Processes

1. What is an operating system?

a) interface between the hardware and application programs
b) collection of programs that manages hardware resources
c) system service provider to the application programs
d) all of the mentioned

2. To access the services of operating system, the interface is provided by the

___________
a) System calls
b) API
c) Library
d) Assembly instructions

3. . 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

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

5. 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

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

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

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

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

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

10. The OS X has ____________

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

11. 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

12. 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

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

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

14. A process can be terminated due to __________

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. A process stack does not contain __________

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

19. 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

20. 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

21. A Process Control Block(PCB) does not contain which of the following?
a) Code
b) Stack
c) Bootstrap program
d) Data

22. The number of processes completed per unit time is known as __________
a) Output
b) Throughput
c) Efficiency
d) Capacity

23. 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

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

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

25. What is a Process Control Block?

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

26. The entry of all the PCBs of the current processes is in __________
a) Process Register
b) Program Counter
c) Process Table
d) Process Unit

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

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

a) Job Queue
b) PCB queue
c) Device Queue
d) Ready Queue
31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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
37. 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

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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

42. 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
43. 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

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

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

45. Which process can be affected by other processes executing in the system?
a) cooperating process
b) child process
c) parent process
d) init process

46. 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

47. 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

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

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

49. 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

50. 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

51. When high priority task is indirectly preempted by medium priority task
effectively inverting the relative priority of the two tasks, the scenario is called
__________
a) priority inversion
b) priority removal
c) priority exchange
d) priority modification

52. Process synchronization can be done on __________

a) hardware level
b) software level
c) both hardware and software level
d) none of the mentioned

53. 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

54. 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

55. 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

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

57. 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

58. 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

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

a) Process Control Block
b) Device Queue
c) Process Identifier
d) None of the mentioned
60. 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

61. 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

62. 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

63. 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

64. 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

65. 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
66. 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

67. 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

68. 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

69. 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

70. In the non blocking send __________

a) the sending process keeps sending until the message is received
b) the sending process sends the message and resumes operation
c) the sending process keeps sending until it receives a message
d) none of the mentioned

71. 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

72. 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

73. Bounded capacity and Unbounded capacity queues are referred to as __________
a) Programmed buffering
b) Automatic buffering
c) User defined buffering
d) No buffering

CPU Scheduling

74. 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

75. 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

76. 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
77. 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

78. 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

79. 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

80. 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

81. 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

82. 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
83. 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

84. CPU scheduling is the basis of ___________

a) multiprocessor systems
b) multiprogramming operating systems
c) larger memory sized systems
d) none of the mentioned

85. With multiprogramming ______ is used productively.

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

86. 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

87. 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

88. 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
89. 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

90. 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

91. 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

92. 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

93. 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

94. What is Turnaround time?

a) the total waiting time for a process to finish execution
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
95. 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

96. 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

97. 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

98. 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

99. 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

100. 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

101. 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

102. Complex scheduling algorithms ____________

a) are very appropriate for very large computers
b) use minimal resources
c) use many resources
d) all of the mentioned

103. . 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

104. 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

105. 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

106. There are 10 different processes running on a workstation. Idle processes

are waiting for an input event in the input queue. Busy processes are scheduled
with the Round-Robin time sharing method. Which out of the following quantum
 times is the best value for small response times, if the processes have a short
runtime, e.g. less than 10ms?
a) tQ = 15ms
b) tQ = 40ms
c) tQ = 45ms
d) tQ = 50ms

107. 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

108. 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

109. 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

110. 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

111. 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

112. The FCFS algorithm is particularly troublesome for ____________

a) time sharing systems
b) multiprogramming systems
c) multiprocessor systems
d) operating systems

113. Consider the following set of processes, the length of the CPU burst time
given in milliseconds.
Process Burst time
P1 6
P2 8
P3 7
P4 3
Assuming the above process being scheduled with the SJF scheduling algorithm.
a) The waiting time for process P1 is 3ms
b) The waiting time for process P1 is 0ms
c) The waiting time for process P1 is 16ms
d) The waiting time for process P1 is 9ms

114. 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

115. 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

116. 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
117. 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

118. A solution to the problem of indefinite blockage of low – priority

processes is ____________
a) Starvation
b) Wait queue
c) Ready queue
d) Aging

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

i) Shortest remaining time first scheduling may cause starvation

ii) Preemptive 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

120. Which of the following scheduling algorithms gives minimum average

waiting time?
a) FCFS
b) SJF
c) Round – robin
d) Priority

Synchronization

121. Concurrent access to shared data may result in ____________

a) data consistency