Module 5 Study Questions
Technology in Action (6th Ed.)
Pages 210 to 247

  1. Be able to define the following key terms:
    1. BIOS
    2. Boot process (also called booting)
    3. Buffer
    4. Device driver
    5. Extension (also called filename extension)
    6. File
    7. GUI (graphical user interface)
    8. Icon
    9. Path (also called the file path)
    10. Platform
    11. Queue
    12. Safe Mode
    13. Source code
    14. Swap file
    15. Utility program
    16. Windows Explorer (also called the Computer window)

  2. What are the two primary types of system software?

  3. Describe four categories of operating systems and give an example of each.

  4. What are the advantages and disadvantages to using open source programs?

  5. Identify five things an operating system controls.

  6. Explain how virtual memory is used when a computer runs out of RAM?

  7. Identify two ways you can acquire a device driver when it is not pre-install on your computer.

  8. When running Windows, what can you do if your computer becomes unstable after installing a new device driver?

  9. Explain what is meant when someone says, "the kernel is memory resident."

NOTE: Windows maintains a file called the registry that keeps the different configuration settings used by the operating systems and other applications. Booting errors can often be attributed to the corruption of this registry file when new software or hardware is installed incorrectly or novice users accidentally modify it.
  1. What are three things the authors suggest you should try if Windows doesn't boots properly? (BTW: Try restarting the computer before doing any of these other suggestions.)

NOTE: An operating systems file management commands and actions do the following:
  1. Open a file
  2. Copy a file
  3. Move a file
  4. Rename a file
  5. Delete a file
  6. Create a file folder

  1. Why are creating folders the key to organizing your computer files?

NOTE: The root directory is the primary directory of any disk, USB drive or flash memory card. This is the directory that is created with the storage media is formatted. Folders, also called subdirectories, are added to the root directory to organize files.
  1. What characters cannot be used in a Windows-based filename?

  2. What is the correct way to remove unwanted programs using Windows?

  3. What do the following utility programs do? Identify the Window's menu options you would use to run each utility.
    1. File compression (see Figure 5.28)
    2. Disk Cleanup
    3. Disk defragmentation
    4. Error-checking
    5. Task Manager
    6. System Restore (see Figure 5.33)
    7. Utility manager

  4. What did you find interesting in this week’s reading that was not part of a study guide question?

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