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This set of Operating System Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on
“Basics”.

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
Answer: d

2. To access the services of operating system, the interface is provided by the ___________
a) System calls
b) API
c) Library
d) Assembly instructions
Answer: a

4. 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
Answer: d

6. In Operating Systems, which of the following is/are CPU scheduling algorithms?

a) Round Robin
b) Shortest Job First
c) Priority
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: d

7. 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
Answer: a

8. Which facility dynamically adds probes to a running system, both in user processes and in
the kernel?
a) DTrace
b) DLocate
c) DMap
d) DAdd
View Answer
Answer: a

9. Which one of the following is not a real time operating system?

a) VxWorks
b) QNX
c) RTLinux
d) Palm OS
Answer: d

10. The OS X has ____________

a) monolithic kernel
b) hybrid kernel
c) microkernel
d) monolithic kernel with modules
Answer: b

1. 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
Answer: b

3. In Unix, Which system call creates the new process?

a) fork
b) create
c) new
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

4. A process can be terminated due to __________

a) normal exit
b) fatal error
c) killed by another process
d) all of the mentioned
Answer: d

5. What is the ready state of a process?

a) when process is scheduled to run after some execution
b) when process is unable to run until some task has been completed
c) when process is using the CPU
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

6. 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
Answer: b

7. A set of processes is deadlock if __________

a) each process is blocked and will remain so forever
b) each process is terminated
c) all processes are trying to kill each other
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

8. A process stack does not contain __________

a) Function parameters
b) Local variables
c) Return addresses
d) PID of child process
Answer: d

9. 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
Answer: a

10. 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
Answer: b

1. A Process Control Block(PCB) does not contain which of the following?

a) Code
b) Stack
c) Bootstrap program
d) Data
Answer: c

2. The number of processes completed per unit time is known as __________

a) Output
b) Throughput
c) Efficiency
d) Capacity
Answer: b

3. 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
Answer: d

4. Which of the following is not the state of a process?

a) New
b) Old
c) Waiting
d) Running
Answer: b

5. What is a Process Control Block?

a) Process type variable
b) Data Structure
c) A secondary storage section
d) A Block in memory
Answer: b

6. The entry of all the PCBs of the current processes is in __________

a) Process Register
b) Program Counter
c) Process Table
d) Process Unit
Answer: c

7. 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
Answer: d

8. 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
Answer: a
9. 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
Answer: c

1. Which of the following do not belong to queues for processes?

a) Job Queue
b) PCB queue
c) Device Queue
d) Ready Queue
Answer: b

2. 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
Answer: a

3. 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
Answer: a

5. 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
Answer: c

8. 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
Answer: c

9. The only state transition that is initiated by the user process itself is __________
a) block
b) wakeup
c) dispatch
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

10. 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
Answer: b

12. 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
Answer: b

13. 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
Answer: d

14. 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
Answer: b

15. Which of the following does not interrupt a running process?

a) A device
b) Timer
c) Scheduler process
d) Power failure
Answer: c

1. Which process can be affected by other processes executing in the system?

a) cooperating process
b) child process
c) parent process
d) init process
Answer: a

4. Which one of the following is a synchronization tool?

a) thread
b) pipe
c) semaphore
d) socket
Answer: c

5. 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
Answer: a

6. 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
Answer: c

2. A parent process calling _____ system call will be suspended until children processes
terminate.
a) wait
b) fork
c) exit
d) exec
Answer: a

3. 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
Answer: c

4. 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
Answer: d

5. In UNIX, each process is identified by its __________

a) Process Control Block
b) Device Queue
c) Process Identifier
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: c

6. In UNIX, the return value for the fork system call is _____ for the child process and _____ for
the parent process.
a) A Negative integer, Zero
b) Zero, A Negative integer
c) Zero, A nonzero integer
d) A nonzero integer, Zero
Answer: c

8. 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
View Answer
Answer: b

3. 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
Answer: d

4. 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
Answer: c

5. 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
Answer: a

2. To differentiate the many network services a system supports ______ are used.
a) Variables
b) Sockets
c) Ports
d) Service names
Answer: c

3. RPC provides a(an) _____ on the client-side, a separate one for each remote procedure.
a) stub
b) identifier
c) name
d) process identifier
Answer: a

6. What is the full form of RMI?

a) Remote Memory Installation
b) Remote Memory Invocation
c) Remote Method Installation
d) Remote Method Invocation
Answer: d

1. The initial program that is run when the computer is powered up is called __________
a) boot program
b) bootloader
c) initializer
d) bootstrap program
Answer: d

4. What is an ISR?
a) Information Service Request
b) Interrupt Service Request
c) Interrupt Service Routine
d) Information Service Routine
Answer: c

6. DMA is used for __________

a) High speed devices(disks and communications network)
b) Low speed devices
c) Utilizing CPU cycles
d) All of the mentioned
Answer: a
1. 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
Answer: a

2. 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
Answer: b

3. 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
Answer: b

4. 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
Answer: a

6. 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
Answer: b

10. 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
Answer: b
1. CPU scheduling is the basis of ___________
a) multiprocessor systems
b) multiprogramming operating systems
c) larger memory sized systems
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: b

2. With multiprogramming ______ is used productively.

a) time
b) space
c) money
d) all of the mentioned
Answer: a

3. 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
Answer: b

4. 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
Answer: c

5. 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
Answer: c

7. The switching of the CPU from one process or thread to another is called ____________
a) process switch
b) task switch
c) context switch
d) all of the mentioned
Answer: d

9. 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
Answer: a

1. 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
Answer: b

6. 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
Answer: b

7. 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
Answer: a

9. Orders are processed in the sequence they arrive if _______ rule sequences the jobs.
a) earliest due date
b) slack time remaining
c) first come, first served
d) critical ratio
Answer: c

10. 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
Answer: b

12. Which of the following statements are true? (GATE 2010)

a) I only
b) I and III only
c) II and III only
d) I, II and III
Answer: d
1. Which is the most optimal scheduling algorithm?
a) FCFS – First come First served
b) SJF – Shortest Job First
c) RR – Round Robin
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: b

9. A solution to the problem of indefinite blockage of low – priority processes is ____________

a) Starvation
b) Wait queue
c) Ready queue
d) Aging
Answer: d

10. Which of the following statements are true? (GATE 2010)

a) i only
b) i and iii only
c) ii and iii only
d) i, ii and iii
Answer: d

11. Which of the following scheduling algorithms gives minimum average waiting time?
a) FCFS
b) SJF
c) Round – robin
d) Priority
Answer: b

1. Concurrent access to shared data may result in ____________

a) data consistency
b) data insecurity
c) data inconsistency
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: c

3. 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
Answer: b

4. 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
Answer: d

7. 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
Answer: b

1. Concurrent access to shared data may result in ____________

a) data consistency
b) data insecurity
c) data inconsistency
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: c

3. 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
Answer: b

4. 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
Answer: d

7. 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
Answer: b

1. An un-interruptible unit is known as ____________

a) single
b) atomic
c) static
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: b

2. TestAndSet instruction is executed ____________

a) after a particular process
b) periodically
c) atomically
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: c

1. If one or more devices use a common set of wires to communicate with the computer
system, the connection is called ______
a) CPU
b) Monitor
c) Wirefull
d) Bus
Answer: d

2. A ____ a set of wires and a rigidly defined protocol that specifies a set of messages that can
be sent on the wires.
a) port
b) node
c) bus
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: c

5. A ________ is a collection of electronics that can operate a port, a bus, or a device.

a) controller
b) driver
c) host
d) bus
Answer: a

6. An I/O port typically consists of four registers status, control, ________ and ________ registers.
a) system in, system out
b) data in, data out
c) flow in, flow out
d) input, output
Answer: b

7. The ______ register is read by the host to get input.

a) flow in
b) flow out
c) data in
d) data out
Answer: c

8. The ______ register is written by the host to send output.

a) status
b) control
c) data in
d) data out
Answer: d

9. The hardware mechanism that allows a device to notify the CPU is called _______
a) polling
b) interrupt
c) driver
d) controlling
Answer: b

5. For large data transfers, _________ is used.

a) dma
b) programmed I/O
c) controller register
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

6. A character stream device transfers ____________

a) bytes one by one
b) block of bytes as a unit
c) with unpredictable response times
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

7. A block device transfers ____________

a) bytes one by one
b) block of bytes as a unit
c) with unpredictable response times
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: b

1. Buffering is done to ____________

a) cope with device speed mismatch
b) cope with device transfer size mismatch
c) maintain copy semantics
d) all of the mentioned
Answer: d

2. Caching is ________ spooling.

a) same as
b) not the same as
c) all of the mentioned
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: b

3. Caching ____________
a) holds a copy of the data
b) is fast memory
c) holds the only copy of the data
d) holds output for a device
Answer: a

4. Spooling ____________
a) holds a copy of the data
b) is fast memory
c) holds the only copy of the data
d) holds output for a device
Answer: c

5. The ________ keeps state information about the use of I/O components.
a) CPU
b) OS
c) kernel
d) shell
Answer: c

6. The kernel data structures include ____________

a) process table
b) open file table
c) close file table
d) all of the mentioned
Answer: b

7. Windows NT uses a __________ implementation for I/O.

a) message – passing
b) draft – passing
c) secondary memory
d) cache
Answer: a

8. A ________ is a full duplex connection between a device driver and a user level process.
a) Bus
b) I/O operation
c) Stream
d) Flow
Answer: c
9. I/O is a _________ in system performance.
a) major factor
b) minor factor
c) does not matter
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

Linux uses a time-sharing algorithm ___________

a) to pair preemptive scheduling between multiple processes
b) for tasks where absolute priorities are more important than fairness
c) all of the mentioned
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

2. The first linux kernel which supports the SMP hardware?

a) linux 0.1
b) linux 1.0
c) linux 1.2
d) linux 2.0
Answer: d

3. Which one of the following linux file system does not support journaling feature?
a) ext2
b) ext3
c) ext4
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: a

4. Which binary format is supported by linux?

a) a.out
b) elf
c) both a.out and ELF
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: c

5. Which one of the following bootloader is not used by linux?

a) GRUB
b) LILO
c) NTLDR
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: c

6. The first process launched by the linux kernel is ___________

a) init process
b) zombie process
c) batch process
d) boot process
Answer: a

7. Which desktop environment is not used in any linux distribution?

a) gnome
b) kde
c) unity
d) none of the mentioned
Answer: d

9. What is Linux?
a) single user, single tasking
b) single user, multitasking
c) multi user, single tasking
d) multi user, multitasking
Answer: d

10. Which one of the following is not a linux distribution?

a) debian
b) gentoo
c) open SUSE
d) multics
Answer: d