Multiple Choice

Questions(MCQ)
On
Operating System(KCS401)
(As per AKTU,Lucknow Syllabus)
(Part-1)
What is an operating system?
a) collection of programs that manages hardware resources
b) system service provider to the application programs
c) interface between the hardware and application
programs
d) all of the mentioned
Which one of the following error will be handle by the
operating system?
a) power failure
b) lack of paper in printer
c) connection failure in the network
d) all of the mentioned
Which one of the following is not true?
a) kernel is the program that constitutes the central core of
the operating system
b) kernel is the first part of operating system to load into
memory during booting
c) kernel is made of various modules which can not be
loaded in running operating system
d) kernel remains in the memory during the entire computer
session
 To access the services of operating system, the interface is
provided by the ___________
a) System calls
b) API
c) Library
d) Assembly instructions
What is the main function of the command interpreter?
a) to get and execute the next user-specified command
b) to provide the interface between the API and application
program
c) to handle the files in operating system
d) none of the mentioned
 If a process fails, most operating system write the error
information to a ______
a) log file
b) another running process
c) new file
d) none of the mentioned
 Which one of the following is not a real time operating
system?
a) VxWorks
b) QNX
c) RTLinux
d) Palm OS
The OS X has ____________
a) monolithic kernel
b) hybrid kernel
c) microkernel
d) monolithic kernel with modules
The systems which allow only one process execution at a
time, are called __________
a) uniprogramming systems
b) uniprocessing systems
c) unitasking systems
d) none of the mentioned
In operating system, each process has its own __________
a) address space and global variables
b) open files
c) pending alarms, signals and signal handlers
d) all of the mentioned
 In Unix, Which system call creates the new process?
a) fork
b) create
c) new
d) none of the mentioned
A process can be terminated due to __________
a) normal exit
b) fatal error
c) killed by another process
d) all of the mentioned
What is interprocess communication?
a) communication within the process
b) communication between two process
c) communication between two threads of same process
d) none of the mentioned
A process stack does not contain __________
a) Function parameters
b) Local variables
c) Return addresses
d) PID of child process
 Which system call can be used by a parent process to
determine the termination of child process?
a) wait
b) exit
c) fork
d) get
 The address of the next instruction to be executed by the
current process is provided by the __________
a) CPU registers
b) Program counter
c) Process stack
d) Pipe
 A Process Control Block(PCB) does not contain which of
the following?
a) Code
b) Stack
c) Bootstrap program
d) Data
 The number of processes completed per unit time is known
as __________
a) Output
b) Throughput
c) Efficiency
d) Capacity
 The state of a process is defined by __________
a) the final activity of the process
b) the activity just executed by the process
c) the activity to next be executed by the process
d) the current activity of the process
 Which of the following is not the state of a process?
a) New
b) Old
c) Waiting
d) Running
 What is a Process Control Block?
a) Process type variable
b) Data Structure
c) A secondary storage section
d) A Block in memory
 The entry of all the PCBs of the current processes is in
__________
a) Process Register
b) Program Counter
c) Process Table
d) Process Unit
 What is the degree of multiprogramming?
a) the number of processes executed per unit time
b) the number of processes in the ready queue
c) the number of processes in the I/O queue
d) the number of processes in memory
 A single thread of control allows the process to perform
__________
a) only one task at a time
b) multiple tasks at a time
c) only two tasks at a time
d) all of the mentioned
 What is the objective of multiprogramming?
a) Have a process running at all time
b) Have multiple programs waiting in a queue ready to run
c) To increase CPU utilization
d) None of the mentioned
 Which of the following do not belong to queues for
processes?
a) Job Queue
b) PCB queue
c) Device Queue
d) Ready Queue
 When the process issues an I/O request __________
a) It is placed in an I/O queue
b) It is placed in a waiting queue
c) It is placed in the ready queue
d) It is placed in the Job queue
 What will happen when a process terminates?
a) It is removed from all queues
b) It is removed from all, but the job queue
c) Its process control block is de-allocated
d) Its process control block is never de-allocated
 What is a long-term scheduler?
a) It selects processes which have to be brought into the
ready queue
b) It selects processes which have to be executed next and
allocates CPU
c) It selects processes which heave to remove from memory
by swapping
d) None of the mentioned
 If all processes I/O bound, the ready queue will almost
always be ______ and the Short term Scheduler will have a
______ to do.
a) full, little
b) full, lot
c) empty, little
d) empty, lot
 What is a medium-term scheduler?
a) It selects which process has to be brought into the ready
queue
b) It selects which process has to be executed next and
allocates CPU
c) It selects which process to remove from memory by
swapping
d) None of the mentioned
 What is a short-term scheduler?
a) It selects which process has to be brought into the ready
queue
b) It selects which process has to be executed next and
allocates CPU
c) It selects which process to remove from memory by
swapping
d) None of the mentioned
 The primary distinction between the short term scheduler
and the long term scheduler is __________
a) The length of their queues
b) The type of processes they schedule
c) The frequency of their execution
d) None of the mentioned
 The only state transition that is initiated by the user process
itself is __________
a) block
b) wakeup
c) dispatch
d) none of the mentioned
 In a time-sharing operating system, when the time slot
given to a process is completed, the process goes from the
running state to the __________
a) Blocked state
b) Ready state
c) Suspended state
d) Terminated state
 In a multiprogramming environment __________
a) the processor executes more than one process at a time
b) the programs are developed by more than one person
c) more than one process resides in the memory
d) a single user can execute many programs at the same time
 Suppose that a process is in “Blocked” state waiting for
some I/O service. When the service is completed, it goes to
the __________
a) Running state
b) Ready state
c) Suspended state
d) Terminated state
 The context of a process in the PCB of a process does not
contain __________
a) the value of the CPU registers
b) the process state
c) memory-management information
d) context switch time
 Which of the following need not necessarily be saved on a
context switch between processes?
a) General purpose registers
b) Translation lookaside buffer
c) Program counter
d) All of the mentioned
 Which of the following does not interrupt a running
process?
a) A device
b) Timer
c) Scheduler process
d) Power failure
 When several processes access the same data concurrently
and the outcome of the execution depends on the particular
order in which the access takes place is called ________
a) dynamic condition
b) race condition
c) essential condition
d) critical condition
 Which one of the following is a synchronization tool?
a) thread
b) pipe
c) semaphore
d) socket
 A semaphore is a shared integer variable __________
a) that can not drop below zero
b) that can not be more than zero
c) that can not drop below one
d) that can not be more than one
 Mutual exclusion can be provided by the __________
a) mutex locks
b) binary semaphores
c) both mutex locks and binary semaphores
d) none of the mentioned
 Which process can be affected by other processes
executing in the system?
a) cooperating process
b) child process
c) parent process
d) init process
 If a process is executing in its critical section, then no other
processes can be executing in their critical section. What is
this condition called?
a) mutual exclusion
b) critical exclusion
c) synchronous exclusion
d) asynchronous exclusion
 Process synchronization can be done on __________
a) hardware level
b) software level
c) both hardware and software level
d) none of the mentioned
 A monitor is a module that encapsulates __________
a) shared data structures
b) procedures that operate on shared data structure
c) synchronization between concurrent procedure invocation
d) all of the mentioned
 To enable a process to wait within the monitor __________
a) a condition variable must be declared as condition
b) condition variables must be used as boolean objects
c) semaphore must be used
d) all of the mentioned
 A parent process calling _____ system call will be
suspended until children processes terminate.
a) wait
b) fork
c) exit
d) exec
Cascading termination refers to termination of all child
processes if the parent process terminates ______
a) Normally
b) Abnormally
c) Normally or abnormally
d) None of the mentioned
With _____________ only one process can execute at a
time; meanwhile all other process are waiting for the
processor. With ______________ more than one process
can be running simultaneously each on a different processor.
a) Multiprocessing, Multiprogramming
b) Multiprogramming, Uniprocessing
c) Multiprogramming, Multiprocessing
d) Uniprogramming, Multiprocessing
The child process can __________
a) be a duplicate of the parent process
b) never be a duplicate of the parent process
c) cannot have another program loaded into it
d) never have another program loaded into it
 The child process completes execution, but the parent keeps
executing, then the child process is known as __________
a) Orphan
b) Zombie
c) Body
d) Dead
 Restricting the child process to a subset of the parent’s
resources prevents any process from __________
a) overloading the system by using a lot of secondary
storage
b) under-loading the system by very less CPU utilization
c) overloading the system by creating a lot of sub-
processes
d) crashing the system by utilizing multiple resources
Message passing system allows processes to __________
a) communicate with each other without sharing the
same address space
b) communicate with one another by resorting to shared data
c) share data
d) name the recipient or sender of the message
What is Interprocess communication?
a) allows processes to communicate and synchronize their
actions when using the same address space
b) allows processes to communicate and synchronize
their actions
c) allows the processes to only synchronize their actions
without communication
d) none of the mentioned
Which of the following two operations are provided by the
IPC facility?
a) write & delete message
b) delete & receive message
c) send & delete message
d) receive & send message
Messages sent by a process __________
a) have to be of a fixed size
b) have to be a variable size
c) can be fixed or variable sized
d) none of the mentioned
 The link between two processes P and Q to send and
receive messages is called __________
a) communication link
b) message-passing link
c) synchronization link
d) all of the mentioned
 Which of the following are TRUE for direct
communication?
a) A communication link can be associated with N number
of process(N = max. number of processes supported by
system)
b) A communication link is associated with exactly two
processes
c) Exactly N/2 links exist between each pair of processes(N
= max. number of processes supported by system)
d) Exactly two link exists between each pair of processes
 In indirect communication between processes P and Q
__________
a) there is another process R to handle and pass on the
messages between P and Q
b) there is another machine between the two processes to
help communication
c) there is a mailbox to help communication between P
and Q
d) none of the mentioned
In the Zero capacity queue __________
a) the queue can store at least one message
b) the sender blocks until the receiver receives the
message
c) the sender keeps sending and the messages don’t wait in
the queue
d) none of the mentioned
The Zero Capacity queue __________
a) is referred to as a message system with buffering
b) is referred to as a message system with no buffering
c) is referred to as a link
d) none of the mentioned
 Bounded capacity and Unbounded capacity queues are
referred to as __________
a) Programmed buffering
b) Automatic buffering
c) User defined buffering
d) No buffering
Remote Procedure Calls are used ____________
a) for communication between two processes remotely
different from each other on the same system
b) for communication between two processes on the same
system
c) for communication between two processes on separate
systems
d) none of the mentioned
 A process that is based on IPC mechanism which executes
on different systems and can communicate with other
processes using message based communication, is called
________
a) Local Procedure Call
b) Inter Process Communication
c) Remote Procedure Call
d) Remote Machine Invocation
 Which module gives control of the CPU to the process
selected by the short-term scheduler?
a) dispatcher
b) interrupt
c) scheduler
d) none of the mentioned
 The processes that are residing in main memory and are
ready and waiting to execute are kept on a list called
_____________
a) job queue
b) ready queue
c) execution queue
d) process queue
 The interval from the time of submission of a process to
the time of completion is termed as ____________
a) waiting time
b) turnaround time
c) response time
d) throughput
Which scheduling algorithm allocates the CPU first to the
process that requests the CPU first?
a) first-come, first-served scheduling
b) shortest job scheduling
c) priority scheduling
d) none of the mentioned
 In priority scheduling algorithm ____________
a) CPU is allocated to the process with highest priority
b) CPU is allocated to the process with lowest priority
c) Equal priority processes can not be scheduled
d) None of the mentioned
 In priority scheduling algorithm, when a process arrives at
the ready queue, its priority is compared with the priority of
____________
a) all process
b) currently running process
c) parent process
d) init process
 Which algorithm is defined in Time quantum?
a) shortest job scheduling algorithm
b) round robin scheduling algorithm
c) priority scheduling algorithm
d) multilevel queue scheduling algorithm
 Process are classified into different groups in
____________
a) shortest job scheduling algorithm
b) round robin scheduling algorithm
c) priority scheduling algorithm
d) multilevel queue scheduling algorithm
 In multilevel feedback scheduling algorithm
____________
a) a process can move to a different classified ready
queue
b) classification of ready queue is permanent
c) processes are not classified into groups
d) none of the mentioned
 Which one of the following can not be scheduled by the
kernel?
a) kernel level thread
b) user level thread
c) process
d) none of the mentioned
 CPU scheduling is the basis of ___________
a) multiprocessor systems
b) multiprogramming operating systems
c) larger memory sized systems
d) none of the mentioned
With multiprogramming ______ is used productively.
a) time
b) space
c) money
d) all of the mentioned
 What are the two steps of a process execution?
a) I/O & OS Burst
b) CPU & I/O Burst
c) Memory & I/O Burst
d) OS & Memory Burst
 An I/O bound program will typically have ____________
a) a few very short CPU bursts
b) many very short I/O bursts
c) many very short CPU bursts
d) a few very short I/O bursts
 A process is selected from the ______ queue by the
________ scheduler, to be executed.
a) blocked, short term
b) wait, long term
c) ready, short term
d) ready, long term
 In the following cases non – preemptive scheduling
occurs?
a) When a process switches from the running state to the
ready state
b) When a process goes from the running state to the
waiting state
c) When a process switches from the waiting state to the
ready state
d) All of the mentioned
What is Dispatch latency?
a) the speed of dispatching a process from running to the
ready state
b) the time of dispatching a process from running to ready
state and keeping the CPU idle
c) the time to stop one process and start running another
one
d) none of the mentioned
 Scheduling is done so as to ____________
a) increase CPU utilization
b) decrease CPU utilization
c) keep the CPU more idle
d) none of the mentioned
 Scheduling is done so as to ____________
a) increase the throughput
b) decrease the throughput
c) increase the duration of a specific amount of work
d) none of the mentioned
 Scheduling is done so as to ____________
a) increase the turnaround time
b) decrease the turnaround time
c) keep the turnaround time same
d) there is no relation between scheduling and turnaround
time
 What is Waiting time?
a) the total time in the blocked and waiting queues
b) the total time spent in the ready queue
c) the total time spent in the running queue
d) the total time from the completion till the submission of a
process
 Scheduling is done so as to ____________
a) increase the waiting time
b) keep the waiting time the same
c) decrease the waiting time
d) none of the mentioned
 What is Response time?
a) the total time taken from the submission time till the
completion time
b) the total time taken from the submission time till the
first response is produced
c) the total time taken from submission time till the response
is output
d) none of the mentioned
 Round robin scheduling falls under the category of
____________
a) Non-preemptive scheduling
b) Preemptive scheduling
c) All of the mentioned
d) None of the mentioned
 The portion of the process scheduler in an operating
system that dispatches processes is concerned with
____________
a) assigning ready processes to CPU
b) assigning ready processes to waiting queue
c) assigning running processes to blocked queue
d) all of the mentioned
 With round robin scheduling algorithm in a time shared
system ____________
a) using very large time slices converts it into First come
First served scheduling algorithm
b) using very small time slices converts it into First come
First served scheduling algorithm
c) using extremely small time slices increases performance
d) using very small time slices converts it into Shortest Job
First algorithm
 What is FIFO algorithm?
a) first executes the job that came in last in the queue
b) first executes the job that came in first in the queue
c) first executes the job that needs minimal processor
d) first executes the job that has maximum processor needs
 The strategy of making processes that are logically
runnable to be temporarily suspended is called
____________
a) Non preemptive scheduling
b) Preemptive scheduling
c) Shortest job first
d) First come First served
 What is Scheduling?
a) allowing a job to use the processor
b) making proper use of processor
c) all of the mentioned
d) none of the mentioned
 Which of the following algorithms tends to minimize the
process flow time?
a) First come First served
b) Shortest Job First
c) Earliest Deadline First
d) Longest Job First
 Under multiprogramming, turnaround time for short jobs is
usually ________ and that for long jobs is slightly
___________
a) Lengthened; Shortened
b) Shortened; Lengthened
c) Shortened; Shortened
d) Shortened; Unchanged
 Which of the following statements are true? (GATE 2010)

I. Shortest remaining time first scheduling may cause

starvation
II. Pre-emptive scheduling may cause starvation
III. Round robin is better than FCFS in terms of response
time
a) I only
b) I and III only
c) II and III only
d) I, II and III
 The real difficulty with SJF in short term scheduling is
____________
a) it is too good an algorithm
b) knowing the length of the next CPU request
c) it is too complex to understand
d) none of the mentioned
 The FCFS algorithm is particularly troublesome for
____________
a) time sharing systems
b) multiprogramming systems
c) multiprocessor systems
d) operating systems
 The FCFS algorithm is particularly troublesome for
____________
a) time sharing systems
b) multiprogramming systems
c) multiprocessor systems
d) operating systems
 Preemptive Shortest Job First scheduling is sometimes
called ____________
a) Fast SJF scheduling
b) EDF scheduling – Earliest Deadline First
c) HRRN scheduling – Highest Response Ratio Next
d) SRTN scheduling – Shortest Remaining Time Next
 An SJF algorithm is simply a priority algorithm where the
priority is ____________
a) the predicted next CPU burst
b) the inverse of the predicted next CPU burst
c) the current CPU burst
d) anything the user wants
 Choose one of the disadvantages of the priority scheduling
algorithm?
a) it schedules in a very complex manner
b) its scheduling takes up a lot of time
c) it can lead to some low priority process waiting
indefinitely for the CPU
d) none of the mentioned
 What is ‘Aging’?
a) keeping track of cache contents
b) keeping track of what pages are currently residing in
memory
c) keeping track of how many times a given page is
referenced
d) increasing the priority of jobs to ensure termination
in a finite time
 A solution to the problem of indefinite blockage of low –
priority processes is ____________
a) Starvation
b) Wait queue
c) Ready queue
d) Aging
 Concurrent access to shared data may result in
____________
a) data consistency
b) data insecurity
c) data inconsistency
d) none of the mentioned
 The segment of code in which the process may change
common variables, update tables, write into files is known
as ____________
a) program
b) critical section
c) non – critical section
d) synchronizing
 Which of the following conditions must be satisfied to
solve the critical section problem?
a) Mutual Exclusion
b) Progress
c) Bounded Waiting
d) All of the mentioned
Mutual exclusion implies that ____________
a) if a process is executing in its critical section, then no
other process must be executing in their critical sections
b) if a process is executing in its critical section, then other
processes must be executing in their critical sections
c) if a process is executing in its critical section, then all the
resources of the system must be blocked until it finishes
execution
d) none of the mentioned
 Bounded waiting implies that there exists a bound on the
number of times a process is allowed to enter its critical
section ____________
a) after a process has made a request to enter its critical
section and before the request is granted
b) when another process is in its critical section
c) before a process has made a request to enter its critical
section
d) none of the mentioned
 A minimum of _____ variable(s) is/are required to be
shared between processes to solve the critical section
problem.
a) one
b) two
c) three
d) four
 In the bakery algorithm to solve the critical section problem
____________
a) each process is put into a queue and picked up in an
ordered manner
b) each process receives a number (may or may not be
unique) and the one with the lowest number is served
next
c) each process gets a unique number and the one with the
highest number is served next
d) each process gets a unique number and the one with the
lowest number is served next
TestAndSet instruction is executed ____________
a) after a particular process
b) periodically
c) atomically
d) none of the mentioned
 Semaphore is a/an _______ to solve the critical section
problem.
a) hardware for a system
b) special program for a system
c) integer variable
d) none of the mentioned
What are Spinlocks?
a) CPU cycles wasting locks over critical sections of
programs
b) Locks that avoid time wastage in context switches
c) Locks that work better on multiprocessor systems
d) All of the mentioned
What is the main disadvantage of spinlocks?
a) they are not sufficient for many process
b) they require busy waiting
c) they are unreliable sometimes
d) they are too complex for programmers
 What will happen if a non-recursive mutex is locked more
than once?
a) Starvation
b) Deadlock
c) Aging
d) Signaling
What are the two kinds of semaphores?
a) mutex & counting
b) binary & counting
c) counting & decimal
d) decimal & binary
Semaphores are mostly used to implement ____________
a) System calls
b) IPC mechanisms
c) System protection
d) None of the mentioned
 The bounded buffer problem is also known as
____________
a) Readers – Writers problem
b) Dining – Philosophers problem
c) Producer – Consumer problem
d) None of the mentioned
 In the bounded buffer problem, there are the empty and full
semaphores that ____________
a) count the number of empty and full buffers
b) count the number of empty and full memory spaces
c) count the number of empty and full queues
d) none of the mentioned
In the bounded buffer problem ____________
a) there is only one buffer
b) there are n buffers ( n being greater than one but
finite)
c) there are infinite buffers
d) the buffer size is bounded
 To ensure difficulties do not arise in the readers – writers
problem _______ are given exclusive access to the shared
object.
a) readers
b) writers
c) readers and writers
d) none of the mentioned
 The dining – philosophers problem will occur in case of
____________
a) 5 philosophers and 5 chopsticks
b) 4 philosophers and 5 chopsticks
c) 3 philosophers and 5 chopsticks
d) 6 philosophers and 5 chopsticks
 A deadlock free solution to the dining philosophers problem
____________
a) necessarily eliminates the possibility of starvation
b) does not necessarily eliminate the possibility of
starvation
c) eliminates any possibility of any kind of problem further
d) none of the mentioned
View Answer
A monitor is a type of ____________
a) semaphore
b) low level synchronization construct
c) high level synchronization construct
d) none of the mentioned
A monitor is characterized by ____________
a) a set of programmer defined operators
b) an identifier
c) the number of variables in it
d) all of the mentioned
The monitor construct ensures that ____________
a) only one process can be active at a time within the
monitor
b) n number of processes can be active at a time within the
monitor (n being greater than 1)
c) the queue has only one process in it at a time
d) all of the mentioned