|
Test Name |
Method |
Expected outcome |
Actual outcome |
Action required |
|
software applications open and work as intended |
Opening and closing certain programmes checking each one works. |
For them to all open and work correctly. |
All programmes opened and worked properly, without any faults. |
Reinstall the operating system, or update if required. |
|
default folder settings are correct |
Opening the defaults folders, and checking if they work. |
For them to all open and work correctly, without problems. |
All default folders opened properly, and had the correct default folders inside of them. |
Change the default settings in the control panel. |
|
desktop shortcuts go to the right place |
Clicking the desktop shortcuts and checking where they went. |
For them to go to the right place. |
They all went to the correct places, and had all the work in them (if it was a folder shortcut). |
Remove and replace the desktop shortcuts with new ones. |
|
the correct device drivers are installed |
Trying the different drivers to check they worked. |
For them to work properly, and for the devices to be connected. |
All devices worked properly. |
Would have to go the internet and download the correct drivers for the devices. |
|
the correct paper sizes are set for printing |
Going to print something and checking the properties. |
For all the correct printing sizes were there. |
All the printer sizes where correct and worked properly. |
Configure the print settings with the correct paper sizes. |
|
menu options work as intended |
Going to the menu and clicking certain options. |
For all the options to work. |
All the options worked as intended. |
Update/re install the operating system. |
|
the correct date and time are set |
By checking the date and time. |
For it to be correct. |
Was the correct date and time. |
Would have changed the date and time to the correct settings. |
Security virus protection/firewalls-
Antivirus or anti-virus software is used to prevent and remove malware, including computer worm, Trojan horses, spyware and adware. The utility prevents downloads of harmful documents by scanning them and warning you of the danger.
Firewalls- A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is used to protect networks from unauthorized access whilst letting you access legitimate sites without a problem. Many personal computer operating systems include software-based firewalls to protect against threats from the public Internet.
With a decent firewall/security system in place, the chance of getting viruses is dramatically reduced, meaning that the processing speeds stay high and don’t falter due to a virus a attacking them. Also many viruses cause the computer to crash/freeze, this is stopped by the firewall scanning files before you open/download them, and therefore warning you if a virus is found.
Clean up tools for removal of cookies and/or internet history and/or defragmentation-
These functions allow you to remove certain aspects of the internet, the sites you’ve visited, downloaded from etc... This enhances the security of the internet and also stops people finding out personal information, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the mass storage device used to store files into the smallest number of fragments.
Secure privacy settings helps you protect personal information, the utility used for this would be partly internet options, where you can delete internet viewing history, and downloads. File passwords also help you maintain good security by restricting access to certain files of your choice, and the computer login also helps you stop people stop accessing your computer entirely, by requesting a password before letting anything work, although there are two ways of accessing files, some done by Trojan horses, a virus planted on some files intended to attack your computer. These are stopped by the firewall.
Drive formatting-
Format actually means to prepare a storage medium, usually a hard drive, for reading and writing. When you format a hard drive, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors, and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information. This means you are able to access the files saved on the hard drive.
Drive formatting can improve the devices you use with your computer, and helps the computer run smother, with a properly formatted hard drive, you will be able to save and edit files with ease without any problems and notifications asking if you want to format the hard drive, and so on.
|
Functions |
Windows XP |
Mac OS |
|
Machine and peripheral management. |
On windows, this is done in the Control Panel. Found under Accessories. Easy to find and easy to use, just easier on a Mac due to the layout of the System preferences. the control panel allows you to actively edit the settings which allow you to use these settings, via the GUI. |
On the Mac, this is done in System Preferences. Under the hardware sub-heading. The Mac is much easier to use for settings like these as it’s all found in a file on the dock, called System preferences. |
|
Security. |
Also found in the Control Panel. Under security. The Mac is much easier to use than Windows for this task as it’s all in one location. Security settings on a computer are fairly basic, with the firewall and passwords easy to edit, but not so easy to find, the function is found in the control panel. Making them prone to Viruses. You can also have external back ups, like plug in hard drives, which you can use to back up your computers settings and documents.
|
Also done in system preferences, under the security icon. Again easier on the Mac. On a Mac, you simply go to System Preferences, then security and can easily edit all the functions, to what you want them to be, and can password certain files so only the people that know the password can access them. Mac’s don’t work with xc files, which can contain lots of viruses, therefore limiting the chance of them getting a virus. Time machine is a built in back up that works both with your Mac and an external drive, letting you know if anything goes wrong you have everything backed up. |
|
File Management. |
Easily used, in folders such as My Pictures, My Videos etc... I find Windows XP easier for controlling and finding files. |
Found in Macintosh HD shortcut on the desktop. This is trickier than it is on Windows, as I find this to be a tedious task. |
|
Device Drivers. |
If you get a new piece of equipment, like a mouse, you may have to download a new device driver to be able to use this mouse. |
Whereas on a Mac, you rarely have to download a new device driver as it recognises nearly all devices, apart from the odd few. |
|
Features |
|
|
|
Ability to customise. |
Easy to customise things like backgrounds, simply find the image you want on the internet, right click and select ‘set as background image’ or save as, and do it that way. |
Whereas on a Mac there are many images you can use without having to search the internet, with different categories, such as nature photos, this feature is also found in System Preferences, therefore is easy to get to. Spaces allow you to easily customize spaces you want to be able to visit quickly and easily, by creating a panel with your selected places. Hot corners is a utility that allows you to hover the mouse over the corner of the desktop and bring up programmes of your choice in a box, allowing you to easily access them. |
|
Support for connectivity of portable media. |
If you don’t have the right software on your computer, your computer won’t be able to support or interact with the media you’ve plugged into the computer. |
Whereas on a Mac everything is done via ITunes and rarely any other programmes are used. This makes using portable media really easy to manage and transfer files to and from. |
|
Stability and reliability. |
Windows computers are known for getting virus and malfunctioning, due to the security settings on most of them. You can stop this by getting good security, such as MacAfee etc. |
However on a Mac, viruses are stopped before they are downloaded due to the security software on them, which detects viruses and stops the download or however they are being transferred to the computer. |
|
Ease of management. |
Windows computers are known for there ease of management, as you can find all of the files on the computer, under the My Computer section, found in the start menu.
|
Whereas on a Mac, the management of files is rather complicated, as they are in a not so well known location called McIntosh HD. This makes the task of finding the files seem to drag unless you know what they’re called. If you know what they’re called you can search the name of the file, you can do the same on a computer. Expose, shows all open windows allowing you too easily access the window you want without Having to sift through all your open windows. |
|
Associated utilities. |
Associated utilities such as cleaner, allows you to delete your internet history and search history. |
The Mac allows you to do the same, but you can do more than just delete temporary search data, but you can also easily edit settings which block certain access to websites. I feel that the Mac has more in depth settings, therefore I prefer it. Boot Camp which allows you to run windows operating systems on a Mac allows easier access for people new to using Macs, and that want to use windows. |
• Security virus protection and/or firewalls
• Clean up tools for removal of cookies and/or internet history and/or defragmentation
• Drive formatting
Security virus protection/firewalls-
Antivirus or anti-virus software is used to prevent and remove malware, including computer worm, Trojan horses, spyware and adware. The utility prevents downloads of harmful documents by scanning them and warning you of the danger.
Firewalls- A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is used to protect networks from unauthorized access whilst letting you access legitimate sites without a problem. Many personal computer operating systems include software-based firewalls to protect against threats from the public Internet.

Clean up tools for removal of cookies and/or internet history and/or defragmentation-
These functions allow you to remove certain aspects of the internet, the sites you’ve visited, downloaded from etc... This enhances the security of the internet and also stops people finding out personal information, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the mass storage device used to store files into the smallest number of fragments.

Drive formatting-
Format actually means to prepare a storage medium, usually a hard drive, for reading and writing. When you format a hard drive, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors, and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information. This means you are able to access the files saved on the hard drive.
Operating systems allow easy access to files and easy management of the computer and the peripheral devices, the GUI (Graphics User Interface) allows you to easily use the features of the computer by using the peripherals to control it. You use the peripheral devices to control the separate devices and the drivers that control therm. Allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands.
Machine and peripheral management/device drivers.
Peripherals- things such as printers, mice, keyboards etc. Anything you plug into the computer, if you have wireless peripheral devices then you need a driver for the device to work, by downloading the compatible software/driver your device will work.
Machine- the Computer Management console consists of a window divided into two panes. The left pane contains the console tree; the right pane contains details. When you click an item in the console tree, information about that item is displayed in the details pane. The information that is displayed is specific to the item that you select. 


The administrative tools in Computer Management are grouped into the following three categories in the console:
· System Tools
· Storage
· Services and Applications
Security- common protection includes a package of things such as;
· Antivirus
· Antispyware
· Phishing protection
· Rootkit protection
· Worm protection
· Browser protection
· The most common providers are Norton, AVG and MacAfee.
You also get the type of security like software such as Impero, which is used to stop people from accessing certain sites on the internet. The operating system allows you to turn the firewall on/off and modify what the firewall limits.
File management- creating folders, and moving documents to different places; Find files, windows provides easy access to the documents you save and edit, you can also easily move the files around, by dragging and dropping them. Saving in certain places is also easy as you just change the location you want to save in by selecting it from a drop down box. The operating system allows this by allowing the tools needed to control these functions (mouse, keyboard etc) to connect to the computer making it able for you to easily control the featuers of the opperating system.
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Central processing unit (CPU), an electronic circuit which executes computer programs, containing a processing unit and a control unit. There have been many processors on the market, running at many different speeds. The speed is measured in Megahertz or MHz. A single MHz is a calculation of 1 million cycles per second (or computer instructions). This talks in binary code, the motherboard passes these codes and translates them so that the other components can understand.
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board. The motherboard is like the brain of a computer, everything runs through this and without one the computer wouldn’t work. The motherboard allows most of the components of a computer to communicate with each other.
In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system (BIOS) also known as the system BIOS or ROM BIOS is a standard firmware interface. The name originated in earlier computers running CP/M and other operating systems, where the BIOS was loaded from disc rather than stored as firmware (EPROMs )Communication- operating system only needs to know how to communicate with the BIOS layer. It is up to the BIOS layer to translate the operating system commands into action by the hardware. It receives these commands when the computer boots up, but not when the computer is restarted.
In electronic systems, a heat sink is a passive component that cools a device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air. Heat sinks are used to cool electronic components. And fans are found inside the computer case and help prevent the various computer parts inside from overheating. Without them, components of your computer can malfunction, become damaged, or even crash.
In electronic systems, a heat sink is a passive component that cools a device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air. Heat sinks are used to cool electronic components. And fans are found inside the computer case and help prevent the various computer parts inside from overheating. Without them, components of your computer can malfunction, become damaged, or even crash.
Hard drive configuration and controllers SATA or IDE or EIDE, One of the more confusing aspects of EIDE hard drive configuration for those new to computer building is the master/slave relationship. It's actually not very hard to understand, however. The primary EIDE connection will be labelled on the motherboard as either IDE-0 or IDE-1, depending on the mood of the person who made up the stencil. If they chose to use IDE-0 and IDE-1 for the two channels, then the primary is IDE-0. But if they are labelled IDE-1 and IDE-2, then IDE-1 is the primary. (They may also be labelled as EIDE or ATAPI, rather than IDE, on some boards. It all means the same thing.)
The port in which you put the USB device, most computers having 3 or 4 USB ports, they connect to the computer by cables linked to the motherboard. A USB port is a standard cable connection interface on personal computers and consumer electronics.
RAM works in conjunction with the central processing unit (CPU). If RAM is the temporary memory, you can think of the CPU as the brain of the computer. The CPU chip retrieves data from the RAM. The chip takes those instructions and begins to move and process data through the motherboard in the correct order to its next designated location.
a printer is a device that accepts text and graphic output from a computer and transfers the information to paper, usually to standard size sheets of paper; Connects to the computer via a USB cable.
Scanner, scans an image/written piece, and puts it as a jpeg on the computer, also communicates via a USB cable.
Pen drive, otherwise known as a USB (universal serial bus) stick, is a data storage device that consists of flash memory. USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. They communicate by plugging in to the USB slots on the computer, in direct link to the motherboard due to the USB port.
The hard disk drive is the main, and usually largest, data storage device in a computer. The operating system, software titles and most other files are stored in the hard disk drive. The sides of the hard drive have pre drilled, threaded holes for easy mounting in the 3.5 inch drive bay in the computer case. The hard drive is secured in pace on the motherboard, allowing easy communication to the other components also mounted on the motherboard.
A type of cable that consists of two independently insulated wires twisted around one another. The use of two wires twisted together helps to reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic induction. Go directly into the components in the computer, and carry information/power to each individual part.