GCSE OCR Computer Science Operating Systems & Utility Software: Ali’s tablet computer has an ope

Question

Ali’s tablet computer has an operating system.

(a) Complete the following description of the functions of an operating system by selecting the appropriate missing words from those in the box.

The operating system provides a user interface. This displays the output to the user and allows the user to interact with the hardware.

The operating system controls the movement of data from secondary storage to RAM and vice-versa. This is known as memory management.

The operating system can only perform one process at a time, but by managing the memory the computer can appear to be completing more than one process at a time. This is known as multitasking.

An operating system allows device drivers to be installed to allow an external piece of hardware to interact with the operating system.

The operating system provides security through user accounts and passwords. It also creates and maintains a file system to organise files and directories.

(b) Ali runs defragmentation analysis on his magnetic hard disk. Parts of the results are shown.

(i) Explain how defragmentation will change how the files and free space are arranged on Ali’s hard disk.

Defragmentation will rearrange the files on Ali's hard disk so that they are stored in contiguous sections. This reduces the distance the read/write head has to move, which speeds up access times.

(ii) After defragmentation, Ali's computer is able to access files faster. Explain why Ali's computer can access the files faster after defragmentation.

After defragmentation, the files are located closer together, which minimizes the movement of the read/write head. This allows for quicker data retrieval.

(iii) Give three additional examples of utility programs.

1. Backup
2. Anti-virus
3. Disk encryption

(c) Ali's computer uses virtual memory. Ali has written two procedures to help himself understand how virtual memory works.

procedure storeData()
if RAM is full then
move data from RAM to secondary storage.
endif
store data in next free space in RAM.

procedure accessData()
if data required is in RAM then
if RAM is full then
move unneeded data from RAM to HDD.
endif
move required data from HDD to RAM.
endif
read data from RAM.
endprocedure

(d) Ali's tablet computer also has ROM (read only memory).

Describe the purpose of ROM in Ali's tablet computer.

ROM contains the firmware that enables the tablet to boot up. It is non-volatile and holds instructions that should not be changed.

(e) Ali thinks his tablet is an embedded system.

State whether Ali is correct or incorrect, justifying your choice.

Choice: Incorrect

Justification: Ali's tablet is not considered an embedded system because it runs a general-purpose operating system and is designed for multiple tasks.

(f) Ali's tablet computer has 100GB of secondary storage. There is currently 80GB available.

Ali wants to transfer a series of video clips onto his tablet. Each video clip is, on average, 200000 kilobytes.

Calculate an estimate of the number of video clips Ali can fit onto his tablet.
Show your working.

Working: 
Available storage = 80GB = 80 × 1024 MB = 81920 MB = 81920 × 1024 KB = 83886080 KB.

Number of video clips = 83886080 KB / 200000 KB = 419.3.

Answer: Ali can fit approximately 419 video clips onto his tablet.

Ali’s tablet computer has an operating system - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 5 - 2020 - Paper 1

Worked Solution & Example Answer:Ali’s tablet computer has an operating system - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 5 - 2020 - Paper 1

Complete the following description of the functions of an operating system by selecting the appropriate missing words from those in the box.

Explain how defragmentation will change how the files and free space are arranged on Ali’s hard disk.

Explain why Ali's computer can access the files faster after defragmentation.

Give three additional examples of utility programs.

Describe the purpose of ROM in Ali's tablet computer.

State whether Ali is correct or incorrect, justifying your choice.

Calculate an estimate of the number of video clips Ali can fit onto his tablet.

Join the GCSE students using SimpleStudy...