M3 explain the effect of the software maintenance activities carried out on the performance of a computer system.

· virus protection — By maintaining a stable virus protection schedule, you are ensuring that the performance of your system is not being affected by any unecessary infected applications which could case later damage to installed programmes or important files.

· clean-up tools — Defragmenting the hard drive is an important tool used to keep your system "clean" by deleting any unused files which are no longer needed such as tempory internet files. The defragmentation tool also indexes the files which are needed so they can be accessed alot quicker, for example if you installed a game and then uninstalled it you would be left with free memory in which the programme used to be stored, this space is now affecting the systems performance, as it is making the index larger than it needs to be, therefore by defragmenting the system it pulls all of the data together in a logical and more accesible form.

· install and run a firewall - By installing and using a firewall at all times, decreases the risk of downloading infected files (dramtically) such as trojans, which are very common. By using your firewall you are maintaining the performance on your pc greatly because you are preventing unecessary interuptions and damage from viruses, spyware and adware.

· back-up to CD using compression software - maintaining a regular backup schedule will prevent loss of important user data. This will help the performance of your system because if need be you can restore your pc with all of your existing data to a safe point. This could be used in severe virus cases, in which you are unable to remove a virus.

System updates, including Windows update.

System maintenence is essential, with this in mind, windows XP has its own update feature which keeps the system running up to date with the latest drivers and patches. However some components require user attention, such as the graphics card. This component does not have to be updated as long as it has compatiable drivers installed, how ever manufactures (e.g. nVidia) do release new drivers which allow the component to function to there maximum capability. This feature is often used by gamers so that they can play the came at the best frames per second (FPS) they possibly can. Below is a screenshot of windows updater, intsalling new service pack features.

Describe the range of available utility software.

There are many available utility programmes which can enhance computer performance greatly and maintain a healthy computer system free of virus', spyware and many other unwanted intrusions.

Norton 360 Version 2.0 All-in-One Security - This is one example of available utility software. This contains various tools such as a 3rd party defragmentation tool, alongside the standard exepected tools; anti virus, anti spyware, email scanning, firewall protection, backup and restore facility, and rootkit detection. All of these tools will inevitibly enchance computer performance and allow the system to perform to the highest of its capability.

There are many utilites avaiable in software form which will enchance computer performance, these can be anything from factory software which comes alongside computer components such as graphic card drivers.

One utility which from experience, improves computer performance is the AVG virus scanner, which is the core element of the AVG Anti-virus freeware. This utility has been used in a previous blog, which explains what this software actually does.

Images from the Installtion of the EPSON C60 printer.

Installing an EPSON STYLUS C60 Printer

Firstly I ensured I had all the correct cables, this included the printer power cable and the printer cable which connected via the serial port of the PC. I then connected the power supply to the plug socket and the printer cable to the pc. As this printer model isnt't new I needed to download the drivers for the printer, so I had to browse for these and found them on the official EPSON website, here is the link for the exact c60 windows drivers that I used, http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=14416&infoType=Downloads. I then installed the drivers for the printer whilst the printer was switched on. After this I installed the printer and ensured that it was the default printer for my computer via control panel > printers and faxes. It was set as my default as It was the first and only printer to be installed on this machine.

Hardware Installation (PC Stripdown)

Left : The diagram on the left shows the components of the PC which I disassembled and then re-assembled. The components are labelled on the right of the image.

I disassebmled this PC and removed every single component that was preset within this machine, even the power supply and the motherboard. I then cleansed all of the components using a small electrical hoover to remove any dust that may be causing insulation which could cause overheating or bad connections, escpcially the RAM. After cleaning all of the components I then started to re assemble the PC starting with the motherboard and the power supply. I then installed the RAM, CD & Floppy drives, along with the GPU, and the hard disk drive. I now had to clean the processor, so I remvoed the heat sync from the chip, and cleansed the residue of the thermal paste that was already on off with denatured alcohol. I then opened a new tube of thermal paste and re attatched the heat sync to the processor. After isnuring that I applied the exact amount of thermal paste I installed the whole CPU unit onto the motherboard into the LGA 775 socket. After ensuring there was no more dust in the case or on any of the components I ensured all of the screws where in place and secure and then closed the case and screwed it shut. I connected the PC up with a VGA cable for the monitor with a standard mouse and keyboard, and booted up the PC. It was now time to install the operating system, please refer to the installation of XP Professional also on my blog.

Defragmenting the HDD.

After installing various software such as my anti virus programme, I decided to defragmentate my hard drive to ensure that my hard drive data is correctly indexed so that it can fucntion as fast as possible. Defragmenting the hard drive of a computer basically means to clean and condense down all of the files you have on your hard drive and indexing them correctly in a chronological order so that the computer does not have to search the entire hard drive to find a requested file. This cuts down loading times, and the general functionality of the computer is more efficient and sometimes noticebly quicker if the defragmentatyion programme has not been run for a while. It is sometimes useful to run a defragmentation after uninstalling large installtion files such as games, as alot of files sometimes get left behind, these can slow down computer performance. As standard in both versions of XP, (home & professional edition) a disk clean up is performed before the defragmentation to remove any unused files. There is an analyse function within the defragmentation programme which allows you to quickly see what effect running the defrag. will have overall, as the actual process can sometimes be time consuming.

Downloading & Installing AVG anti-virus software.

Now that I have access to the internet I can install my anti-virus software. I need to open an internet browser page and type in the following address, http://free.grisoft.com/. This will take me to the software's homepage. I need then to click on the download tab on the webpage and follow the on screen instrcutions for the exact installation file I need, which is Windows XP professional edition. Now that I have found the file I need to download it which is simply done by clicking the download link, which should bring up an external box with the option to run, save or close the chosen application. I want to save the install to ensure I get all of the downloaded packets so I get a reliable, clean install, afterall this programme is going to ensure the security of my machine, so I need it to run as good as it possibly can, with all of its features available for use. I have chose my desktop as the directory to download the file too, once downloaded I used pre-installed windows file check, to make sure that the file is safe to use and install, after doing this I installed the file into my desired directory. Now that the software is installed, I need to make sure that the software is up to date, by using the update now option on the programme. This will then ask me if I want to update via the internet or by folder ( this would allow me to install from a disc or any other source, in case I do not have internet access at this particular time). I have chosen the internet option, the software will now download the latest updates and automatically install then. Now that my software is fully updated and fully functional, I am now protected from internet threats, as long as I scan my computer often ( this can be set up on a daily routine via the software settings.)

Connecting to the internet.

Now it is time for me to connetc my PC to the internet. As I am connecting via a LAN ( Local Area Network) there is no need for me to set up a personal account with an ISP ( Internet Service Provider). To connect to the internet I simple have to open up an internet browser ( default Internet Explorer), I then go to tools, and then internet options, which brings up an external box. Within this box are various options for me to chose from, but I need to use the connections tab. Once in the connections tab I then need to click on the " LAN Settings" button which will bring up yet another external box. To enable my computer to use the internet I need to connect using a proxy server, which is a server, which services the requests of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers. Once I click the " use a proxy serever for your LAN ..." checkbox, I can now enter an address and a port to use for internet connection. The address I will be using is a server called "oscar" on port 8080. I do not check the " bypass proxy server for local addresses" checkbox and now click "ok". I now apply the settings and refresh the page, which should automatically re-direct me to the default microsoft homepage. My PC is now ready with internet access, which means I can no update my version of windows, and download new drivers and software inluding AVG anti-virus.

Windows Security Center

Here is my windows security center, As you can see the standard windows firewall which comes pre-installed along with windows XP professional edition is already in use and working. By using this system tool I can see that my automatic updates need attention and that my virus protection is " out of date" which means that either no virus protection is yet installed, or the virus protection which is already installed has not been updated. This tool has now shown me that I need some form of anti-virus software, which is exactly what I am now going to do now, but before I can do this I will need to connect to the internet so that I can download the required software. The software I am going to download is made my a company called grisoft, and is called AVG anti-virus.

Virtual PC - Installation of Windows XP

This post is accompanied by images of my installation of Windows XP as you can see by scrolling down my blog. To install XP I used the image ISO file and booted by using this, I then reset my PC which then began the installation. After I had chose my harddrive partitions and chosen the directory of where XP is exactly going to be installed, the installation began. After this I then set up my personal XP setting such as user names, and passwords. I chose not to set up a password as I need to use XP constantly to install software, and hardware drivers, so if I set an administrator password and then forgot it I would have to re-do the whole process. Now that I am on my desktop It is time to install windows updates, and make my pc secure for when I connect to the internet so that I am protected from various threats such as virus's, spyware and adware. The operation system which I have installed is called Windows XP Professional Edition.

Installation of Network Cables

Above are images of the actual network cables being installed into the wall pannels and being connected to the switchboard.






















Above : This is me installing network cables.
















Above : This is me and Tom, my colleague, installing cables into rj45 faceplate sockets.

Below : As above, I am installing PC hardware alongisde my colleague, Tom.

Installing RJ-45

Network practical

I connected a small scale network together and tested to see if all the small wires had been connected to correctly. Firstly I ensured that the cables I used where of the right length and where properly trimmed so that they could be connected effectively to both the network interface and the output rj-45 socket. Has I connected to smaller wires into the interface, I had to ensure that I kept the wires as coiled as possible so that interference was kept to a minimum. Lame connections can result in loss of connectivity to the network, so it is very important that this procedure was carried out with care. After this I then had to connect the cable into the rj-45 output, following the same procedure as before and ensuring that the wires were kept as coiled as possible. The next step was to test what I had connected, I did this by using a special device and selecting the wire test, to make sure all of the wires were connected and ready for use.

Installing ADSL router

Today I have installed a broadband ADSL router to an external pc. The pc was not networked to the college LAN at all, and we used an external telephone port as our means of connection. We firstly installed the router via USB and installed the USB drivers off the CD which came with the router. We then configured the correct IP address via the on board configuration setting on the IP 10.02.02, this was for our internal pc settings. After this we connected to the internet and gained an external I[P in the process. We then reset the router and decided to connect it via Ethernet cable so that if we wanted to connect our pc to a switchboard or a LAN in the future we can do via this method. We followed the previous instructions but used Ethernet instead.The details we used to connect to broadband internet are as follows;

Username: nathanbeardmore2@ic-adsl.co.uk
Password: nb242

The actual router port username and passwords are as follows;

User name: admin
Password: zoomadsl