A technician must be able to use a range of software tools to help diagnose problems, maintain hardware, and protect the data stored on a computer.

Disk Management Tools
You must be able to identify which software to use in different situations. Disk management tools help detect and correct disk errors, prepare a disk for data storage, and remove unwanted files.

Click each of the buttons in Figure 1 to see screen shots of the following disk management tools:

• Fdisk or Disk Management – Creates and deletes partitions on a hard drive
• Format – Prepares a hard drive to store information
• Scandisk or Chkdsk – Checks the integrity of files and folders on a hard drive by scanning the file system. These tools may also check the disk surface for physical errors
• Defrag – Optimizes space on a hard drive to allow faster access to programs and data
• Disk Cleanup – Clears space on a hard drive by searching for files that can be safely deleted
• Disk Management – Initializes disks, creates partitions, and formats partitions
• System File Checker (SFC) – Scans the operating system critical files and replaces any files that are corrupted

Use the Windows XP boot disk for troubleshooting and repairing corrupted files. The Windows XP boot disk is designed to repair Windows system files, restore damaged or lost files, and reinstall the operating system. Third-party software tools are available to assist in troubleshooting problems.

Protection Software Tools
Each year, viruses, spyware, and other types of malicious attacks infect millions of computers. These attacks can damage an operating system, application, and data. Computers that have been infected may even have problems with hardware performance or component failure.

To protect data and the integrity of the operating system and hardware, use software designed to guard against attacks and to remove malicious programs.

Various types of software are used to protect hardware and data. Click each of the buttons in Figure 2 to see screen shots of these protection software tools:

• Windows XP Security Center – Checks the status of essential security settings. The Security Center continuously checks to make sure that the software firewall and antivirus programs are running. It also ensures that automatic updates are set to download and install automatically.
• Antivirus program – Protects against virus attacks.
• Spyware remover – Protects against software that sends information about web surfing habits to an attacker. Spyware can be installed without the knowledge or consent of the user.
• Firewall program – Runs continuously to protect against unauthorized communications to and from your computer.

Worksheet Diagnostic Software Gather information about a hard drive diagnostic program.