Computer Science (9-1)

1.5 – Systems software

Antony Gallagher
Please note that you may see slight differences between
this paper and the original.
Duration: Not set
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INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes above. Please write clearly and in capital letters.
• Use black ink. HB pencil may be used for graphs and diagrams only.
• Answer all the questions, unless your teacher tells you otherwise.
• Read each question carefully. Make sure you know what you have to do before starting your answer.
• Where space is provided below the question, please write your answer there.
• You may use additional paper, or a specific Answer sheet if one is provided, but you must clearly show your candidate
number, centre number and question number(s).

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

• The quality of written communication is assessed in questions marked with either a pencil or an asterisk. In History and
Geography a Quality of extended response question is marked with an asterisk, while a pencil is used for questions in
which Spelling, punctuation and grammar and the use of specialist terminology is assessed.
• The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
• The total number of marks for this paper is 63.
• The total number of marks may take into account some 'either/or' question choices.

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 1 Julian buys a new laptop with a system information utility and a diagnosis utility.

Describe, using examples, the purpose of the system information and diagnosis utilities.

System information utility

Example

Diagnosis utility

Example

[4]

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 2 Xander’s tablet computer comes with system software, including an operating system and utility system
software.

The utility system software provides compression software. Xander uses this to compress an image.

(i) Explain how the compression software will compress the image file.

[4]

(ii) Give the name of two other types of utility system software.

[2]

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 3 A restaurant has a computer-based ordering system which is running slowly. A technician has said that the hard
disc drive is fragmented. The technician has suggested using utility software to defragment the drive.

Explain how defragmentation software could overcome the issue of the slow computer system.

[3]

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 4 Apu has a handheld e-book reader that allows him to store and read electronic books.

The manufacturer of the e-book reader provides proprietary software, which Apu can use to transfer the e-book
from the CD-ROM to the e-book reader.

(i) Describe what is meant by proprietary software.

[2]

(ii) Explain one advantage to the manufacturer of providing proprietary software instead of open source
software.

[2]

5 Eve’s computer has system software including an Operating System and Utility Software.

Eve runs the defragmentation program on her computer.

Explain why Eve’s computer is more efficient after the program has been run.

[3]

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 6 A restaurant has a computer-based ordering system which is running slowly. A technician has said that the hard
disc drive is fragmented.

Explain how defragmentation software could overcome the issue of the slow computer system.

[3]

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 7 Eve’s computer has system software including an Operating System and Utility Software.

Tick (✓) one box in each row to identify which function of the Operating System deals with each action.

Action Memory Peripheral File User

management management management management
Creating a new folder to store documents
in

Moving data from Virtual Memory to RAM

Renaming a file

Reading data from a scanner

Changing the password required to log on

to the computer

[5]
8 Amin buys a new computer with an operating system and some utilities.

Some of the software in Amin's computer is open source.

Describe what is meant by open source software.

[2]

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 9(a) Security on a computer can be provided directly by the operating system or by using utility programs.

Utility programs include antivirus, file transfer, firewall and system cleanup.

State which two of these utilities can be used for security.

[2]
(b) Identify and describe two methods by which the operating system can provide additional security directly.

[4]

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 10(a) Ali’s tablet computer has an operating system.

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.

[3]

(ii) After defragmentation, Ali’s computer is able to access files faster.

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

[2]

(iii) Give three additional examples of utility programs.

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 1

[3]
(b) Complete the following description of the functions of an operating system by selecting the appropriate missing
words from those in the box.

user drivers directories hardware interface multitasking

output peripherals printers processor RAM utility
ROM running passwords faster volatile virtual

The operating system provides a user .................................................... . This displays the

output to the user and allows the user to interact with the .................................................... .

The operating system controls the movement of data from secondary storage to

.................................................... 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

.................................................... .

An operating system allows device ..................................................... to be installed to allow

an external piece of hardware to interact with the .................................................... .

The operating system provides security through user accounts and

.................................................... . It also creates and maintains a file system to organise files

and .................................................... .
[8]

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 11 Xander’s tablet computer comes with system software, including an operating system and utility system
software.

The operating system provides file management.

Identify three ways that Xander can make use of the file management facility.

[3]

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 12 Hamish stores confidential documents on his laptop.

If unauthorised access does occur, Hamish would like to use encryption to add another layer of protection to his
documents.

(i) Explain how encryption helps to protect Hamish’s documents.

[2]

(ii) One encryption method is a Caesar cipher.

This Caesar cipher moves each letter of the alphabet one place to the right.

The following table shows the original letters in the first row, and the new letters in the second row.

For example, if the message read: HELLO

This would be stored as: IFMMP

The following pseudocode algorithm takes a string of uppercase letters as input and uses the Caesar cipher
to encrypt them.

The functions used in the algorithm are described in the table:

Function Description

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 ASC(character) Returns the ASCII value for character e.g.
ASC("A") returns 65
CHR(ASCIIvalue) Returns the single character for ASCIIvalue e.g.
CHR(65) returns "A"
subString(Value, Number) Returns the Number of characters starting at
position Value (where 0 is the first character)

Complete the pseudocode algorithm to perform a Caesar cipher.

01 message = input("Please enter your string")
02 newMessage = " "
03 messageLength = message.length
04 for count = 0 to ............................................
05 ASCIIValue = ASC(message.subString(................,1))
06 ASCIIValue = ASCIIValue + ................................
07 if ASCIIValue >90 then
08 ASCIIValue = ................................ – 26
09 endif
10 newMessage = ................................ + CHR(ASCIIValue)
11 next count
[5]

(iii) The algorithm needs adapting. An extra line (line 12) is needed to output the encrypted message.

Write line 12 to output the encrypted message in pseudocode or programming code.

[1]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

1 System information: 4 1 mark each for explaining “system

information” and “diagnosis” + 1 mark for
displays important data about the each example – accept relevant examples,
current state of the computer but not examples related to virus / malware
e.g. temperature, free memory, for diagnosis.
network speed, % processor used
Examples should be specific examples of
Diagnosis: the use of these utilities rather than general
descriptions.
attempts to detect / resolve items that
are not working correctly Examiner's Comments
e.g. missing drivers, network
connection In this part, many candidates appeared not
to have a clear understanding of system
information and diagnostic utilities which
were featuring here for the first time,
whereas they have previously performed
well on questions about other system
utilities in the specification. Centres may
need to reconsider how they address this
topic to broaden candidates’
understanding. Candidates should also
ensure that they demonstrate their
understanding in their answers. Responses
such as “a system information utility
provides information about the system” do
not enable the examiner to assess what
the candidate understands and were not
awarded marks. Candidates, on the whole
fared better on describing the purpose of
diagnostic utilities, although in the example
examiners expected the diagnosis of
system faults rather than the presence of
malware. Some candidates misunderstood
the requirement to provide an example –
they gave an example of brand names of
utilities, rather than an example of the use
of the utility. Candidates should be aware
that brand names will never be required as
answers to examination questions.
Answers that were expected were of the
form “System information utilities display
the current state of the computer” with as a
possible example “the amount of RAM
available”.

Total 4

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

2 i 1 mark per bullet to max 4 4 'lossy removes unnecessary data

e.g. AO2 1a permanently' gets 3 marks, 1 for lossy,
(2) 1 for 'removes unnecessary data' if not
Use an algorithm AO2 1b already awarded and 1 for lossy =
…to remove repeated/unnecessary (2) permanent
data
Could use lossy/lossless Do not award 'not noticeable to the
lossless will not remove data human eye', or 'keeps same/reduces
permanently // lossless means original quality' - this does not explain how the
file will be restored file is compressed.
lossy is permanent deletion // lossy
means original file will not be restored Do not accept information for data.
Reduce number of pixels // reduce
resolution Examiner’s Comments
Record the changes in the colour for
each pixel This question required candidates to
… instead of the colour demonstrate their understanding of
Run length encoding compression to image files.
… record the colour and number of
consecutive pixels of that colour Many candidates were able to convey an
… instead of the colour of every pixel understanding of generic compression; for
Decrease colour depth//decrease example, the application of an algorithm,
number of colours and the use of lossy/lossless compression.

Many candidates were also able to apply

this to an image file; commonly the
reduction of resolution/pixels and colour.

Some candidates did not answer the

question of how it compresses the file,
instead incorrectly answering why
compression was used to reduce the file
size.

Exemplar 3

The candidate has identified that some

colours are removed, or that the number of
pixels would be removed. They have not
expanded on these or explained the type of
compression that is being used.

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

ii 1 mark per bullet to max 2 2 Do not accept compression

E.g. AO1 1a
(2) Accept anti-malware
Defragmentation software
Encryption software Examiner’s Comments
Backup software
Anti-virus This question was answered well by many
Firewall candidates who were able to identify two
Anti-spyware different examples of utility software. The
Disk checker/cleaner most common answers included encryption
Auto-update and defragmentation.
Disk formatting
Some candidates did not read the
requirements for 'other' types i.e. not
compression and gave compression as
one of their answers.

Total 6

3 Files on the hard disk drive are moved 3 Up to a maximum of 3 marks.

(1) (AO1 1b)
Empty spaces collected together (1)
Files are moved to be stored together
(1)
Fewer disc accesses are needed (1)

Total 3

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

4 i Source code not made available/ Only 2 The mention of a licence is not sufficient.
compiled code is published Candidate should state that the licence
Licence restricts the copying / restricts copying / modifying / distributing.
modifying / distribution of the software “closed source” is not enough because it
just gives an alternative term for
“proprietary” without a description of what
we mean by “closed”

Examiner's reports

This part was intended as a more difficult

question to differentiate the top candidates,
was generally poorly answered. It had
been expected that more candidates would
be able to provide a definition of
proprietary software for part (i) but many
candidates appeared unfamiliar with the
term in the context in which it is used in the
specification. For those who were aware of
the term, several common misconceptions
were repeated such as the idea that
proprietary software is always sold at a
cost.

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

ii eg 2 The first mark is for identifying a relevant

advantage to the manufacturer, and the
Stops competing companies copying second for details expanding this point.
their software (or hardware / ebooks)
… and producing similar / better Accept answers about preventing reverse
products. engineering the company's product or
Ensures compatibility (with the e-book piracy of the company's software or e-
reader)… books (e.g. DRM) as referring to the first
… as they can ensure that no set of answers.
modifications have been made
Examiner's Comments
(mark points in pairs).
This part was intended as a more difficult
question to differentiate the top candidates
and was generally poorly answered.
Because of the general misunderstanding
of the concept, and the necessity to apply it
in this specific context and give
advantages to the manufacture of the e-
book reader in (ii), few candidates gained
marks here. A common incorrect answer
suggested that the manufacturer would
benefit from selling the software to e-book
users, when it was indicated in the
question that the software is provided with
the reader. Other incorrect answers
appeared to be making points from a
previous question about the use of open
source software in schools, which did not
apply in this context.

Total 4

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

5 1 mark per bullet to max 3 3

Takes less time to read/access a file

because the data/files/pages are
contiguous
…. so it does not need to move as far
to read the next piece of data/file/page
…because it is in the next memory
location
Takes less time to save new data/files
because there is larger free space
together
…so it does not need to split the
data/file
… and can store them in contiguous
spaces

Total 3

6 Files on the hard disc drive are moved 3 Up to a maximum of 3 marks.

(1)
Empty spaces collected together (1)
Files are moved to be stored together
(1)
Fewer disc accesses are needed (1)

Total 3

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

7 1 mark per row 5 No mark awarded if 2+ ticks on each row

Action Mem Perip File User

ory heral man man
man man age age
age age ment ment
ment ment
Creating a new ✓
folder to store
documents in
Moving data ✓
from Virtual
Memory to
RAM
Renaming a file ✓

Reading data ✓
from a scanner
Changing the ✓
password
required to log
on to the
computer

Total 5

8 The source code is distributed with the 2 Examiner's Comments

software
The customer can modify the source It was pleasing to see a reduction in the
code common misapprehension that being free
The customer can redistribute the of charge is an essential or defining
source code (with the same licence / characteristic of open source software.
restrictions) This shows, to some extent, that centres
have taken note of the feedback provided
from previous sessions.

Total 2

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

9 a antivirus 2
firewall

b e.g. 4 Accept any security measure that is

provided by the operating system itself but
not by standard utility programs (even if the
(User name and) password utility program is normally bundled with
Only allows you to use the system if operating systems).
you are authorised The first bullet is for identifying or a brief
description of a measure.
Encryption The second bullet is for a further more
Prevents hackers from understanding detailed description or a description of how
any data if accessed (e.g. passwords) the measure ensures security.

Access rights Any reasonable biometrics is acceptable.

To prevent files from being modified /
deleted

User access control

Prevents users from making changes
to the system

Marks in pairs

Total 6

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

10 a i 1 mark for: 3 Allow diagram

Collate free space together Do not award gives more free storage
space.
Max 2 from
Do not award 'similar' files are grouped
Collate file fragments together.
together/contiguously
All of file 1 will be stored consecutively
All of file 2 will be stored consecutively
All of file 3 will be stored consecutively

ii 1 mark per bullet to max 2 2 Answer must relate to why it is faster.

When one page is read it does not

have to search for second page // does
not have to search through all the
pages // does not need to reassemble
the individual pages
Does not have to physically move as
far to get the next part of the file
Less physical movement saves time
Multiple locations do not need
accessing // fewer individual accesses

iii 1 mark for each example 3 Only award anti-malware once.

e.g.

Backup
Encryption
Compression
Firewall
Anti-virus // anti-malware
Anti-spyware // anti-malware

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

b 1 mark for each correct word 8 BOD hardware with

peripherals/processor/printer
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 a hard drive 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 processor.
The operating system provides security
through user accounts and passwords.
It also creates and maintains a file system
to organise files and directories.

Total 16

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

11 1 mark per bullet to max 3 3 Answers must be clear as to what the

e.g. AO2 1a answer is applied to i.e. 'you can open
(3) it' - what is it?
He can place his files into
folders/directories Mark first answer on each section.
He can (re)name files/folders
He can move his files/folders Do not award:
He can copy/transfer/export defragment
files/folders view files
He can delete his files/folders download
He can set permissions/access rights compression
He can search for files preview
He can view file details/extensions/file edit/read/write files
size/type
He can create files/folders 'Organise files' without what into - is
He can sort files/folders // he can put not enough.
files into a specific order // by example
He can open files/folders Examiner’s Comments

Candidates found this question

challenging.

Many candidates identified incorrect

features such as compression and
encryption. Some candidates were able to
identify one or two ways; commonly
deleting files or transferring files.

Only a few candidates were able to identify

three correct ways.

Total 3

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

12 i 1 mark per bullet to max 2 2 'Need the key to understand the data'
AO1 1a can get both MP2 and 3
Uses an algorithm to (1)
… jumble/scramble/mix up the data // AO2 1b Cannot read the data // data is
turns it into cypher text // by example (1) unreadable is NBOD
If it is accessed it cannot be
understood // it is unintelligible Examiner’s Comments
Use of keys to encrypt/decrypt data
This question was answered well by many
candidates who were able to identify that
encryption scrambles data and that a key
is required to read it.

ii 1 mark for each completed piece of code 5 For messageLength - 1 in loop

AO3 2b accept messageLength or
message = input("Please enter (5) message.length
your string")
newMessage = "" Spelling must be exact, do not penalise
messageLength = message.length case.
for count = 0 to messageLength
– 1// message.length – 1 Examiner’s Comments
ASCIIValue =
ASC(message.subString This question tested candidates'
count,1)) understanding of algorithms and the use of
ASCIIValue = ASCIIValue + 1 strings in programming.
if ASCIIValue > 90 then
ASCIIValue = ASCIIValue – A noticeable number of candidates did not
26 attempt the question.
endif
newMessage = newMessage & The most common correct response was
CHR(ASCIIValue) the first space to identify the number of
next count iterations. The final space was also often
answered correctly, identifying that the
string is concatenated with the rest of the
message.

Fewer candidates were able to identify the

character being selected, or the value to
add to ASCIIValue within the loop.

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 Mark Scheme

Question Answer/Indicative content Marks Guidance

iii 1 mark for suitable output 1 Must logically work. Do not accept ""
e.g. AO3 2b around newMessage.
(1)
output(newMessage) // Parentheses not required.
print(newMessage)
Do not accept:
newMessage =
output(newMessage) or similar

Accept any output method

Bod - if the candidate outputs

something extra it must be valid i.e. a
variable from the program, or additional
text in a string with suitable
concatenation e.g.
print(newMessage +
asciiValue) is ok but
print(newMessage is the new
message) is not.

Examiner’s Comments

This question required candidates to

identify the variable from part bii that stores
the final encrypted message and to output
it using any identifiable output keyword.

A common error was putting speech marks

around new message i.e. ‘newmessage’
which would mean the words
‘newmessage’ would be output instead of
the contents of the variable.

Total 8

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