has to wait for the next restart.

Practice

Define utility software and give four examples, each with its purpose.
A laptop takes five minutes to start. Give the most likely cause and the steps to fix it.
Distinguish between Safe Mode and System Restore.
A drive of 238 GB has 4.8 GB free. Calculate the percentage free, and suggest two ways to increase it.
After a new printer driver was installed, the computer shows a blue screen every morning. What should the technician try first, and why?
Explain why defragmenting a hard disk drive makes it faster, but defragmenting an SSD does not.
Every website on a computer suddenly says "Your connection isn't private", yet the phone next to it opens the same sites. Analyse the likely cause.
Uwase says: "The utilities in Windows are useless; I'll install the free PC Booster I saw advertised in a pop-up." Evaluate her plan.

Show answersHide answers

System software that analyses, configures, maintains or protects the computer. E.g. antivirus (removes malware), Disk Cleanup (frees space), defragmenter (rejoins file pieces on a hard disk), backup (copies files so they can be restored), compression (makes files smaller), firewall (blocks unwanted connections).
Too many programs start automatically. Open Task Manager → Startup apps, sort by Startup impact, and disable the high-impact programs that are not needed at start-up. Restart and time it again.
Safe Mode starts Windows with only basic drivers and services, to find out whether a driver or program is causing the problem. System Restore returns system files, drivers, settings and programs to an earlier restore point, without deleting documents.
$\frac{4.8}{238} \times 100 \approx 2.0\%$ . Run Disk Cleanup or delete temporary files; uninstall programs that are not used; move large files to another drive or to cloud storage.
Roll back the new driver (Device Manager → the printer → Properties → Driver → Roll Back Driver), or use System Restore to a point before the install. The problem began right after that change, so undoing it is the most likely and safest fix.
On a hard disk, a moving head must travel to each scattered piece of a file, which takes time; putting the pieces together removes that travel. An SSD has no moving parts and reads any block equally fast, so there is no travel to save, and the extra writing wears it.
The fault is in that computer, not the websites or the network, because the phone works. The likely cause is a wrong date or time, which makes the sites' security certificates look invalid. Turn on Set time automatically.
A poor plan. Pop-up adverts for "boosters" are a common way to spread scareware and malware, and Windows already includes the utilities she needs (Disk Cleanup, Startup apps, Defragment and Optimize Drives, Windows Security). If she wants another program, it should come from the Microsoft Store or a known maker's official site.

Sources and credits

Utility software, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Defragmentation, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Troubleshooting, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Photo: Open hard-drive.jpg, Zzubnik, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Video: 45. EDEXCEL GCSE (1CP2) Utility software, Craig'n'Dave, embedded from YouTube.
The diagrams, problem table, worked examples, hands-on steps and practice items were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1The class laptop that nobody wants

2A method, not a guess

3Common problems, causes and solutions

4Utility software: the maintenance kit

5Hands-on: a maintenance check-up

The class laptop that nobody wants

A method, not a guess

Common problems, causes and solutions

Utility software: the maintenance kit

Hands-on: a maintenance check-up