2781 Resource Notes

Read the following then answer the questions.  These can be found at the bottom of the page!



Element: 1 Demonstrate file management on a personal computer system.

To Find a File or Folder

· Click the Start button, and then point to Find or Search (depending on the operating system used)

· Click Files Or Folders.

· In the Named box, type all or part of the file's name.

If you do not know the name of a file or want to refine the search, click the Date Modified or Advanced tabs.

· If you want to specify where Windows should begin its search, click Browse.

· Click Find Now.

Note:File names are made up of two parts, the file name and the file extension. These two parts are separated by a full stop . The file name is usually no more than eight characters (modern software running under Windows 95 allow filenames of up to 256 characters) and an extension (file type) of three characters.

Some typical file extensions are:

DOC= MsWord, PPT= MsPowerPoint, MDB= Ms Access XLS= MsExcel, WKS=Ms Works Word Processor

BMP= Bitmapped Drawing, WMF= Windows Metafile drawing

Examples of Finding Files and Folders

Example 1 Find a File called Myfile You wish to find a file called Myfile and you cannot remember its extension or even which directory/folder it is in. All that is needed is to search the whole drive in which it is in by clicking or typing c: in the Look in box and Myfile in the Named box and click onto Find Now. If the file exists it will be found Note: We could also have said to the computer find MYFILE (full stop) (asterix). Myfile . * The asterix is known as a wildcard it means find any file type. So the computer will search for any file called Myfile irrespective of what its extension name is. But the shown method is simpler	In this case it is located in the C: drive in a folder called Office that resides in a folder called Microsoft, which is in a folder called Application Data, which is in the Windows folder.
This will present me with ALL of the MsWord documents that exist in the chosen drive e.g. C:\	Example 2 Find a File by its extension I know I saved a document that I wrote sometime ago using MS Words to my hard drive. The problem is I cannot remember what I named it. I know that the extension name for a wordprocessing file in MS Word is DOC. All that I need to do is to click onto Find, Look in C: (my hard drive) and type into the Named box my search instruction. This will be to look for any file that has the extension DOC. So type in (asterix), (fullstop), (extension) as *.doc, and click onto find now.
Example 3 Find and Load a File called Myfile A file can be loaded from the Find facility. All that is need is to double click it. q To OPEN Windows Explorer q Click onto Start q Click onto Program q Click onto Windows Explorer	My Computer and Windows Explorer allows you to copy, move, delete, rename files and folders. It allows zip compression, cutting, pasting, finding and formatting. It is a powerful and DANGEROUS utility. It must be used CAREFULLY. Explorer shows the contents of folders or directories. A simpler way is to click the folder (directory) to show its contents. In the example above, the 3.5 Floppy (A) icon was clicked (left button) and this resulted in the contents of a floppy disk being shown in the right window.

To MOVE a file or folder

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the file or folder you want to move.

On the Edit menu click Cut.

Open the folder where you want to put the file or folder.

On the Edit menu click Paste.

Tip . To select more than one file or folder to copy, hold down the CTRL key, and then click the items you want. If you want to select a whole block of files click the first file that you want then hold down the Shift key, and select the last file in the block

To COPY a file to a floppy disk

Insert the disk in the floppy disk drive.

In My Computer or Windows Explorer click the file

you want to copy.

On the File menu point to Send To,

Click the drive you want to copy the file to.

To DELETE a File or Folder/Directory

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, locate the file or folder you want to delete.

Click the file or folder.

On the File menu, click Delete or press the Delete key.

DO NOT DELETE FILES FROM SOMEONE ELSES COMPUTER WITHOUT SUPERVISION

To Create a New FOLDER

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, open the folder in which you want to create a new folder.

On the File menu, point to New, then click Folder. The new folder appears with a temporary name.

Type a name for the new folder, and then press ENTER

To COPY a folder

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the file or folder you want to copy.

On the Edit menu click Copy.

Open the folder or disk where you want to put the copy.

On the Edit menu click Paste.

Copying a Disk

Its always a good idea to make copies of your valuable data disks. Heres how

In My Computer, or Windows explorer click the icon for the disk you want to copy.

On the File menu, click Copy Disk, the window left opens.

Put the disk you wish to copy into the drive you want to copy from and then click Start.

When you are prompted, place a new disk into the drive and press Enter.

Note: The disks must be the same type. Any existing information on the disk you copy to will be deleted.

It is always a good idea to ensure the write protect tab is enabled on the source disk ( this is the disk that you wish to copy from).The disk you are copying to is known as the destination disk.

To RENAME a file or folder

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the file or folder you want to rename.

You do not need to open it

On the File menu, click Rename.

Type the new name, and then press ENTER.

Tip A filename can contain up to 255 characters, including spaces. But, it cannot contain any of the following characters: \ / : * ? " < >

NOTE: This applies ONLY to Windows 95/98/NT/2000 applications. Older applications must contain no more than 8 characters in a filename.

To DELETE a file or folder

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the file or folder you want to delete. You do not need to open it.

Press the Delete key then Press Enter.

To ABANDON Changes

Whenever a file is loaded the computer keeps track of any changes made to it. If an attempt is made to close the file a dialogue box appears asking you if you want to ‘save changes’. If you answer ‘NO’ then you have Abandoned changes to the file.

To FORMAT a Floppy Disk

Often there is a need to copy a data from one computer to another, or, make a backup copy of data. To do this we need to transfer the data from one disk to another. To copy files to a floppy disk requires that the disk is able to understand the format of the data. This requires the user to format the disk. Most floppy disks are pre-formatted for a PC when purchased. Formatting a disk is also a way of ensuring that the disk is clean and contains no unnecessary data

· Ensure that the write protect tab is not enabled.

· Insert it into its drive.

· Double-click the My Computer icon, and then click the icon for the floppy disk you want to format.

· On the File menu, click Format.

In most cases the computer only has one floppy disk drive, this is drive a:

Be sure not to double-click the disk icon, because you can't format a disk if it is open in My Computer or Windows Explorer.

Note Formatting a disk removes all information from the disk.You cannot format a disk if there are files open on that disk.

For Help on an item, click at the top of the dialog box, and then click the item.

To CREATE and SAVE a Data File

The main task of any computer system is to allow the user to enter data and then save it permanently to a secondary storage device such as a hard disk or floppy drive. To do this the application is loaded from a disk drive into the systems memory. It then runs. The user creates data by working within the application and saves it to the disk drive.

To create a new file, you must first open the application by clicking its icon or clicking its name under the Programs list. This action opens the application and gives it a default name. e.g. Word1, Data1, Sheet1 in Ms Works.

You can then use the application and at any time save it under a name you provide. It’s always a good idea to save your work every 10 minutes or so in case of accidents such as power cuts.

Lets open and save a Ms Works word processor file.

· To do this click onto the Ms Works icon.

· Now select Create A New Word Processor.

· You will now be presented with a blank sheet ready to type on.

· Type your document.

· Select file and then click save

· A dialogue box appears. Give the file a name (no more than 8 characters)

· Select the destination drive. Select the destination directory (folder).

· Click OK (or press Enter)

It really does not matter what application you are using the process will be very similar.

· An application is loaded by clicking Start, Programs and then the applications name.

· Does some action e.g. write a letter.

· When finished click onto File, then click onto Save.

· A dialogue box presents itself. Enter the name of the file.

· Ensure that the correct drive and directory is selected.

· Press ENTER or click OK .

The operation is completed.

Element: 2 Identify common threats to data stored on a personal computer system, and apply appropriate data protection measures, and/or identify data protection measures currently in place

Element: 3 Explore ethical issues that relate to access of data held in computing systems

Data Integrity

Data Integrity means the guarding of the information (data) that exists within a computer system or network.

There are 5 categories that need to be considered.

· Copyright, Piracy & Licensing

· Unauthorised access

· Corporate confidentiality

· Natural Disaster

· Loss or corruption of data.

Data Integrity can also mean the guarding of the correctness of information. This process is known as Auditing.

What is Unauthorised access

Unauthorised access is the key issue to address in any security problem. Unauthorised access must be guarded against to minimise:

· privacy issues

· copyright problems

· equipment theft

· viral infection

· system corruption

· theft of software (piracy )

· And the downloading of objectionable material.

· Hacking

So what can you do?

· Do not allow unsupervised access to computers.

· Always have the VDU (monitor) in direct view.

It is almost impossible to protect an individual computer from a mischief-maker. Commercial programs exist to make the job more difficult. There will always be those who have the ability to download programs from the internet and patch them into the system. Every month another method for breaching a system is invented, however they all take time and messing about with the system.

· Ensure that every user ALWAYS logs in and logs off each session using their username and password.

· Ensure that every user understands the need to keep their password secret from EVERYBODY.

A network uses a system of accounts. Each account is created in the name of the person and consists of a username and a password.

These accounts are used to identify and validate an individual on the network server.

Each account has a carefully selected set of user and/or group rights that belong to an individual.

If any unauthorised access problem occurs on a machine it can be tracked and the culprit talked to.

Imagine the problems that can ensue if the user says "but I was told to leave my computer logged on".

· Always use a virus checker BEFORE allowing students to use outside disks (or to open attachments on the Internet)

Viruses are man(woman)made programs designed by idiots with nothing better to do than to cause misery. A virus replicates quietly by attaching itself to a program or file. When a certain condition arrives (maybe Friday 13th or the 57th time a program is used) it activates and BAMMO call technician for a big job. A virus checker on each machine helps ease this situation but can be expensive.

· Be careful where you store confidential files

· Use passwords on confidential files

Each user on a Windows NT machine has a profile folder. This profile exists in the C:\WINNT\PROFILES\username \ directory (folder). ANYTHING placed in this folder is secure from anybody EXCEPT an the Administrator.

If you wish to hide the contents of a file from EVERYBODY then use Ms Office and use the password options in the Save/As dialogue box. No one can read them.(P.S Dont forget your password)

· Do not install programs on individual computers without being able to provide a license (or a copy thereof). Failure to observe this will could result in a prosecution for piracy and breach of copyright.

A big headache in any large computerised organisation is in keeping track software licenses and their use. You use pirated software in your computer and you open yourself an/or your organisation up to a criminal prosecution.

The original software and licenses should be securely stored in a non-magnetic, fire and floodproof, environmentally friendly environment..

· Keep doors secure and users out of rooms during breaks unless they are properly supervised.

Equipment theft must be avoided. Losing items such as a mouse or a set of speakers are an annoyance, losing a computer or having its modem, drives or video card taken or substituted is a drama. Having a machine deliberately sabotaged is just a lot of work.

· A user downloads objectionable materiel on a computer in your organisation.

Steps should be taken to ensure prevention. Monitoring and supervision can prevent the above from happening. A code of practice, which must be followed should be developed.

The Backup Schedule.

It is not good enough to be wise after you have lost the complete contents of your hard drive.by theft, natural disaster or hardware failure. Care should always be taken to ensure that ALL files are backed up regularly. This requires a backup schedule to be made and implemented. It is important to have at least two copies of files created on your computer.

Each day you should backup to floppy disks or tape cartridge all files that have changed. These should be placed in a fire and waterproof locked box on site.

A full backup should be made each week using at least two sets of disks or tapes. One set should be kept off-site in a secure place e.g Bank vault. Each week it can be replaced or rotated using the previous set.

For extra security A full backup should also be made monthly and stored offsite in a secure environment.

How to Backup/Restore Files

Backup is a term used to copy files to floppy disks or a tape cartridge so that the data can be restored in case of a disaster.

There are two main types of backup. The first type is where you wish to back up by copying files from a directory/folder from your hard disk or make a copy of a floppy disk. The second type is where a special program designed specifically for backing up part or whole of a hard disk is employed.

Backing-Up a floppy disk (copying one disk to another)

q In My Computer, or Windows explorer click the icon for the disk you want to copy.

q On the File menu, click Copy Disk.

q Click the drive you want to copy from and the drive you want to copy to, and then click Start.

You can use the same drive for both disks.

The disks must be the same type.

Any existing information on the disk you copy to will be deleted.

It is always a good idea to ensure the write protect tab is enabled on the source disk ( this is the disk that you wish to copy from).The disk you are copying to is known as the destination disk.\

Using Microsoft Backup

Microsoft Backup is a program that is supplied with Windows 95/98 and NT 4.0 (although it requires special rights to be used in NT 4.0). It is easy to use and has full instructions in its Help file. You can use this program to copy (ie. “backup”) important files from your computer’s hard disk to a floppy drive or tape cartridge (if fitted)

These are the steps in the back-up process.

q Choose each file or directory/folder you wish to back-up by clicking the check box to its left.

q Select the destination, eg. the floppy drive A, where the back-up copies will be placed.

q Start the back-up process.

Restoring Files

Microsoft Backup also allows the restoring of files. The process of restoring is to reclaim lost, corrupted, or deleted files saved under MS Backup.

First start the MS Backup application, the program will then instruct you to insert disks at the appropriate time.

To restore backed up folders and files

q Click the Restore tab.

q Click the drive where you placed the backup set when you backed up the files.

q In the right side of the window, click the backup set you want, and then click Next Step.

q In the left side of the window, click the box next to each folder you want to restore.

q To display more folders, click the plus sign next to a folder. Select individual files in the right side of the window.

q Click Start Restore.

Computer Crime

A computer crime occurs when someone uses a computer to commit a crime. There are five types of computer crime:

Changing computer input.

Changing computer programs

Stealing data,

Stealing computer time

Stealing computer programs

Data Responsibility

What you do with your own computer (provided it is not unlawful) is your own business. However when your work or study requires you to use institutional or other persons computers responsibility must be shown AT ALL TIMES

You are whilst using a computer responsible for the safety and integrity of all data.

This means;

Not installing software (even your own) on another computer,

Not changing system settings unless authorised to.

Not deleting or moving others files.

Not looking at other person’s files.

Not changing passwords unless it is your own.

Logging off and shutting down correctly at the end of each session.

Reporting any unusual change that occurs within the system or an application.

Ensuring your disks are kept secure, clean and virus free.

Not using your disk in other computers without permission.

Not using others data (including graphics) without authorisation

Natural Disaster

We have all seen that little sticker (that has been attributed to Forrest Gump) something about ‘excreta happens.’ Farmers around the world will tell you that sooner or later ‘it will always hail on your crops’.

Natural disasters do happen. We live in an earthquake zone, experience cyclones, fires, tornadoes, floods. All of these can occur with little or no warning.

Steps can be taken to minimise the damage. A proper backup schedule where the tapes or disks are kept off-site is a sound means of protecting data.

Fire

Using fire-resistant building materials, fire proof safe to store disks and tapes, fire extinguishers

Flood

Provide adequate drainage, place electrical cable above ground (in the ceiling).

Storm or Power Failure

Use surge protectors and/or un-interruptible power supply UPS. This will guard against sudden surges of power caused in storms. The UPS will give time to save data by giving about 5 minutes of power.

Other means could be have an emergency generator or even an alternative site.

Loss or Corruption of Data

This can be caused by unauthorised access or improper use, natural disaster, power cuts.. It can also be caused by virus attack

Virus Protection

The word virus is an appropriate name to describe the infection and possible destruction of important functions both in the human body and a computer system. The acronym VIRUS has a different meaning in computing, it means Vital Information Resources Under Seige.

A virus is a program written by some individual with the sole purpose of destroying data on your system. It does this by hiding itself amongst other programs in your system and activating when a certain condition is met. That condition could be Friday 13th or the 50th time you have used a program. Viruses are designed not to activate immediately so as to give time for it to be transferred so as to infect other systems. Thousands of these little beasties have been written and to name them all is beyond the scope of this booklet. Suffice it to say that a virus can delete files and directories, cause a slowdown in processing time, add itself to a program until it becomes to large to load and even cause a hard drive crash or be reformatted.. The list of possibilities seems endless.

Some viruses are called worms they do not really harm your computer but cause silly messages or graphics to be displayed. The first virus ( a worm actually) was written by a guy call Morris in the early 1980s. He did this to alert US Government Agencies to the danger and successfully invaded many computers.

So what can you do to protect against this harmful invader.

q Never use outside programs such as games or any disks that are not under your control.

q Do not use Public Domain or Shareware on your computer without virus checking them first.

q Don’t swap disks between computers unless they have been checked first.

q Write protect your disks. A virus cannot infect a disk that cannot be read to.

q Backup your work regularly. This way it is possible to reconstruct your files.

q Install an automatic virus checker.

q Enable virus checking in your BIOS setup (if available).

Note a virus checker is supplied in most versions of DOS (ver 6.0 and up) and also in Windows 95

Copyright & Piracy

Piracy is the illegal copying and use of a product. It is estimated that over 60% of all software used in New Zealand is ‘Pirated’. Companies that produce and sell software spell out very carefully in End User License Agreements (EULAs) the conditions under which the software can be used and copied.

Examples of piracy

A Company purchases a single copy of a well-known application and installs it on a network containing 20 machines.

A student purchases a game from a local store and loans the disks to his best friend.

Copyright

is a property right that applies to the creation original work. It protects the rights of the creators of drama, literature music, sound recordings, films, and computer programs. Copyright is the trading system for works of the mind. It is intellectual property.

Copyright does not have to be registered. Once a work has been created the owners can keep it to themselves (or authorize to others) the exclusive right to copy, publish, perform, broadcast, or adapt their work.

History of Copyright

Copyright laws are national, and all vary in the detail of the protection they afford Copyright was first established under the British Statute of Anne (1709. Since then most countries have developed copyright law. The main models for legislation follows the United Kingdom Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act of 1988. The Berne Convention of 1886 (with later revisions) and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) of 1952 also give common protection to copyright interests across national boundaries.

The UCC requires that works claiming copyright protection display the © symbol, together with the name of the copyright owner(s) and the year of publication; however, a work not showing these details may well still be subject to copyright protection.

Duration of Copyright

The duration, of copyright varies internationally, but “life-plus-50-years” is common in many parts of the world—that is, copyright exists in a work for 50 years from the end of the year in which the author dies.

Ownership of Copyright

The author or creator of a work is usually the owner of the copyright. He or she can give or sell that right to someone else. If the author creates the work in the place of employment, the employer will own the copyright and be entitled to all the economic (but not the moral) rights in that work.

Economic Rights

Copyright in a work entitles the copyright owner to five main economic—or “primary”—rights. They are:

q Copying the work

q Issuing copies of it to the public

q Performing it in public

q Broadcasting it

q Adapting it.

These laws protect the copyright owner from having anyone buy, sell, or otherwise deal with a work obtained or made illegally.

Moral Rights

Acts now include moral rights, which protect the standing or reputation of an author. The moral right of paternity is the right to be identified as the author of a work. The right of integrity is the right to protect a work from derogatory treatment; in effect, this means that alterations to the originality or integrity of a work may not be made without consent. The right of false attribution is the right not to have a work wrongly ascribed. Lastly, the right of privacy is the right to prevent a photographer from using a picture taken for private purposes commercially without the permission of the person who commissioned it.

Licensing

When a software application is purchased the purchaser obtains a license to use that software. A license is an agreement that set conditions on hoe the software may be used. Most licenses nowadays can be registered. This simply means that a registration form is filled out and sent to the Software Company by mail or Internet and the purchaser becomes a registered user. This has an advantage in that the license holder will be kept up to date with new products and be able to purchase upgrade products at a cheaper rate. The license is often referred to as EULA or End-User-License Agreement.

The license is a written contract between the user and the software provider. It is usually written in all of the main languages, it sets out the conditions for use.

A typical single copy licence has the following conditions.

q The software may only be used on one computer at a time.

q A copy must not be given to another person (except where the rights are transferred along with all material, disks etc, and it is removed from the original purchasers computer).

q A single back-up copy may be made as a precaution against loss of disks.

An upgrade is a usually a newer version of the same or similar software application. It is usually considered part of the original purchase. This means you cannot keep the upgrade and sell the original package. To do so would be breaching the agreement which is piracy.

Multi-User Licenses

Some organisations (such as our School) buy multi-user licenses. This means that they may only receive one software package but are given licenses to use these over a number of machines.

Corporate Confidentiality & Unauthorized Access