– fact finding
– feasibility study
– analysis
– design
– testing
– documentation
– implementation/changeover/installation
– evaluation
– maintenance

A file is a collection of related data given a unique name while a folder is named storage location on a storage media that contains related files

Advantages of  of Hard Disk Drive

• Hard disk drives are cheaper per gigabyte than solid state drives.
• Hard disks have a longer lifespan than solid state drives

Disadvantages of Hard Disk Drives

• Consumes more power than SDD
• They are noisy.
• They are slower than solid state drives.
• They are susceptible to wear and tear as they have movable parts.

Advantages of Solid State Drives

• Are faster than HDDs
• It is more durable as it does not have moving parts
• Consumes less power
• Are not noisy

Disadvantages of SDD

• It costs more than a conventional hard disk
• Have fewer write/erase cycles compared to a hard disk drive
• Lost data cannot not be recovered

1.State two reasons for the increased use of laptop computers in government offices. [2]

They are small and fit in a small storage space

They are light weight hence can be carried to areas where their services are required

The monitor, system unit, keyboard units are integrated together

Easy to share

Have rechargeable battery

Have low power consumption

2.Computer network technicians prefer to use command-line based operating systems when configuring networks. State three reasons for the preference. [3]

Do not take up a lot of memory

Have direct access to most hardware devices/provide complete control during configuration

Cheaper to acquire as some are freeware/shareware

Faster to execute commands

Difficult to hack/more secure

More stable

3.State three measures that should be put in place in a computer laboratory to safeguard users’ health. [3]

• All power cables must be insulated and hidden from users
• Furniture used must be of standard
• Room should have adequate lighting
• No overcrowding
• Monitor should be fitted with anti glare
• Avoid dust
• Avoid slippery floor
• Avoid bright coloured walls
• Promote use of ergonomic devices

4.State three ways in which barcode readers may be used in schools. [3]

Take inventory of items

Transactions in the school library

Keep track of movement of goods

Track students in and out of school

Used to register roll call

5.State three advantages of flat panel monitors over cathode ray tube monitors as used in computers.                                                                                                                     [3]

• Compact and light/portable/less bulky/occupy less space
• Consume less power
• Low angle distortion
• Improved color depth
• Higher resolution
• Have less radiation
• Produce less heat

6.State three possible reasons for the extinction of daisy wheel printers in the market. [3]

• Slow
• Noisy
• Lack of graphic support
• Monochrome printer
• Supported on font type and size

7.State three ways in which an operating system secures a computer system.             [3]

• User authentication
• Secure user accounts with privileges
• Encryption of data
• Keeping log files
• Auto backup and auto recovery features
• Inbuilt antivirus

8.A law firm prefers to use hard copy output when handling documents for legal matters. State two reasons for this preference.                                                            [2]

• Can be used without electricity
• Can serve as physical evidence/exhibit
• Not easy to change content without leaving evidence
• No need of computer knowledge

9.State the function of each of the following feature in a word processor

a. Thesaurus                                                                                                                    [1]

Feature that suggests words with similar or opposite meanings to the selected word

b. Comments                                                                                                                   [1]

Feature that allows a user to attach remarks

10. With the aid of an example, explain the term multi-level list as used in word processing.                                                                                                                [3]

1. Chapter 10
   1. Summary
      1. xxxxxxxx

Formatting style that shows listed items at different level instead of using one line

11. Distinguish between real-time operating system and distributed operating system. [3]

Accept answers based on data processing concept

12. Explain the function of protect sheet feature in a spreadsheet program.                   [2]

A tool/feature that prevents unwanted changes to the spreadsheet. Requires a user to key in a password inorder to make changes

13. State four computer based careers introduced as a result of computerized data processing method at the airport.                                                                                     [2]

• System analysts
• Web designers
• Network administrators
• Network technicians
• Programmers
• Database Administrators

NB/ Accept any computer based career

14. In a spreadsheet, the formula = If(A1>10,A1*77,A1*50) is entered in a cell. Interpret the results.                                                                                                                        [3]

Checks the value in cell A1if it is more than 10, if the comparison is true then the outcome of the value in cell multiplied by 77 is displayed, else if it is false the results of the value in cell A1 multiplied by 50 are displayed.

15. State a stage in systems development cycle where each of the following activities are carried out:

a. Identifying the technologies that may be used in a proposed system.                       [1]

Accept any sub stage within system analysis e.g. requirement specification, problem definition, information gathering, etc

b. Identifying shortcomings of a system.                                                                       [1]

All stages of system development

c. Preparing the system migration plan.                                                                          [1]

Implementation stage

• An end user license agreement (EULA) describes a contract (agreement) between a software developer and a user of that software.
   

Legend

• Legends are a small visual representation of the chart's data series to understand each without confusion.

A data series

• is a row or column of numbers that are entered in a worksheet and plotted in your chart, such as a list of quarterly business profits
• A group of related data points or markers that are plotted in charts and graphs

Data Marker

• A symbol on the chart that represents a single value in the worksheet.
• A column, dot, pie slice, or another symbol in the chart that represents a data value

• The process of rewriting parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a disk

• A formula is a mathematical expression that returns a value
• A function is an excel inbuilt formula that returns a value given a range of values or arguments

Both translate source code written in high level programming languages into machine code.
Compiler: Produces a single executable file that is portable between machines
Interpreter: Source code needs a special environment to run
Compiler: Needs to be compiled for a particular architecture
Interpreter: Can run on any architecture that has the translator/interpreter
Complier: Entire source code file is translated at once
Interpreter: Code is translated line by line
Compiler: Provides error report at the end of the compilation
Interpreter: Errors more obvious in the sequence
Compiler: The program source code is not available (so helps protect IP)
Interpreter: Source code is available
Compiler: Only has to be translated once (affecting the speed of execution)
Interpreter: Has to be translated each time, therefore (affecting the speed of execution)
Compiler: Requires two files to be maintained (one for execution and for editing purposes)
Interpreter: Requires only one file to be maintained
 

An action query is used to modify, add, or delete data in a database whereas a select query is used to retrieve data from a database based on specified criteria but does not make any changes to the data.

• Websites – any inappropriate websites ie pornography, drugs, guns,
• terrorism etc. e.g. is it acceptable for the organisation to allow access to this
• sort of material when you can’t control who is accessing the service?
• Time – limit amount of time, they may not want to provide indefinite access
• or may want to charge for access after the time limit has expired.
• Preventing file sharing and illegal sharing\use of copyrighted materials.
• Accountability – identification of users and actions on a network by
• preventing anonymous access.
• Prevention of illegal activities such as terrorism and fraud.
• The responsibility to keep children safe and protected.
• Responsibility to keep users (customers) data safe and secure.
• Spoofing of websites, phishing. Responsibility of organisation to put some kind of protection in place, eg filtering of known fraudulent sites.
• Recording of private messages or details if not encrypted.
• Recording of usernames and passwords that the user may also use to access other systems.
• Responsibility of organisation to secure their systems from possible attack.
• Sales and marketing – providing sales leads to market products.

logging on

•  dial-up/communications software/ISPsoftware

finding websites

•  browser/search engine

• Resizing using resize handles
• Rotating
• Cropping
• Flipping
• Moving

State the characteristics of each of the following network topologies (KCSE COMPUTER STUDIES 2021 )

i) Mesh Topology  (2mks)

• a host/node is connected to one or multiple hosts
• a   host/node in point to point connection with every other host or a few hosts
• hosts/nodes in mesh topology also work as relays for other hosts which do not have point-to-point links

(ii) Ring Topology (2mks)

• each host/node connects exactly to two other hosts
• data travels around the ring in one direction through all intermediate hosts
• failure of any host results in the failure of the whole ring

Microwaves can cover shorter distances. On the contrary, radio waves can travel a long distance. Radio wave is usually propagated through sky mode while microwave uses the line of sight propagation. 

• More RAM will improve the performance of the computer 
• More RAM will speed up the access to data
• Excessive use of VM can cause disk thrashing which decreases performance
• VM is slower to access than RAM direct (because it has to go back to RAM first)
• Moving data between RAM and VM takes processor time

• provides an interface between the computer user and the hardware
• Manages the allocation and deallocation of the CPU to processes.
• manages Input-output devices by use of drivers

A computer virus is a program designed to damage other programs or causes irregular behaviour in a computer system.

• High-level languages have built-in functions;
• High-level languages have built-in libraries;
• High-level languages have more support/help;
• High-level languages have structures (such as selection and iteration);
• High-level languages can be less machine-dependent/more portable;
• It (usually) requires fewer lines of code to be written;
• It is (usually) quicker to develop code in high-level languages;
• It is easier to find mistakes in code;
• The code is easier to maintain//understand;
• It is easier to structure code in high-level languages;

ROM stores BIOS / bootstrap / start-up 

RAM stores currently executing programs and data